Mini-Brick Workout

By definition, a brick workout is when you have a workout in one event or sport and then you follow it with a base workout in another event.  Brick workouts are popular with triathletes because it lets you practice 2 legs of a triathlon in one workout.  When I was on the college tri team, we would normally have brick workouts 2-3 times a week depending on where we were in the season.

What does this have to do with my half marathon training?  Especially since I'm only a week and 2 days out from my race?

Well, I had a mini-brick workout this morning.  I started with a 2.2 mile run on the treadmill (in my back up running shoes since I'm trying to keep my good shoes as alive as possible for the half).  After my run I let my heart calm down by focusing on my arms with some weights.  After that routine I got on one of the stationary bikes and spent another 20 minute bike workout to complete my overall workout.

Sure, when I was doing brick workouts for triathlons they were longer and more intense, hence the reason I called it a mini-brick.  It was still a good workout though and a bit fun considering I wasn't just on the treadmill staring at the TV or out the window. 

I will admit I was hoping for an outside run in the rain.  It's one of the things I'm missing from California.  I miss waking up to a foggy/misty morning and running in the fog.  The closest I'll get is running in one of the afternoon storms, but those usually happen while I'm at work.  We were supposed to have some morning storms because of the hurricane, but it looked like they came last night and there might be another storm moving in now... too bad.  I'll get my run in the rain eventually...