What a typical training day looks like for me:
Depending on the day, I usually wake up around 7-9 am and wander downstairs to get some water, breakfast, and coffee. After that, I will check my emails and social media before looking at my to-do list for the day. Depending on the weather, I usually head out to train around mid-morning. Before I head out, I typically do thirty minutes of school before making a route for the day, if needed, and then doing like 20-30 of stretching, core, and activation. If I have a longer ride also, I will prepare my ride food which could be just grabbing team products like bars and gels, but on other days I make some sandwiches, pancakes, or other fun snacks to bring with me.
If you have some ripe bananas but don’t want to make banana bread, a quick and delicious ride food is making banana, oat, and egg pancakes.
Once I head out the door, my training can vary greatly depending on the day. Some days are only one-hour rides, while others can be up to five hours. After returning from my ride, I usually need to wash my bike this time of year because of the rainy spring weather in the Netherlands. After cleaning the bike, I make sure it is ready to go for the following day – shifting, power meter, Wahoo charged, etc. From there, I grab a snack or recovery shake, depending on how hard the training was. After a snack, it is time to shower, get warm, make a proper meal, and do a little stretching post-ride. If I can, I will try to take a small nap, but that depends on when I get back from training.
This takes me to around 3:30 most days, and from here, I usually switch to my administrative tasks and school requirements. I upload my training and fill in the comments about how it went so my coach can analyze it. Then I switch to school assignments, my internship, race preparation analysis, planning for the upcoming months of training/travel, and checking what is coming up the following day. Sometimes I will have to do a gym session in the afternoon, but again, it depends on the day, like everything else.
By this point, I need a break, and it is close to dinner time for me. I don’t buy a lot of food at once, so I usually ride my city bike to the store and grab some ingredients for dinner. I enjoy cooking a lot, so I take my time at the store and cook a nice meal. I usually watch a show or something with dinner before returning to school. If I finish school and other obligations, I will go back to watching a show or reading a book to relax in the evening. I also enjoy going for a short spin on the city bike to watch the sunset when it is warm outside. Besides that, I think my day is finished with an evening tea and in bed around ten.
This is a typical training day for me when I am in one place, but recovery, pre-race day, and travel days are a lot different. In cycling, the day of the week doesn’t change anything, so it could be the weekend, but it doesn’t change any of my plans. Most of the time, I don’t know what day it is – I only know what training I have and if something is due for school.
It isn’t your typical 5-9, five-day-a-week job, but it is my job, and I am grateful that this is what I get to do for a living. Some days are better than others, depending on the weather, my training, what races I am doing, and how I am performing.
I hope you enjoyed following along for a day in my life! You can follow me on Instagram @meganjastrab to see what else I am up to. Hope you are healthy and enjoying the exciting racing this year!
All the best,
Megan
