The Brick

I completed my first brick workout for my Ironman training today. It wasn't a very long one, but I'm happy that I have one under my belt. It was a 55 mile bike followed by a 15 minute run.

What is a brick? A brick in triathlon is basically a workout including two or more disciplines in a row. You may do a swim followed by a bike; a bike followed by a run; or even a swim followed by a bike, followed by a run.

How often should you do bricks? Some people are under the misconception that brick workouts need to be done every week. However, this is not true. In my opinion, doing bricks every week is too often. Bottom line, they are too hard on your body. You'll get much of the same benefit with reduced risk of over training by doing bricks every other week or even every 3rd week.

What intensity should be used for brick workouts? The intensity should match the purpose of the workout. For example, if the purpose of the workout is endurance then HR zones 1 and 2 would be appropriate. Additionally, you may vary the intensity of each discipline. For example, the bike may be done in zones 1 and 2, and the run might be done at race pace giving you a nice endurance and muscular endurance workout combined.

How long should brick workouts be? Start short and get longer as you progress through your training cycle. Make it simple as total training volume increases, increase the distance of your brick workouts. Build toward distances just short of your race distance.

Participating in races less then your goal race distance is a great form of brick training. When doing this, just don't be tempted to race hard if that is not the ultimate goal of that day's brick workout.

Top 10 ways to know if you're a triathlete

As it's Friday, I thought I'd do something fun on my blog, so here are my top ten ways to know if you're a triathlete:

10. You have goggle rings around your eyes.
9. You keep a stick of Body Glide in your car just in case.
8. You don't understand why other people don't think it's fun to get up at 5 AM and go for a run.
7. You have a special cabinet in your kitchen for your nutrition supplements and water bottles.
6. You can't wait for your next issue of "Triathlete Magazine" to arrive.
5. You own special socks that are just for running or cycling.
4. It turns out it's not just socks. You have A LOT of special clothes that are just for running or cycling.
3. You have "Slowtwitch" bookmarked on your web browser.
2. When you think of bricks, you don't think of building materials.
1. You'd rather be swimming, biking, or running right now!

And my workouts . . .
Wednesday - 3000 yard continuous swim. Swam at an easy pace. Very relaxing workout.

Thursday - Not such a relaxing workout. Road my bike in the trainer for an hour and 20 minutes. Included 10X2 minutes at hard resistance keeping my cadence above 80rpms. Very tough workout.

Friday - Logged my longest swim workout so far at 3500 yards.

Speedy Henry

Sunday, I ran 6 miles on the treadmill, because it started raining just when I was getting ready to go outside. After about a mile on the treadmill, I was wishing I had run outside in the rain.

Monday, I road an hour on the Computrainer. Making some progress on smoothing out my pedal stroke from where it was a couple of months ago. Very happy that the bike is getting easier, as when I started my Ironman training, an hour ride was really tough.

Tuesday, went to the pool in the am, got in as many yards as I could in 40 minutes, which turned out to be 2900 today. Got a little side tracked with my workout, as a lady at the pool was begging me to come to the AM outdoor lap swimming sessions which start after Memorial Day. She was afraid they won't open up the outdoor pool in the morning if enough people don't show up. She even offered to bring bagels for breakfast occasionally. Obviously she really likes swimming outside! Tuesday PM, I went to speedwork for a workout of 5X800 @ 10K pace. Total mileage for the night was about 5 miles.

Henry had fun at speedwork tonight too. He ran a lap around the track, which was nothing compared to the 3 laps he ran last week. Now he's eating his snack and then going to bed. Yes, we have his sleeping schedule straightened out, and I'm happy to report that everyone in the Clay house is now getting enough sleep again.

Off to walk the dogs. Should I include that in my training mileage?

Epiphany Race for the Starts

This morning I rode 20 miles with the training group and then rode another 30 on my own. Felt great during and after the ride. I can really tell that my endurance on the bike has improved during my first four weeks of training. I hope this trend continues.

This evening I ran the Epiphany Race for the Stars 5K with my husband. This was the first race in the Big River South City Racing series. We took turns pushing Henry in the jogger. The course was pretty hilly, which made it fairly challenging with the stroller. We thought we were doing pretty good and at mile 1 we got passed by a man pushing a double stroller. We later passed him at mile 2, and he was walking. I guess that stroller wasn't as easy to push as he thought! It was a beautiful evening and the race was fun. The good news is that my knee seems to have survived the hills. Keeping my fingers crossed that my days of knee pain are far behind me.

Today was an easy day, kind of

Yesterday, I did 3000 yards in the pool. Today was suppose to be an easy day with 2000 yards in the pool, but it actually was a challenging workout, because it was my 4th day in a row of swimming. I haven't swam 4 days in a row for at least 10 years. Looking forward to a beautiful weather day tomorrow for my long bike.

Change is good.

I had a great bike ride today. It was so nice to be able to ride my bike over to Grant's Trail. As I've lived on a gravel road for almost 5 years until just recently, I didn't have the luxury of just heading out on my bike from home.

My bike workout for today was 20 miles with 6 X 5 minute time trial efforts. I never really hit what I would consider to be a time trial effort, but I came pretty close on the last three, so I was happy with the workout.

Tonight, I headed to the pool for a 2500 yard workout. I was glad when tonight's swim workout was over, because it was the last time I have to do that workout. I've been doing it every Tuesday or Wednesday for 4 weeks, and it was a very boring workout. Next week, I'm onto a different workout. Can't wait for a change!

I feel the need for speed

Tonight was the first night of Big River's speedwork. The workout was 8-10 X400 @ 10 K pace. My Ironman training plan does not include speedwork, but I love going to these workouts, and I also think speedwork is an important part of any training plan.

When training for endurance sports, most of our training is done at a nice conversation pace (HR in zones 1 and 2). However, speedwork is also very benifical no matter what distance race you are training for. No matter if your a cyclist, runner, swimmer, or triathlete, make sure you include some faster work in your training plan.

Unfortunately, with speed comes the increased risk on injury. You can reduce your risk of injury by warming up and stretching before your workout. Easing into speedwork. Start with slower work and gradually build into faster work. Finally, don't forget to cool-down, stretch, and ice after the workout.

Last but not least. The ultimate goal of speedwork is to hit a consistent split everytime. Speedwork does not mean sprint, rather think of consistency and control.

Start of week 4

Met with a new client, Susan, tonight. I'm going to be helping her with her cycling. She was great. She is a mother of 7, who started doing triathlons last year with her oldest daughter. She's a very good athlete and has the potential to be at the top in her age group.

Friday, I had a swim scheduled, but didn't get it in. Happy to say, I made it up on Monday.

Saturday, I rode 12 miles with the training group, then ran 2 miles and then hopped back on my bike for another 23 miles.

Sunday, in the morning, I ran 5 miles with my husband. Great progress! In the afternoon, I headed to the pool for a 2200 yard set.

Monday, I did 2000 yards at the pool and road Grant's Trail with Susan for 16 miles on the bike. The bike workout wasn't as scheduled, but it's all part of balancing coaching with training and the rest of life.

Today marked the 4th week of my Ironman training. I'm happy to say that I haven't missed a workout yet. A few workouts haven't been exactly as planned, but I'm happy with how things are going. I've got one more fairly light week this week and then my mileage will start to climb. If my knee holds out, and I continue to get most of my workouts in, I think a finish at Ironman Louisville is definitely acheivable.