A taper workout

Now we're settling into proper June and July weather. Cool in the morning, hot (25 C) by late morning, possibility of thundershowers during the late afternoon or early evening, then a nice evening. Nice, if you time your life well.

I'm feeling pretty good after the swims on the weekend, though I found it hard to go to sleep last night. I normally swim in the early morning, so it's my wake up call. Even after a shower, I can still smell lake. My left shoulder is a bit creaky, but I think that's from mostly swimming while breathing to the left.

I was out on my bike early today to do a 60 minute workout. There is a nice 4.1 K loop in my neighbourhood that's good for this. You only have to blow through one T intersection stop sign the good way, and make one left turn. The curving roads do all the rest. It's not quite flat, more of a gradual slope all the way down and all the way back. I was supposed to warm up, and gradually build every 10 minutes. And we all know how I suck at gradual builds.

1 - 9:52 (24.9 Kph) Warmup, nice and easy
2 - 8:15 (29.8 Kph) Picking it up a bit, still spinning nice and easy.
3 - 7:54 (31.1 Kph) Pushed hard.
4 - 7:51 (31.3 Kph) Pushed harder, fighting a bit of a stitch in my side. Don't normally get those riding.
5 - 7:59 (30.8 Kph) Backed off a little, and had a tough left turn.
6 - 7:50 (31.4 Kph) Pushed really hard, wanted this to be the fastest. Could have got a ticket in the school zone.
7 - 9:22 (26.3 Kph) Easy pedal, took off gloves, got out of shoes on bike in prep for T2.
All together 28.7 K - 59:05 (29.1 Kph)

T2 1:02
3K 18:12 My legs felt a little slow at first, then picked up. The middle K was 6 min even, and I think the last was even faster, but I'm not sure of the numbers. Stretched a bit, showered. Tapering is good. Planning the after race festivities.