Does Physical Stress Hurt Work Performance?
Endurance Training Experiments In Rotorua, New Zealand
Is all stress created equal? It’s a thought that swirled around with me during the first stop of the World Tour in New Zealand several months ago. There’s a theory that one’s body and mind tap into the same stress management reservoir. In other words, work all day on a really cerebral and demanding project; and a person’s body will struggle to step out and put a huge workout down (performing at a baseline best). Vice versa for doing a huge session on the mountain bike and then trying to spend a rigorous day tapping keys on the ol’ laptop.
“Endure” has sparked an idea that I had to explore
Endure a book by Alex Hutchinson has kept me up a bit past my bedtime exploring this concept. Hutchinson refers to the legendary Tim Noakes and a study he did that found that people who were exposed to either a series of computer based challenges or a watched a dull documentary then both performed a ride to failure type of test on a spin bike had some confirming results.
Relieving some mental stress while following EWS Rotorua.
People that did the challenges prior to exercising noted that they experienced fatigue sooner and the perceived effort was harder than those that watched the boring movie. Both groups had the same heart rates and cycling durations. Rotorua, the land of working hard and playing hard was the perfect place for an experiment of my own.
The bright minds making Crankworx Rotorua happen.
During Crankworx Rotorua I put in big days and vast amounts of screentime. I’m periodically checking on projects from the moment I wake up until the final highlights and recaps go out sometimes as late as midnight. It’s exciting, cerebral and you guessed it: taxing on the brain - perfect for the first variable of this experiment.
Pausing to celebrate the festival on Slopestyle Day.
Now, for the body stress portion. A few weeks prior to stepping off the plane in Rotorua I had completed my first 50k Nordic Ski Race. I was fit and fresh from a week’s recovery. Ready to play outside. For my gear I had a wetsuit, mountain bike and trail runners at my disposal. Game on.
To test the theory I wanted to see which workouts would serve me best. What workouts could I do that danced on the line of achieving fitness goals and arriving sharp each day to work. I put a plan in place to test out shorter workouts before heading to big days at the venue, then doing the inverse: Two days of long workouts before working on some post-event projects.
Light Swim w/ Long Intervals
Hard Group Ride
Running with Short Bursts of Power
Running Slowly Without Structure
Light Swim with Long Intervals
10 x 75 meters at 85% of max pace - 50 meters rest between intervals
There are plenty of lakes to swim in around Rotorua. It’s dreamy. The one nearest to our little Airbn’b is Blue Lake aka Lake Rotuiti. There are two great buoy lines to sight off of. It might be a small detail but I feel more comfortable in the open water when I have smaller targets to swim towards rather than just aiming for the horizon. For this day of the festival, I took a solid 10-15 minutes at a relaxed pace to warm up and a 5-8 minute cool down. My body was feeling the fatigue. Shortening the duration from a typical hour but still working up to some harder efforts was the goal.
Verdict: Easing into the workout gave me the time and space I needed to switch gears and apply physical stress. The first long interval felt like I was dragging an anchor but after the recovery interval I felt sharp and ready to attack the day. This workout was a winner!
Hard Group Ride
2x 85% of Max Climbs, 1x Technical Descent Race Pace, 1x False Flat Time Trail, Cool Down
I set out for a sunrise ride with a few other strong riders on the team. We did a 400 Meter climb through slightly technical trail (“As You Do”, one of the best climbs in the area) at 85% of max then recovered for several minutes at the top. We rolled into a technical race pace decent on “K2” a gorgeous open descent with flow, tech and expansive views of the forest. From the valley floor we time trialed at max effort on a false flat through some non-tech flow trails like “Sweet and Sour” and “Dragon’s Tail”. For one final punch we did another 85% of max climb (up “Lion’s Tail” then a recovery decent to 80-90 cadence on the flats that lead home.
Verdict: This was a tough workout but pushing the pace energized me. To adhere to the high output I left most of my energy on the trail. Although this was a time efficient way to get a great workout in, my energy dipped around 3PM making my thoughts a bit cloudy and caffeine requirements shot up big time. This one might be best left for outside of festival time.
