Another brick in the wall

My music friends would assume that this title refers to the classic Pink Floyd song, while my triathlete friends would assume I refer to the training practice of training on two events back to back. In reality it is a bit of both.

Saturday was a big brick for me: a 60 mile bike ride on rolling hills, followed by a 2 mile run. It wasn’t a very balanced brick, as far as bricks go, but the length of the bike ride made it pretty tough. At the time I was very pleased with the bike leg, but disappointed in my run in that I didn’t have much left. Looking back today I know it was a great training day. I didn’t have much left for the run, but since I only needed to run 2 miles, what did I expect? If I’d had a lot left in my tank it would mean that I hadn’t ridden hard enough. I should have had just enough left in my tank to finish the run, which is about what I had. The following day, my legs were very tired and felt heavy, but I was able to get out and run 10 miles in a record pace for me.

It takes a bit of time to ride 60 miles, no matter how fast you are. Heck in most places it takes you an hour to drive that. When I’m out there on my bike or running all by myself, I use my internal music library to keep myself entertained. Often a song I heard recently on the radio goes through my head, but last week it was “Another Brick in the Wall”. The lyrics don’t have much to do with my training or what I was feeling at the time, and this is where it all comes together. It was a brick, one of many I have done and will do in preparation for various triathlons. By itself the brick was just that, a brick. But stacked together with other bricks, cemented together with proper nutrition, speed work and other training exercises; it makes a wall. It’s taking a long time to build my wall, but when I’m done it will be fabulous. Tall to protect me against the wind, sturdy to withstand the pounding of the waves, and providing shade from the sun. I know it sounds corny, but when I’m 6 hours into the race; hot and tired and my mind starting to go fuzzy, I’m going to remember this song. I’m going to remember all the bricks and mortar that went into the wall and hopefully that will be enough for me to keep going.

I’m working on my wall, what about you?