Saturday Feb 11 |
 | Running hills 21:00 [4] | |
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| Out for a final morning run before weighing anchor. Did the main road over to White Bay with Annika and Mattias, then up, up, up to the top of the ridge on some muddy roads and then connecting down into Great Harbour from the eastern slopes. Total climb was just under 300m, which was a bit more than any of us had bargained for. |
| Running 30:00 [3] | |
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| This was the section of the above run that was actually not too taxing.
No swimming today - sigh. It was pretty windy beating back upwind to drop the boat in Road Harbour. Took a fair bit of water in over the bow, including one surprisingly good dousing that soaked pretty much everyone, even me back at the helm - unusual on a 40-foot boat. But it was a fun way to end the cruise....
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Friday Feb 10 |
| Swimming 45:00 [2] | |
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| Light recovery swim after yesterday's exertions. |
| Hiking 30:00 [1] | |
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| An easy hike on the beach and around the island trails at Sandy Cay - nice, sunny and hot. Managed to sit on a cactus during a photo stop - ouch! |
| Running hills 40:00 [4] | |
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| Doing the "tour" of Jost van Dyke. It's a solid 300m climb straight up out of the harbour to the top of the main hill, then more tough rolling, _STEEP_ sections up and down along the ridge to the west, finally down to Little Harbour and back along the coast road to Great Harbour to finish. Total climb in the 570m range I guess. Foxy's was just starting to grill the ribs, chicken and mahi mahi for the evening feast, and that proved to be way too tempting for us to pass up, particularly after a long run. |
| Running 39:00 [3] | |
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| This was the portion of the above run that wasn't pounding my HR > 90% max. |
Thursday Feb 9 |
| Swimming 45:00 [2] | |
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| Out to the entrance rocks back at Trellis Bay. And yes - Henrik's bag FINALLY arrived today. Way to go American Airlines...! Fortunately you don't really need much more than a swimsuit and a T-shirt to get by down here. |
| Swimming 30:00 [3] | |
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| More pathetic attempts at front crawl. A triathlon would definitely not be a good plan at the moment.... If not for the wetsuit I'd have been even slower too. Well, you have to start somewhere, I suppose. |
| Running intervals 15:00 [5] | |
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| Hilly intervals "racing" the Swedes around the ~1 km loop at Beef Island (handicapped starts to keep things interesting). Ouch, ouch, ouch. Going counter-clockwise the hills are tolerable, even at speed. But clockwise, the one big hill is almost a "walker". Still, nice to have some intervals - though I wasn't really planning on much speedwork until after I'd finished a good 6 weeks of "base". |
| Running 26:00 [4] | |
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| The section of the run that was either hilly (but not intervals), or otherwise at higher tempo. |
| Running 30:00 [3] | |
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| And the section that was of more moderate intensity. Still struggling to keep the HR down, and still struggling with dehydration, despite drinking 5+ liters a day. Even in Japan I didn't need quite so much fluids - but then I was a bit more acclimatized to the heat and humidity, I suppose. |
Wednesday Feb 8 |
| Swimming 45:00 [2] | |
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| Some easy swimming off the boat. |
| Swimming 30:00 [2] | |
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| And decided that 45' just wouldn't cut it, so a second "workout" (or was it more of a relaxing way to cool down?) was in order. It is a training vacation, after all. |
Tuesday Feb 7 |
| Running race 35:00 [5] | |
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| This was a hilly time trial - the usual route on Peter Island: White Bay - Ridge Road - White Bay, all on dirt roads. Time for the trial was 31:50, which (I think) is pretty good, particularly after pounding my legs all to pieces on Virgin Gorda yesterday. I'd have to look and see what Holger, or Tom Wallace, had for times on that run - maybe they have it somewhere. But I don't think I've (ever?) been below 32' for that run. The first climb (110m in 6 minutes) was tough today.... |
| Running warm up/down 15:00 [3] | |
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| Cool down after the run - I was way too hot to hop into the water directly.... |
| Swimming 45:00 [3] | |
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| A little higher intensity swim - trying to figure out how to do a decent front crawl without inhaling too much salt water.... |
| Swimming 45:00 [2] | |
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| And some easier swimming and enjoying the reef. |
Monday Feb 6 |
| Running hills 1:00:00 [4] | |
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| A tough, tough run up Gorda Peak on VG. This is the portion at intensity, mainly uphill. Total of 600m of climb (and of course 600m of steep, tough descent - ouch!). HR a steady 95% max on the uphill grind; much on paved/smooth surface, but the last 20 minutes on a narrow, twisty trail network approaching the peak. |
| Running hills 32:00 [3] | |
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| This is the downhill and slightly flatter sections of the above run - the HR was down but the pounding on the quads was up. Starting to feel tired about 75-80 minutes into the run but considering the intensity (plus the sun and ongoing dehydration) that's pretty acceptable, I guess. Have been making a point of drinking 4-5 liters a day (no, not all Carib beer either - mostly Gatorade if the truth be told), and still dry.... |
| Swimming 45:00 [2] | |
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| Luckily, some lighter training in the water makes the running a bit more bearable.... |
Sunday Feb 5 |
| Running 35:00 [4] | |
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| Incredibly tough to run in the heat and humidity - this wasn't meant to be a spectacularly tough run, but half was with HR ~90% max! Basically around the roads on Beef Island plus once around the hilly interval loop with the Swedes. |
| Running 35:00 [3] | |
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| And this was the portion of the run at "cruising" pace, which down here still keeps the HR way, way up. |
| Swimming 1:00:00 [2] | |
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| And it just wouldn't be a satisfying day in the islands without some water time! |