Brick

This term became popular among the crowd attempting to port Linux to the HP iPaq as downloading custom firmware required strictly following the procedure given by HP with their Linux release.

In the context of triathlon training, a brick is any training session that combines more than one of the three disciplines with minimal or no interruptions between. The most common brick is a bike/run combination because this transition is generally considered to be the most challenging.

The origin of the term is the strange, heavy feeling many experience in the legs when they switch from biking to running. (Personally, I would have named it Jell-o, but there are probably copyright problems with that.)

The purpose of a brick workout can vary. Obviously, it's a good preparation for the race and allows the athlete to simulate race conditions. Bricks can also be used for overall aerobic endurance or to prepare for certain aspects of the race. For example, a brick with the emphasis on a long bike ride would help prepare the athlete to pace a ride appropriately so as to be able to still run afterwards.

Brick (?), n. [OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger. origin; cf. AS. brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique piece, brique de pain, equiv. to AS. hlafes brice, fr. the root of E. break. See Break.]

1.

A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried, or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp.

The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians. Layard.

2.

Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick.

Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick. Weale.

3.

Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a penny brick (of bread).

4.

A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick

Thackeray.

To have a brick in one's hat, to be drunk. [Slang]

⇒ Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red.

Brick clay, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks. -- Brick dust, dust of pounded or broken bricks. -- Brick earth, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making, bricks. -- Brick loaf, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in shape. -- Brick nogging Arch., rough brickwork used to fill in the spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick filling. -- Brick tea, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea, steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. S. W. Williams. -- Brick trimmer Arch., a brick arch under a hearth, usually within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against accidents by fire. -- Brick trowel. See Trowel. -- Brick works, a place where bricks are made. -- Bath brick. See under Bath, a city. -- Pressed brick, bricks which, before burning, have been subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks.

© Webster 1913.

Brick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bricked (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Bricking.]

1.

To lay or pave with bricks; to surround, line, or construct with bricks.

2.

To imitate or counterfeit a brick wall on, as by smearing plaster with red ocher, making the joints with an edge tool, and pointing them.

To brick up, to fill up, inclose, or line, with brick.

© Webster 1913.