My first brick.

Well, today was the day to do the first brick workout! What is a brick workout you might ask? Well, it is a workout where you bicyle for a bit and then switch to running for the second half. Why would you want to run you may ask? Well, I have got this crazy idea to do a triathlon in my head. I figure I will be a bit like a fish out of water, or a fish in water, Or a fish in water and then out of water on a bike and then running, whatever. I am training for a triathlon. I figured it was probably the best way to take off this extra weight I have and make me a lean mean randonneuring machine (who also swims and runs on the side). Anyway, to do this I am getting back into running and am spending a few lunch hours a week at the pool working on my freestyle technique (amazing how much faster better technique can make you go).
Anyway! Today I drove over to the corner of Crismon and Signal Butte to do my Brick. I drove because I figured I would need some place to stash my bike while I ran. Of course when I was pumping up my tires just after 5 am I noticed a wobble in the back wheel. So off came the wheel, out came the chainwhip and I adjusted the bearings in the hub. Putting the wheel back on my smallest sprocket was rubbing the frame! So, more than an hour later I finally had the thing working (dang that sram cassette!) and I was off!
On the bike I was off at a good pace and down in the aero bars again. In no time I was at the turn up to Usery Pass. I was very pleased to see that I was able to hold 11 to 12 mph all the way up even if I was on the edge of being out of breath. Usery pass is a long climb and has many fake tops so it is a good one to train on. As I do more of these workouts I will probably build up into repeats when I get better at managing energy while running. Turning around at the top I cruised back down the way I had come up. I really like descending this hill as you can maintain 25-30 mph for a long time descending it. At the bottom I had to stop briefly to wait for a car to clear the intersection before turning and heading down to my car.
Having heard that the transition from bike to running does a real number on the calfs I started spinning and doing on bike calf stretches on approach to the car. It seemed to work as I had no cramping or pain in the legs when I started running. I just had tired legs to deal with but I get that feeling whenever I start running. The trail I had chosen was uphill so ocassionaly I had to walk a bit to get the heartrate down. All told I did 8 hilly miles on the bike and 2.5 hilly miles running on a pretty hot morning. Next time I want to get out earlier (assuming no mechanicals).