General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Two weeks to go; Brick question Rss Feed  
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2009-07-26 8:44 PM

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Veteran
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Arlington, VA
Subject: Two weeks to go; Brick question

First tri, a mini sprint (400yds/8mi/1.8mi), is two weeks away.  This week, I’m going to add a few brick workouts as I get closer to the first race.   It’s about two miles to my local swimming pool.  I was thinking about riding the bike over, swimming a few hundred yards then biking home.  Hell, I could even hop off the bike and run some after getting back home.  After a very rough start with the swim and some rudimentary reacquainting with the bike, I feel like none of the distances are particularly challenging now (he says waiting for the lightning to strike him).  When putting together the brick workouts for the next week, should I be focusing more on distance or process?  I did one swim to run without about 10 minutes in between--not a real indicator.  Is it more about acclimating your body to shifting from discipline to discipline quickly or does the distance preceding the shift make a real impact?

 Thanks in advance for the sage counsel I always get here.  I appreciate it more than you know.



2009-07-26 9:03 PM
in reply to: #2309156

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Subject: RE: Two weeks to go; Brick question
IMO (but I'm NOT an expert) is that the main value of a brick is:

(1) you get to practice transitions under semi-realistic conditions (i.e., you are actually tired and trying to go fast)
(2) you get used to the physical feeling of going from one discipline to the other -- hence you are not surprised  (too much ) on race day.

So I'd focus on trying to get these advantages in your bricks.

My personal experience has been that I tend to go out too hard on the run after a bike -- it's almost as if I have the opposite of the usual experience that people report (needing some time to ramp up the run pace).  Bricks have helped me to gauge my proper run pace early in the run.
2009-07-27 11:00 PM
in reply to: #2309156

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Subject: RE: Two weeks to go; Brick question
Just wanted to pop in and wish you good luck!  I am doing that tri in Manassas, too, and it's my first also. Laughing
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