Last Week's Training and a Brick Workout

I decided to call last week a taper week - because my miles were really low.  The time change knocked me for a loop.  It just seemed SO dark and I had a really hard time getting out the door.  We also had Santa Ana winds with gusts of over 50 mph - NOT happening. I'll spare you all the details, I ran twice (14.01 miles), walked twice (6.01 miles), and rode once (10.31 miles) for a total of 30.32 miles. So far this week I have over 25 miles, so I think I'm adjusting.

This morning my plan was to go riding.  Les had a 7:00 meeting, so he couldn't go.  He mentioned going running when his meeting was over and I said I would join him, creating a Brick workout.  Bricks refer to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption in between, just as you would do in a triathlon (source.)

I headed out for my ride and there was no wind.  About 3 1/2 miles up the trail, the wind became fierce.  Since the trail isn't straight, the wind was constantly changing - from a headwind, to a tailwind, to a crosswind and back to a headwind.  9.42 miles later, I was home and the wind was getting stronger...

Les' meeting finished up and we headed out.  We were immediately blown around!  Since Les doesn't run often or long, I knew our route was going to be about 2 miles, I figured I could get through it.  The real "beauty" of a brick workout is how rubbery your legs feel on the run!!  We had one steep climb that Les went up without any trouble - I had to take a couple of walk breaks.  Then we turned a corner and were faced with our strongest headwinds yet!  We finished our 2 miles and I was ready for a break.

I do think this is another great way to train for a marathon.  Running on tired legs is going to happen during a 26.2 mile run.  I think riding 10-12 then trying to run 8-10 would be great practice, but for now riding 9 and running 2 was more than enough!