Brick Work...

As I have transitioned this month from 90% running/10% swimming to about 40% running, 40% cycling and 20% swimming I have relearned a lot of things I have forgotten about.

First? Brick work is hard work. Brick work is the term triathletes call combining one hard work out in a specific discipline, immediately followed by a hard work out in one of the other disciplines. The general idea is to get your muscles used to making the switch from one style of working out to another. Anything combined with a swim is usually a little less excruciating. However, pounding out some miles on the bike and then running hard hurts! I am not sure where the term "brick" came from, but I suspect it is because doing them makes you feel like someone beat you up with one.

Secondly? Bicycle seats were not made for men. I forgot how uncomfortable 3 hours on a bike seat can be. Forget world hunger...someone should do something about this major crisis!

Thirdly? Workouts longer than 2 hours are more about the mind than they are about the body. After two hours of hard exercise, everything pretty much hurts. The difference between reaching out for another mile of running or another 30 minutes in the pool when your body would rather eat pizza, drink margharitas and watch reruns of Gilligan's Island on TVLand is 100% between your head.

Fourthly? Endurance sports are lonely endeavors that give your brain an empty canvas and 42 buckets of paint to play with. Pounding out big miles and hours gives your mind a million things to think about. I have created 100s of businesses, started dozens of book ideas, told off 1,452,102 people for various slights and overthought a gazzillion other issues as I pound out miles. Therapy? Maybe! However, a shrink would be cheaper and faster!

Fifthly? I love it! I enjoy the whole thing. The technology, the workouts, the euphoria of hitting a wall and busting through it with some tunes blowing my eardrums out, feeling trashed after a six hour run, prepping for a race and talking about all of this stuff with people who are veterans at it or just getting started. If I could make a living racing for a living, I would have done it a long time ago! If you know of anyone looking for a 46 year old, slow guy for a professional race team that pays a lot of money (hey, new bikes are not free!) tell em you found them a solid candidate.


Enjoy your week!

E