Ali taking a minute to enjoy the jungles of Rotorua
Running Slowly Without Structure
I’ve had my eye on running the Tarawera Trail since my first hike on it several years ago. It’s the perfect terrain for long distance running and the reward of finishing on a beach fed by natural hot springs isn’t too shabby either. Luckily, I have some amazing friends on the Tour that are always game for giving adventures a go. This run was a 15k point to point effort with no structure or intervals. We mostly ran at conversation pace over 2 hours and 20 minutes with an elevation gain of 740 meters. A water taxi picked us up at the end point so we didn’t have to save our legs for the return. Genius move, Totally Tarawera.
Verdict: While this was a highlight of my stay in Rotorua, the workout unsurprisingly doesn’t lend itself to productive afternoon thinking. Even-though the effort felt relaxed, I felt exhausted and in need of a snooze when I sat down at my keyboard later in the day. This one’s best left for days when not much mental brainpower is required post-workout.
Running with Short Bursts of Power:
Longer Trail Run session on the undulating green bike trails with 14 x 20 second sprint intervals with 45 second recovery.
My dear friend Ali and her pal from University joined me on a breathtaking run near Blue Lake. We set out on a rolling flat shoreline trail at a conversation pace and then opened up our strides once we hit the trails that skirted Green Lake. Pushing the pace at 20 second intervals we bounced through the red volcanic flow trails and returned along the other alternate side of Blue Lake. This is the second “long” session that I followed up with some project work back at my laptop.
Verdict: Although this wasn’t a long session in the traditional sense, the compound fatigue from previous days was noticeably accumulating. The continuous intervals of this workout left me feeling a bit more drained in the cool down phase but once I was showered, re-fueled (and re-caffinated) I felt calm, sharp and happily settled into an afternoon of work. This one’s a winner!
Although the outcomes of these “experiments” are purely qualitative and based on “feel”, it was a fun way to deliver a hot serving of some of my favourite workouts and the spectacular venues around Rotorua. If you’re curious and want to learn more about how stress affects our bodies mentally and physically these are a few cool articles:
Training Peaks Blog - Training Stress Vs Life Stress
NPR Health - Can Too Much Training Tax Athletes Brains?
Triathlete - Triathletes Suffer Better, Unless Their Stressed
What are your thoughts on stress? Leave me a comment!
Finding My Why On The Road
Looking back on some of the beauty and humour of training for an off-road triathlon and Ironman 703. while traveling with the Crankworx World Tour.
It was the eve of Whistler’s Ironman Canada event but I wasn’t dealing with pre-race butterflies or preparation stress. Rather, I was more concerned with if we’d brought enough food for an evening picnic. Lingering with a few friends after dinner the topic switched to triathlon. “Think of all those people that put their heart and soul into training and have a mechanical or can’t finish their race."
"What a waste," a friend said.
Another countered that it can’t be about the race day outcome. Think about all the experiences along the way. He was so right on so many levels. To celebrate the process, here are a few things I’ll cherish from my first season training for both an off-road triathlon and Ironman 70.3 while traveling with the Crankworx World Tour.
1. Watching The World Wake Up and Fall Asleep During Training
Most people that train in open water quickly discover the incredible privilege of pausing to watch the early morning pastels light up the sky while swimming. It still gets me in Whistler's Alta lake, every time.
But on the road, a few more things tickled me. First, on stop one of the World Tour aka Crankworx Rotorua, one of the broadcast days ran long and a big training run was in my plan. Armed with a super bright bike light and a few podcasts I explored the trails of the Whakarewarewa Forest at night.
The air was warm and Rotorua's lights flickered in a reflection of a few dimly light stars. But it was all thriller, no filler once I hit the trails. Wallabies, bunnies, birds and possum-like critters rustled and scurried.
I nearly jumped out of my skin three or four times.
Mid-run I found myself in area lined with tall sprinklers. 250 meters into the rows of sprinklers I read a sign that said something along the lines of "warning refuse sprinklers". Horrified at the thought of getting in the line of fire of poop spray I lunged into a sprint and set a PR back the way I came. But I survived, with a few funny stories and ticked the workout complete at the end of the night.
