The Brick...

I was telling a friend about my brick workout yesterday. He asked me what it meant to do a brick workout. Well, I'm a technical being so responded with something like this: You do one workout followed by another workout with as little time in between as possible; basically, you kick your own a$$ in a short period of time for fun.

Well that did not satisfy my friend and he did his own research. Here is what we learned (paraphrased of course):

• Some dude from long ago would switch from running to cycling and he coined that type of activity a brick.
• A brick workout is one that is so tough you want to sh*t a brick when it is over.

I have participated in a number of triathlons in the past. All of the triathlons have been sprint distance races and I have always struggled with the running portion of the race. I never trained properly and have been extremely lucky to cross the finish line of all but one of the triathlons I have started. 

This year I decided to take the plunge and finally do an Olympic distance tri. Call me crazy (or call me maybe)... I am feeling overly prepared for the bike, fully prepared for the run and kind of prepared for the swim.

While preparing for this triathlon, there have been multiple things weighing on my mind. Here's a short list:

What I have been doing a lot of, contemplating. 

• What the hell did I get myself into. Seriously, I am going to run a 10k after swimming and biking? I have barely squeaked out a 5k in past triathlons that were much shorter in distance.
• How the heck am I going to get my car to the end of the race, my body to the start of the race, my running shoes down town, etc. I have never done a point to point tri before so I have no idea what to expect or how to prepare in this situation.
• Did I do enough brick workouts? Well, I already know I have not, but eh, my goal is to finish. Beat myself up over my limited bricks? Or just acknowledge the hay is in the barn and I am as ready as I'm going to be in this circumstance. 
• Do I really care about my transition times for this race? Yes, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, especially since my quickest transition time ever was around one minute and thirty seconds. This was before I started riding my bike with bike shoes, before I cared about fueling, before I knew how important it is to hydrate.
• What is going to be the best fuel for me during this race. Should I enjoy my granola bar during the ride? They always slow me down. Or should I rely on gu. The reason I like granola bars so much is that they make me feel full but not engorged. Gu can have adverse impacts on my body; just sayin...
• OMG, I have to drive to West Virginia a couple hours after the race (after I refuel on Pizza of course). I must be crazy!!!

So, those are the things that have been bothering me over the last couple of weeks. I haven't come to any conclusions on any of the items above (except that I am crazy), but I do know this:

 

Now it is time to eat well, hydrate, get rest and mentally prepare myself for another big brick workout on race day... 

Hmmm... Or am I simply prepared to sh*t a brick...

How I hope to feel post race!!!