Last week I did my 1st BRICK of the season and while it was a wake-up call (only 20 mi bike/ 3 mi run), it reminded me of why I love doing triathlons! In addition, as I continue to complete TheDorothyProject (yellow bricks) I keep thinking about how these two areas of my life are intersecting, which has got me thinking about exploring the term “brick” and how it has been used throughout both my art and sports career.
There are many different definitions that I use to describe a brick.
Triathlon: Anytime you combine two of the events of a triathlon in a single workout, either swimming, then biking or the more common, biking then running.
Art: Refers mainly to the work of the minimalist artist of the late 60’s and early 70’s, Carle Andre, Donald Judd and Sol Lewitt. Just to name a few.
Others include, a common building material that I have either used or seen used many times in my life to create structure.
Webster’s Dictionary says:
1brick
Pronunciation:
\ˈbrik\
Function:
noun
Usage:
often attributive
Etymology:
Middle English bryke, from Middle Dutch bricke
Date:
15th century
1plural bricks or brick : a handy-sized unit of building or paving material typically being rectangular and about 21⁄4 × 33⁄4 × 8 inches (57 × 95 × 203 millimeters) and of moist clay hardened by heat
2: a good-hearted person
3: a rectangular compressed mass (as of ice cream)
4: a semisoft cheese with numerous small holes, smooth texture, and often mild flavor
5: gaffe , blunder —used especially in the phrase drop a brick
6: a badly missed shot in basketball
On a Sunday one Fall afternoon when I was playing college football, I watched the rebroadcast of the Ironman and said to myself I want to do that one day.
I remember the first time I did my first workout geared towards the goal of completing a triathlon by going for a bike ride, hopping off and going on a nice easy jog. At the time, I was an experienced mountain biker who recently bought a rode bike to increase my fitness without the wear and tear of the trails on my body. After what I thought was an easy bike ride I put on my running shoes and headed out the door. Before I got to the end of the block I was saying to myself “what the $%$#@! How do they do this in a triathlon! After 1 mile, I was walking, but I was hooked. I realized at that moment it was going to take a entirely new level of fitness to achieve the goal of completing a triathlon.,. much less an Iron man. The next memory was the first time I got out of the pool and jumped on the bike. When the blood rushed from arms into my legs, it literally took my breath away. As I gasp for breath and my heart rate soared, I knew I would never look at any other sport the same ever again. These were the 1st of many BRICKS I would do for the next several years.
This took place prior to going to art school. While at art school, I began to race triathlon (sprints) and became interested in contemporary sculpture. Ultimately, I got my BFA with a concentration in sculpture.
So what is it that fascinates me about “bricks”? I have to say mainly it’s the idea of weight.
No matter what the context the term “brick” carries weight.
Weight, in all sense of the word, it implies gravity, work, struggle, craft, foundation, structure, material.
It is the rush you feel when the blood flows from area of the body to the other. You feel so heavy!
It’s the sound the bricks make when they’re being stacked and the sound your feet make as they struggle to run.
It is not prejudice. A 5 lb brick will be 5 lbs no matter who picks it up and biking 25 miles then running 6 mile is always a 25 mile bike and 6 mile run.
You always know where you stand with a brick.
Towards the end of the season as I prepare to race some of my favorite workouts will be bricks.
Here are a few
1.) Is what I call a “mega-brick”.
12 mile bike, 2.25 mile run repeat up to 4x, while holding Olympic race pace.
2.) Swim Brick
4400 yrds (800 yrd pyramid), then 44 miles on the flats out in Rockaway.
3.) The Test Brick (making sure nutrition is dialed in)
56 mile bike (70.3 pace), then 7 mi as if I was going to run 13 mi
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1 comment:
It took me a day to digest Monday's post before I could respond and now I have two to think about. :0
First of all, I want to comment on "bricks". I thought about your fascination with bricks whether they be the physical brick laying bricks or the ones you do for triathalons. I remember the art piece you did in graduate school where you took many cinder blocks and destroyed them with a sledge hammer. You "conquered" them just like you conquer the bricks for workouts. Scared or not, you never let fear stop you from doing something. It may take you a while to get going but eventually you just go after what you want.
When I think of bricks, the first thing that comes to my mind is something heavy, hard to handle, hard to work with. I have never been a strong person physically and bricks do not seem to be something I want to use or deal with for that particular reason. That brings me to this thought. You said the first brick you did for a workout hooked you to triathalons. While I am not physically strong, I consider myself a pretty strong person mentally and emotionally, so why I am I so afraid of the "bricks" and triathalons. Why am I so afraid to take that first step to becoming a triathelete? As you said, a mile is a mile is a mile no matter who does it. A race is the same distance for everyone no matter who you are. If I had to use heavy bricks to build a wall to protect my girls, I would push through the pain of them being so heavy and do it no matter what. So I guess to protect my health and well-being, I should just push through a "brick" workout and just do it. Don't let fear stop me. As the cheesy NIKE slogan says, just do it. I have to start somewhere.
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