The Innsbruck city streets leading to nearby mountain bike trails
On Stop two of the World Tour in Innsbruck, Austria I set out for a mountain bike ride at first light to make sure I was back in time for our team meeting. Rolling through the city streets, I encountered throngs of club-goers leaving bars. Couples kissing, bottles breaking and general debauchery was the vibe. It was hilarious. After checking out a good portion of the famed Arzler Alm Trail I retraced my route back to the hotel. Only about an hour's difference and joggers, commuters, and street sweepers replaced the partiers. Zero evidence of the previous night's party. It was as if they were never there. A hysterical and bizarre changing of the guard.
Views of Innsbruck from the trails
2. Becoming a Terrain Reading Ninja
Ok, I have to admit this one is still a work in progress. But while on tour, there's always a time crunch on triathlon training. There isn't much room for navigational errors out on the mountain bike or running trails. My dilemma, I love seeing new places and working out over a full loop or out and back track. At each stop, I spliced together the Strava segment explorer, Sunnto Heat Maps and TrailForks to do my best to make training more fun. To tick all the boxes and bag all the views.
Days before kicking off Crankworx Innsbruck we had a chance to trail run to this spectacular view in Leogang, Austria.
On the third stop of the World Tour in Les Gets, France I found a mint trail in the bike park to do hill climb intervals. Taking into account elevation gain, type of terrain and length of trail I worked out that I could make it to the top as I clocked in my final set.
Enjoying the views from the top of Les Gets Bike Park
The views from the summit are stunning. As a treat, I picked what looked like a gentle blue trail to motor my short travel cross-country mountain bike down. I quickly realized that this mellow intermediate flow trail featured a number of gap jumps and proceeded to comically smash into the upside of one of the landings. Stans from my tubeless tire sprayed like a cinco de mayo sparkler all over me and the trail. My arm and ego sustained a bit of a bruise, but I was injury free. I often wonder if half of the adventures I set out on would have been achieved if I didn't have a goal race and training in the works.
3. Anxiety or Stress?
Elevated heart rate, hard work and discomfort. They're both characteristics of Anxiety and Stress. I've confused them so many times. What started out as a huge roadblock in my training became an innate connection with my body. I think back to the times I overheated on my trainer in the winter and gave up on my workout or felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest on an interval outside. There was something instinctual telling me to back off or else I might self destruct.
Winter training on my snow covered balcony.
When I unpacked the concept I realized I wasn't going to self combust. If I needed rest, it was going to have to come from more sleep, better fuelling and recovery. Not from quitting when things got tough. When I eased off and pushed through challenging workouts I felt indescribably stronger than ever before. There wasn't a moment but rather a collection of times in Rotorua, Innsbruck, Whistler and Les Gets that I recognized the anxiety and converted it into good stress.
The result of harnessing good stress on a Blackcomb Mountain Trail Run with Liz
4. Endorphins as Treats
Lastly, the time spent playing outside of structured training is now a sacred reward. Bike Park laps in Innsbruck, Yoga in Rotorua and hiking in Les Gets filled up my cup of stoke. Each activity, served as beautiful rechargers for my body and mind. These unstructured adventures kept me sharp and beaming with gratitude.
I can't wait to build on these moments, feelings and learnings for 2019. What wonderful and wild way to see the world. Are you training while traveling? Leave a favourite story in the comments.
Squamish Off-Road Triathlon Race Report
In July 2017, I raced the Squamish Triathlon's first off-road event. Here is my race report and some on course thoughts.
In May, Canada welcomed us with open arms after our wild 6 month adventure across New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia. Shortly after touchdown we experienced a whole new chaos: Getting ready for our wedding and reintegrating into Whistler life. To add a little structure into my day-to-day, I decided to pick up an entry for a new off-road triathlon in Squamish, BC. I felt a bit rusty getting back into the swing of swim-bike-run training, especially with so little time until race day. But hey, I love a good challenge. Here's a little recap of the race:
Alice Lake Swim Start
Swim
All smiles coming out of the water
Athletes don't choose Alice Lake for the water clarity. But, despite the water having quite the muddy hue, it's typically the warmest lake in the area. As for me, I had an awesome swim. The course presented some interesting challenges, however. For example, some of the buoys were difficult to sight against and the docks near the start/finish bottle necked the swim a bit.
