An ongoing case study: I love working alongside dedicated athletes. Here are some insights into Xavi Estivill’s progress over the past 18 months.

One key aspect for us has been intensity control through regular lactate measurements. This has helped Albert gain a much deeper understanding of himself, and it’s allowed me to identify trends in his profile without needing to conduct frequent tests.

With that performance he has finished a mega first part of the season:

- 10km PB (36:14) -1'30 season PB
- HM debut (1h23)
- Half Ironman debut (4h32)

I’m very proud of Albert’s journey. We started with a 40-minute 10K and a 20-minute power output of 225W at 65 kg body weight. To put things in perspective, today he was able to ride 90 km at 195W (now at 60 kg) and then run a hilly course at 4:18/km pace.

Can’t be prouder of this guy! He crushed it with a 4h32 at Vitoria 70.3. We’ve been working together for over 1.5 years now. The last 7 months we’ve finally had uninterrupted training, after a challenging first 10 months marked by bike accidents and health issues.

Aaand the 10km Laredo prep continues.

Last Sunday we wrapped up the penultimate training week with an unexpected tactical 5k race—managed to squeeze into 2nd place after a 54” kick in the final 300m, finishing in 16:14.

Rounded out the day with 6x800m of easy LT2 (BLa: 1.9). 10 days till go time!

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach one of the sessions of the Triathlon course for Sports Science students at INEFC Barcelona. We explored physiological assessment in endurance sports from an integrative perspective.

Open water project, brutal weekend, mega team. The learning never stops.

Open Water Project, data collection day 1. Brutal day 🤝

@inefcat.bsky.social

It doesn’t matter if I’m in the middle of a base phase or a specific training block—I’m always loyal to the once-a-week LT1 session.

No need to be complicated: ≈35 minutes of total work, broken into intervals. I aim for a Borg RPE of around 11–12. This is always an internal load driven session.

2.5 years of running after a 4-year hiatus.

1. Ran 15:56 over 5km yesterday.
2. First overall win since 2016.
3. First time under 16 minutes since 2015, when I ran 15:54 at the Triathlon Catalan Championships. Back then, I was also swimming 1’12/100m over 1500m, among other performances.

The process continues: Pilot testing #OpenWaterProject ✅

Spent the morning at @canalolimpic testing the MOXY and heart rate sensors. Exciting times ahead as we move closer to the official start of this project! Grateful to be part of this journey—big thanks to everyone involved.

This weekend, we’re racing the 5K in Fraga. Today, we had a fine-tuning session on the plan to prepare for it.

Workout:
4 x 1km (3:06) / 75” rest
3 min rest
1600m (200m 3:20 - 200m 2:55)
3 min rest
3 x 200m progressive (32”)

BORG: 19

Let’s pray to the sub-16 min gods!

A highlight of the experience was the practical session in the hypobaric chamber at Bellvitge, where we simulated conditions at 5000m altitude and conducted the hypoxic test.

This experience raised many intriguing questions that I look forward to exploring further in the future.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to delve into the topic of hypoxia as part of my Integrative Physiology master’s program.

It was a privilege to learn from esteemed experts such as Jean-Paul Richalet, Ginés Viscor, José Antonio Calbet, and Anna Carceller.

Training is progressing well in the pursuit of a sub-33-minute 10K.

Yesterday’s session was a strong step forward, accumulating 30 minutes at LT2 with 5 x 6’ @ 3:45/km.

Today’s focus: RMT, heat training, and isometric work.

Learning while exercising ✌🏼

And now, I’m learning to code in Python while studying for my second master’s in Physiology, preparing my first lessons as a teacher, writing my first scientific articles… and trying to break 33 minutes for 10K. Busy times! 😂

Hope this few "tweets" serve as a presentation ❤️

Then, in December: Our communication titled “Can muscle oxygen saturation provide real-time insights into the glycolytic contribution during intervals in the severe intensity domain?” was accepted for presentation at the Young Researchers in Sports Sciences Conference, organized by UAB.

Also in november I was part of a research summit that took place in the CAR of Sant Cugat were I did a presentation highlighting the potential of NIRS technology in the context of artistic swimming. Link: surl.li/gjecsr