The Brick

Saturday is always long run day.  You've all heard me talk about the half marathons, the Zen runs, the hours I spend just enjoying my workouts.  Saturday I did a brick.  Yes, a brick.  What the heck is a brick?  Well, it’s putting workouts back to back so your workouts tend to be longer and more taxing on the body.  Ideally, you would want to align your brick with an event you are running… so for my upcoming triathlons I would swim, then bike.  Or bike, then run.  Of course, being ME, I decided to go completely in a different order and add a few things making it just one epic day of conditioning.  I started the day around 9 AM at Gold’s Gym.  We did Body Combat which is an hour of cardio, mostly plyometric movements and it was a great way to get my body warmed up.  The teachers were motivational and energized, the music was awesome, and the hour flew by!  I had a blast!

After Plyomentrics, I ate some food (nutrition details are below) while I drove over to Walnut Creek for an outdoor run that ended up being 12.57 miles.  There were some great people out for the day and it was a lot of fun!  It was icy on the first lap and Jim captured it for the group as we slipped and slid our way through the course. 

Video streaming by Ustream
Jim and I had way too much fun on the run and we stayed hydrated and fueled.  Jim ran 15.6 and I ran about 12 catching him after his first loop.  The Mud Mafia represented well today too!  Run DMC ran his longest run to date and he shared it with us!

Video streaming by UstreamWith my brick a little over halfway done, I had to head out to my gym for some bike and swim training. 

Feeding a Brick:

There is a great deal of planning that goes into a brick (at least when I do it) so that I have food and water with me to keep me energized and hydrated throughout the calorie burn. It's a great chance to prepare for how you are going to plan out a race day as well with high energy snacks and water.  My activities yesterday probably burned about 3000 calories and since I am not actively trying to lose weight I needed to make sure I accounted for those calories so I planned ahead and brought plenty of clean food for fuel! My body is already burning about 1200 a day so I didn’t quite equal out, but I got pretty close and had plenty of energy and ate well all day.

Breakfast:  1/2 cup Steelcut oatmeal, 1 TBSP flaxseed, 2 TBSP hemp protein, 2 teaspoon Agave nectar, 1/4 cup blueberries, 3 egg whites: 500 calories
24 ounces of water

Activity One: Body Combat/Plyometrics: 600 calories

Post workout: 1 TBSP Peanut Butter, homemade protein bars: 305 calories
24 ounces of water

Activity Two: Running 12.57 miles: 1300 calories
Mile six: 2 protein energy bars and blueberries: 300 calories and 8 ounces water
Mile nine: Ezekiel bread and 2TBSP peanut butter: 300 calories and 8 ounces water

Lunch: Sweet potato, chicken, quinoa, broccoli stir-fry, whole wheat pasta, 2 pieces of Ezekiel toast with 2 TBSP almond butter: 675 calories and 24 ounces of water

Activity Three: Biking 27 miles: 750 calories
Post workout: 1 TBSP Peanut Butter, homemade protein bars, skim organic chocolate milk: 405 calories
24 ounces of water during the ride

Activity Four: Swimming (unknown distance) 40 minutes: 300 calories

Activity Five: Back and chest weights: 100 calories
Post workout: 8 ounces organic chocolate milk, whey protein powder 2 protein energy bars: 470 calories and 12 ounces of water

Dinner: Clean Pizza, whole wheat pasta and marinara: 500 calories

Snack: Apple slices with dark chocolate and peanut butter: 350 calories

Total: 3050 activity calories 3805 nutritional calories 148 ounces of water