Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Dramatic Brick

Last night I did my first true brick workout (moving from one sport to the next with no break) - and I think I understand why it's called a brick. By the time I was done, I felt like my legs were made out of bricks!

I decided to make my workout exactly half the distance of my upcoming duathlon (which will be a 2 mile run, 10 mile ride, 2 mile run).  I set off on the first run leg and was feeling pretty good and my watch proved it


Cold, rainy weather and darkness dictated that the bike portion of my workout be done on the trainer in my basement.  As soon as I burst through the back door, I ran downstairs, pulled on my cycling shorts, and jumped on the bike for 5 miles. Almost immediately I could feel the effects of having run a fairly fast mile before hand.  My legs felt heavy and it took quite a while to settle into a comfortable cadence/speed/gear combination and then maintain it.  Overall though, I was pretty pleased.


I switched back to my running shorts, grabbed my jacket, and ran up the stairs and out the door for my final leg.  At first, it felt like I was running on air. My legs were pretty numb from riding, so it felt pretty easy.  That didn't last long.  Within 3-4 minutes, my legs felt like, well, bricks. My pace slowed down and I had to argue with myself for the last half a mile to keep running. 


Overall Time: 36:19


I hit 'Stop' on my watch and reached for the zipper on the pocket containing my key and discovered that it was partially open and my house key was nowhere to be found!  I searched all of my pockets, hoping that I had stashed the key in a different pocket than normal.  Nope.  There I was; a tired, sweaty mess. The Husband wasn't home and I didn't have my phone.  I was NOT happy.  Fortunately, The Husband was enjoying an after work drink with some friends at the bar up the street from our house.  I dragged my sorry self up there, feeling like a total moron, and praying that they hadn't decided to go somewhere else since the next option for getting into my house was a 2 1/2 mile run to my mom's house!  Fortunately, The Husband was there and the other guys were kind enough not to laugh at me too much for being an idiot.  We got home, looked for and located the missing key, and I collapsed onto the couch for the remainder of the night.

Hopefully my next brick won't have such a drama-filled ending!

4 comments:

Megan said...

Haha! Oh that sucks! I hate being locked out! you need a code for the garage door and hide a spare key out there. We have a detached garage, so that what we do.

But that sounds like an insane workout but you totally killed it!! Seriously dude! 36 minutes and almost 20 miles! Congratz!! Keep up the good work. You're my inspiration for my training toward Warrior! :-)

Mary said...

It was only 7 miles (1 mile run/5 miles bike/1 mile run). If I did 20 miles in that amount of time, I would be a human roadrunner!

I'm glad I inspire you, but you don't need it. You're going to kick ass at Warrior!

BeringSeaJunkie said...

Congrats on completing your first 'Brick' training session!! Can't imagine what was going through your head when you couldn't find your house key... on top of having legs feeling like bricks...

I'm sure you're gonna kick butt!!

Unknown said...

Late arriver here! Hola!

Wow girl, you are a trooper! I did have a little laugh at the key story though, you should have had a glass of wine in the bar after all that!