my first brick

Today I did my first "brick."  "What's a brick?" you ask?  Well, it's the workout that prepares you for the actual triathlon - the part where you have to get off your bike after pedaling for quite some time and then run.  (You can also do a swim/bike brick to practice that transition.)   

"Why do they call it a brick?" you inquire further - well.....some people claim that it's because your feet feel like bricks after you get off the bike and try to run.  They might be a little right.  

It's definitely a weird feeling to switch gears after biking.  Today I biked from Riverside park over to Central Park and did one big loop (6miles) and 1 small loop (1.7 miles) and then back to Riverside and 72nd.  We had set ourselves up in a mock transition area and returned to our spots to switch to a 20-30 minute run.  I de-helmeted and grabbed some water and started off on a 10 minute out-and-back.  Of course our route was a hillier section than just along the river.  Since the Wildflower course is notoriously hilly, I better get used to it now.  Two of those and a few extra loops of the small track and we were done.  

So how did it go?  I feel good.  I'm not fast and I definitely need to get my running legs back in shape, but I feel good.  There will be many more bricks over the next 8 weeks.  Many, many more.....

My next challenge? - I'm gonna switch it up and go to the Int./Adv. swim GTS this week.  Wish me luck!