Day 27: Force Tuesday!

Webb: Tuesdays are for getting strong.

Elle: Giddyup.

SWIM WORKOUT
500 swim
500 swim with pull-buoy
500 swim with pull-buoy & paddles
500 swim
total- 2000m

Webb: Since we are increasing our training hours again this week, we need to work in some more time into our swimming so we do not ramp up our run and bike training too much. Readers of the blog know this is our current favorite swim workout. I decided to tack on the extra 500 both to increase time in the pool and to see how we would react to a straight swim set after the first 1500m. Not surprisingly, I felt slow and tired. About 250m into the set I came around and finished feeling good.

Elle: I don't know if it was the day of rest, or perhaps these 2 videos that I watched before the swim set (Michael Phelps and also Effortless Swimming - How to eliminate 'Runner's Hips'), Brenton Ford suggests "squeezing your butt cheeks together" to help stay high in the water, and it works! I felt like I flew through this swim, even the last 500 meters without the buoy or paddles went well. Yeehaw.

BIKE/STRENGTH WORKOUT
Coach Troy's Spinervals Vol. 5 - Ultra Conditioning
~ 1 hour on the bike
~ 25 minutes of strength work

Coach Troy

Elle: We did this workout last week, and again, it's a winner. I took an hour break between swimming and getting on the bike trainer to do this. It's tough, but every time I started to fade, I just concentrated on Coach Troy's voice, and was able to push harder. Yeah, I have a little crush on Coach Troy, who doesn't?

Webb: Me? I mean he seems like a great guy and all, but I wouldn't say I'm crushin' on him. If we are going to talk crushes, I present XTERRA World Champ Lesley Paterson.

Definitely still a good workout. I was a little distracted by technical difficulties. My Garmin Edge kept losing speed and cadence and the Rival shifting was all over the place. I am overdue for an adjustment; still, wow, I never had these types of problems with Shimano 105 or Ultegra.