The Big Brick is a workout I first heard about a few years back, when I first started to get into triathlon training with our local WATTS group. It takes the core concept of a Brick or multiple discipline workout and pushes it to the extreme. There are four bike / run smaller bricks as follows,

• 40 bike into 4 run
• 30 bike into 3 run
• 20 bike into 2 run
• 10 bike into 1 run

While simple on the surface, this does come out to 110 total miles, which is a substantial workout for any single day.

I decided to tackle this as part of my Washington Island Ultra training as I though the number of transitions would really help prepare me mentally to continually switch between bike and run.

The first loop went quite well, started in the 60’s and the temperature climbed all day long. I made certain to keep my watts in a place I thought I could manage all day, building my target for the race.

I was excited to start out on loop 2, getting back on the bike, I knew I’d only have 30 miles to go once that loop was completed. So I kept my mind on just pushing forwards, and not worrying about speed or power or time, just keep the pedals going. The mental game is so huge in a training event like this, especially when you’re out there solo for 8+ hours.

By loop 3 and 4 I was still quite enjoying myself, it as really nice to have each loop a little shorter than the last. There is quite a sense of achievement and that the end is in sight.

My biggest takeaway from the day was a the confidence that I need going into the final prep for the 24 hour race at Washington Island Ultra. My Solo Ironman from a few weeks ago left me feeling a bit under prepared, especially when it came to the nutrition part. This training day proved I could go that time and distance while still maintaining the appropriate levels of hydration and nutrition.

I’m now really looking forward to seeing what I can do in 24 hours. While I have set some pretty big goals for myself, with the right preparation and most importantly the right attitude come race day, I think I’ll be able to get there.

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Stats on the day:

5 hours 55 minutes on the bike to cover 102.91 miles at 17.39 mph & ~140 watts averaged.

1 hour 28 minutes running to cover 10.52 miles ~ 8:10 per mile average pace.

The entire event took just over 8 hours, from 6:07am to 2:19pm and burned about 4,000 calories.