Two for Tuesday - Double the Workouts, Double the Fun

Two-a-days. I sound like a high school football player during pre-season. However, with triathlon training, two-a-days are the norm. How else do you fit in quality workouts for three disciplines?

I've had two a days since the beginning of the year. Usually Tuesdays and Thursdays because I can swim in the morning and either run or bike in the evening. Today was a typical two-a-day.

I went to the pool in the morning to get my workout in.

600 warmup
10 x 50 drill/swim by 25
5 x 100 with fins concentrating on good form - 15 seconds rest
5 x 200 negative split with the second 100 at race pace - 15 seconds rest
600 pull breathing 3,5,7,3,5,7
100 cooldown

I made it to right before the 600 pulling when my friend Jason walked into the pool area to chat with me. He's just getting into triathlons this year and is working through a bad hammie. So we chatted for a bit, 20 minutes. I was too cooled down to continue my workout. He was excited to talk about his training and I couldn't cut him short. If I was in the middle of a main set I would have blown him off, and I know he would have understood. I don't like to be interrupted during my workouts. I have a limited amount of time to get in quality workouts and I'm focused on the task at hand. No worries Jason. It was good talking with you this morning.

The evening workout was run focused. Check this out......

Run 1:00 total
Warmup 15 min - easy
10 x 20 sec - 6% Grade- or decent hill/ Hill Bounding with 40 sec recovery- think power
15 min steady
10 x 20 sec - Hill bounding- 40 sec recovery
10 min easy jog- Zone 2

Bounding? Then Coach Angela added these comments:
"easier to do on treadmill - take the rest..walk around..leave treadmill running"

I called her about this workout before. I prefer to do my hill workout.....on....well.....hills. Walk around leaving the treadmill running?????? She said yes you may get weird looks from people but if you do the workout indoors it's the best way to get it done. That part I hate is controlling the incline and speed to simulate the bounding that will reap the benefits of the workout.

I was forced inside this time due to the weather. Windy and rain was starting to come down.

So I went back to the Y for this workout on the treadmill. I warmed up and hit the first set of "bounds". I started at 6% but it just didn't seem step enough. I increased the incline and settled at 10% for the last 5 bounds.

For the second set of bounds I started at 10%. For the final 5 bounds I increased the incline 1% each 20 seconds. I finished the last bound at 15% incline.

Overall doing this workout on the treadmill was better than I thought. I didn't look around to see who was watching me walk around while the treadmill was running. No eye contact, I don't know people think I'm nuts.

When I got home I mapped the hill that I usually do my hill repeats on and it is a 10% grade. I knew 6% wasn't enough. I'm glad I upped the incline on the treadmill. The theory behind hill bounding is that the legs aren't abused as badly as regular hill repeats, especially the downhill portion. Not sure about that but I'm willing to give it a try.

So two good quality workouts for Tuesday. These types of days help me get my....

Game On.