Moving bricks

This morning we had our first official brick workout of the season out at Texas Motor Speedway. As our training is ramping up in the new year, we will be doing more and more workouts that simulate a triathlon. A brick workout is when you ride and then run immediately following. The reason it is called a brick is because after transitioning from the bike to the run your legs literally feel like bricks. It's an odd feeling; you know you're body is going forward because you pass things on the road but it does not feel like your legs are moving because they are so heavy. It is almost as if they are filled with sandbags or cement.

Today we rode 15 miles and ran three miles. And while it felt like my legs were hardly moving at all on the run, my watch was good indicator that I still kept a 9:30 pace. As we continue our training, the bricks will get longer and longer in preparation for the 56 mi ride/13 mi run we'll be doing in Galveston come April.

This weekends workouts have proven to be intense. Gearing up for the CowTown half marathon, I ran 9 miles Saturday morning and followed it with our team's swim workout. In the pool we were timed for a 300m race swim and I was pretty happy with my results, finishing under 5 minutes at 4:49 two times in a row. That swim time is an improvement over my October tri, where I did the 300 in about 5:30. I guess I'm doing something right and my work is paying off! Seeing such time improvements motivates me to continue the hard work and keeping aiming high.

Fighting the winter blues

I did something this afternoon that I haven't done much of lately. I rode my bike. With all the cold weather we've had and the short winter days, my poor bike has worked more as a dust collector than a training tool. I've also been focusing a lot of my winter training on running and am gearing up to run my first half marathon at the end of February. I realize my event is fast approaching, however, and I don't want to let my cycling muscles go into atrophe. So this afternoon I decided to get in a ride before dark.

It was great - just me and the wind. Just like old times. It brought back memories of my afternoon rides that I took often in the summer, the ones where I had no one on my tail telling me to slow down and no one in front telling me to go faster. I love my solo rides. They are a great time to focus on speed work and building my base all while being able to just enjoy the smell of crisp air, the sound of silence and forget about any of the days worries.

Training in the winter has proven itself to be more challenging than I suspected. It is hard to get out in the cold and additionally it is hard to avoid all of the holiday goodies and good times. But with my Half Ironman just four months away and all of the Christmas treats eaten, I have re-focused and am ready to get back to business. The challenge that I'm finding with triathlon versus cycling is finding the time to get in all of the training. Focusing on one sport is much easier than trying to be good at three. However, the training is also more fun because of the variety. I find myself getting less bored which makes it easier to push myself to get in my workouts. I have a couple of events that I'll be participating in before the Half Ironman - the Cowtown Half Marathon and the St. Patty's Day tri. With more work, a few more solo rides and a little less chocolate I'm determined to make it across the finish line.

Why am I doing all of this? I'm raising money to fight cancer for those who cannot. Make a donation today and make a positive difference in someone's life.