Brick Workout

Saturday I completed a 3 hour & 10 minute "brick workout."  A brick is when two disciplines are combined -- usually biking and running -- to get muscle groups used to the shift from one use to the next.  Transition 1 (swim to bike) is much easier than Transition 2 (bike to run), mostly because biking and running share more crossover in terms of muscle use. 

This particular workout included riding 10 miles, then locking my backpack to a fence (the ghetto "transition area" in the image below), then riding a 20 mile loop, followed by a 10-mile run, then a 10-mile burnout ride back to my house.  The backpack holds my running shoes, power gels, extra water (since I haven't decided on a hydration system yet), and a bunch of Vaseline.  If you happen to see this bike locked up to a random fence in the middle of nowhere, please don't steal it.  It's my ride home.

The workout went very well.  It took until about mile 3 of the run before my legs found their rhythm.  And on the ride home, I left the bike in a moderately high gear and forced myself to power through.  My thighs complained all the way.  I didn't set any speed records, but it was a good checkup and confidence-builder for my training plan.  It was also a good test of whether the new bike will help with Transition 2 (and not simply cut down my bike split).  My lower back actually felt much better after 30 miles on the new bike (still unnamed) than coming off the MacAttac.  I suppose the real moment of truth for the new bike is in 5 weeks at the Rumpus in Bumpass ...