Running on post-bike jelly legs
Written by Fiona
April 29 2010
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So I’ve entered the Peebles Triathlon. I’ve been swimming once a week with Glasgow Tri Club and finally I’m seeing some improvements. I’m not quite “dolphin” yet but I am less “clothes in a washing machine”. Sometimes I even enjoy a length or two when I feel I’m getting the pull of the stroke just right.
And I’ve also been trying a couple of “brick” sessions. That’s going from a bike ride straight to a run. Today I cycled for almost an hour and then ran for 25 minutes. The problem with running straight from the bike is jelly legs. I also had very tight hamstrings.
So to keep my mind from the pain and frustration of running on jelly/tight legs I started thinking about why this session is called a “brick”. I wondered if it was because your thighs, hamstrings and calves feel like bricks? Then I tried to work out the words for a B.R.I.C.K. acronym. Bike Run Is Copiously Krap. That was the best I could manage in my weakened state.
It turns out that it was a duathlete Dr Matt Brick that first coined the phrase after becoming an advocator of bike-run and run-bike training sessions.
The advantages of this type of training for both duathlete and triathletes is obvious. If you’re going to have to do something in a race to the best of your ability then it is best to train for it. Brick sessions have the benefit of specifically training muscles and, psychologically, it helps to know that at some point your running legs will come back again.
Today I felt tired for almost all the run. But last time I felt tired for all of the run. There are six weeks left until the race so I hope I have left enough time to toughen up my jelly legs. “Bricking it” comes to mind!