Today will be sort of in-between day when considering workout volume. Little intensity, but still somewhat stressful given the duration of the workouts. I’ve actually taken off from work for most of the day, so today’s schedule is a bit more forgiving than usual.
4km open water swim — 10:30am
I normally do this workout in the early morning, but I decided to get some work done first and wait for the sky to clear. On some days I run to the lake, but today I opted for the bike. My ankles still felt a bit sensitive after yesterday’s workout. I guess I’m still not 100% recovered from my full distance triathlon two weeks ago.
The water in the lake is quite warm, but I still wear a wetsuit for safety reasons. Open water swims only make it into my training schedule during the summer as they are less effective for working on technique and speed. As a triathlete it’s critical to be comfortable in open water and there is much to gain when you’re able to sight effectively and adjust your stroke to the conditions.
This small lake allows me to swim laps of 2 kilometer, but the entire workout is supposed to be one, continous swim. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of this workout, although I certainly feel that these continous swims put a whole different kind of stress on my upper-body muscles. The goal is to just “cruise along” and I hit the beach after swimming for 1:10.
Visit the Tri-Run shop
I’m considering a new time trail bike and had hoped to view some models up close at the most highly regarded triathlon shop here in the Netherlands. Sadly their stock was pretty limited today (5 bikes or so) and I was told that their stock levels are pretty low in general. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to see and touch these big ticket items.
80 minute tempo ride — 7:00pm
Tempo bike rides can be done out on the road without much trouble (unlike high-intensity intervals), although the weather isn’t really cooporating today. This means another indoor workout. The only upside is that I won’t need to get my bike out of the trainer and swich out my rear wheel.
Today’s workout will consist out of several intervals ranging from 70% to 80% of FTP without any recovery. This might not seem much compared to yesterday’s workout, but this type of workout is quite taxing mentally. They are easy to recover from physically, allowing you to sandwich this ride between two harder workouts.
The workout went fine; I loaded up the first season of Marco Polo and made sure I hit my numbers. These rides are more about saddle time and paying your dues without introducing too much fatique.
Wrap up
That’s another two good workouts in the bag. Tomorrow will see a bump in intensity, so I’ll hit the bed early and rest up. See you tomorrow!
