Training Vacation

During this final stretch, I'm taking a vacation day each week so I can get in some more volume. Today was my first mid-week training vacation day and the plan was to get up early and do a medium ride and run. However, after feeling tired and beat up last night, I decided not to set the alarm and just wake up when my body was ready. Apparently I was even more tired than I thought because I slept until 9:40, well over 9.5 hours. I could have slept more.

The late wake-up led to a very late start to my ride but it was no big deal. I was on vacation. I hopped on the train and headed over the George Washington Bridge for my usual ride North on 9W. I was praying the Zipps would hold out on me and as I passed a bike shop right at the beginning of my ride, I couldn't resist stopping in to have them confirm I'd put the wheels on correctly. After this, I stopped worrying and I can honestly say they finally weren't on my mind.

The first stretch up to Nyack went very well. I averaged 17.25, but got caught in a downpour so I had to ride cautiously on downhills and curves. I planned my stop in Nyack to be super fast, just enough time to go to the bathroom and grab a Gatorade. But the rain started up again and was moving rather quickly to the East so I decided to wait it out a bit. I grabbed a muffin and chatted with the only other cyclists there on a Wednesday afternoon. I'm so glad I did because they gave me a route to avoid Haverstraw where the roads are narrow and the traffic horrible. When the rain let up I headed out on the new route.


It turned out to be fantastic. Not only were the roads nice, quiet country-like roads lined with trees, nice houses and eventually fields and apple orchards, but they were hilly and challenging as well. I can take this route even further and think I'll do that this weekend. It's so nice to get off the highway and ride some quieter roads.

I got home rather late and immediately did my run. My calf was not 100% so I kept the pace light and easy. It was getting dark and the view of the city was beautiful. I was feeling really good after my extra sleep and a solid training day. I'm going to keep prioritizing sleep this week and hope it gets me back on track.

Biking
Distance - 61.46 miles
Time - 3:59:10

Running
Distance - 5.01 miles
Time - 44:47