Vacation Agrees with Me!

I wonder if anyone has done a study on the effects of stress on athletic performance and training. If not they should. I had an amazing week of training while on vacation in Montauk, Long Island. I love training in Montauk. Situated at the tip on Long Island, there are many beautiful miles of riding, running and open water swimming at your fingertips. I did not plan a structured week of training, but wanted to do at least one long workout in each sport before the week was out.

I took my bike out for a quick ride, just to put myself in vacation mode. Twelve miles later I realized that I averaged a 16 MPH ride at a HR of 143 up and down one of the most challenging climbs out there. Building on that little feel good moment, I went out for a four-mile run the next day. It was hot, but beautiful. I nailed the run with an 11:06/pace with my HR in Zone 1 the whole time and no walk breaks. I felt wonderful and refreshed. It was shaping up to be a great week.

I had 2 route choices for my long bike. One was a familiar loop to the lighthouse and around town. This is actually the course of the ½ iron distance that is held out here in October. It is very hilly with lots of climbing. I’ve ridden it before and just love getting out to the lighthouse. The second route would take me out of town on Montauk Highway. I’ve never ridden the route, but the appeal of it has to do with a 5 mile uninterrupted stretch of flat road. I don’t have many flats around my neighborhood, and I was very curious to see what I could do on such a nice open road. I chose the flats and decided to ride that portion as a time trial of sorts.

To get to the flat portion of the ride, there was a substantial climb out of town, so I was fully warmed up before hitting the flat. I hit my lap timer, shifted into a reasonable gear, and got down on my aero-bars. My cadence sensor is broken, but I tried to keep my legs focused on making big circles and estimated I was turning at 80RPM or better. There was a bit of a headwind on the straightaway and I kept my muscles feeling just a bit above the point of feeling pushed. I purposefully did not look at my garmin, so I used my RPE to figure out where my HR was. I could speak in a complete sentence; I knew I was right in Zone 1 or 2.

Lap 1: 5.04 miles, 18:12, 16.6 MPH avg/ 20.5 MPH max, 142HR avg/ 147HR max

I took a 1.5 mile recovery lap before heading back. Then rocked the back lap!

Lap 2: 5.06 miles, 16:11, 18.7 MPH avg/ 26.4 MPH max, 144HR avg/ 150HR max

That’s what I’m talking about! I felt great, so great I managed a 14.7 MPH avg over the hills of the next 7.5 miles back home and never let my HR get over 150bpm. The ride was a big confidence builder for me. 25 miles in 1:36:30, compared to my last long ride of 19.5 mile in 1:28:30. Nice.

Next up was my long run. Eight miles is hardly a “long run” for some people, but it would be my longest since March. I knew I wanted to stay on a reasonable course without any mountains to climb. I headed out starting on the same course I ran the 4 miler to build on that success. Historically on my long runs, I stop every mile to drink and take a walk break, but with the success I had going 4 miles straight a few days earlier, I told myself I’d stop only when I felt I really needed to. I checked my garmin at 1 mile at with an 11:20/ mile my HR hadn’t even gotten above 140 yet. I kept going on to mile 2 picking up the pace ever so slightly. I hit mile 2 at a 10:57 pace and my HR settled in at 143. The next five miles I ran a consistent 11:15 pace and my HR stayed between 143 and 148. I felt so strong that my last mile was my fastest at 10:55 (up a mile long incline!). Woo Hoo! I’m Baaaaaaack! 8 miles in 1:29:28, compared to 7 miler in 1:23:40. Sweet.

Clearly, vacation agrees with me!

767 days to go.