But gripes aside, no real complaints from this girl. Why? This was a breakthrough swim for me! I managed to stay with the pack, steering straight for most of the lap. As an admittedly average swimmer (I'm working on it - Thanks Kristian!) this was an absolutely stellar feeling. To track my distance and visualize the data after the race I regularly swim (bike and run) with a Suunto Ambit GPS watch. It's a pretty sweet tool that I've come to rely on heavily to track progress. I have it set to sync to other platforms including Strava and Training Peaks right after my sessions. Below was my effort synced over to Strava:
A quick transition onto the mountain bike course and I immediately noticed the power difference between a sprint and championship distance. This round, the sprint had my lungs at a consistent burn. Plus, my heartbeat reverberated into my throat at every gradient increase. Type 2 fun at it's finest. I didn't change the set-up of my Yeti SB5 other than locking out the rear shock and adding a faster rolling tire on the back. Friends at Arbutus Routes helped me out with a race tune and the bike performed exceptionally well. If you're curious about how my bike's set up, check out the post I recently did on the Tales From The Trails Blog. For hydration I wore my little EVOC Stage 3L. I stuck to plain water and kept an emergency gel for the back end of the course. I found I didn't need much fuel - total bonus of the short course! Below is my bike effort on Strava:
A woman a few seconds in front of me through the swim to bike transition was sporting a number on her calf that indicated she was in my age group. I locked in on her and chased heavily in pursuit. We started on a wide-open fire road climb shifted into a mostly flat flow trail that gradually dropped off into another flat(ish) rooty and technical section. We then climbed on vibrant singletrack back towards transition. Such a lush forest! Just as I had accepted that she would be too tough the catch, the elusive leader pulled off onto the championship course loop. A photographer shouted at me "first female". I was already riding on a wave of stoke about my mid-pack swim but this was just unreal.
Lush forest of the Alice Lake area.
Screaming out of transition I turned up onto the "Loop The Lakes" trail and into the green room. I may have been moving too fast to truly appreciate the gorgeous surroundings on the bike leg but on the run it hit me, that tunnel of tropical green plants was incredible. This area has to be one of my favourite stretches of trail on the planet.
More Squamish trail porn...
While I may have been leading off the bike, a new podium contender blew past me as if I was standing still on the trail run. We were just about to hit the biggest climb of the course. I pushed hard to chase her but she slipped away. Trying to close the gap I opened up my stride at the top and resumed chase mode. After corkscrewing around the undulating downhill of the course I ultimately discovered I wasn't strong enough to catch her. But I held strong, beating out the surprise appearance of the third place finisher. Number three had silently caught up and crossed the line only an arm's length or two behind me. Such a thrill. For the gear on this section I kept my hydration pack on and switched into my new trail running shoes: the Speedcross 4 - they're ideal for my foot profile and mega grippy. I carried over the emergency gel and cracked into it about 2k into the trail run. I tried not to leave anything on the course but it's tough to operate in a constant state of red line. When I finished the run portion I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to keep going. Probably my best indication that my optimal distance is longer. Below is my run effort on Strava:
The sprint distance finishes so much earlier than the championship. I actually had time to spectate. There were so many people out there racing their own race, going after individual achievements. It actually gave me the feeling of a communal bond with our local endurance athlete community. The inspiration and emotion is contageous.
(On the Left) Dear friend, Liz Francis and I at the finish line.
Before any results were posted I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I couldn't dedicate as much time to training as I have in the past, so many of my efforts were gentle mileage. A mindful style of balanced training. There's something beautiful about going slow to race your heart out in a competitive setting.
Results:
Kirwans Hut - Welcome to the Jungle
On a high from the rugged beauty and raw challenge from bike packing the St. James Trail, we set out for Kirwans Hut just outside of Reefton, NZ.
On a high from the rugged beauty and raw challenge from bike packing the St. James Trail, we searched for another hut to explore on our journey to the North Island. We landed on the Kirwans Hut just outside of Reefton. The recent rain in the region made the climb a tough and boggy march. It was well worth it for the next day’s decent: Over two hours of loam surfing through mud and jungle.
Trail Type:
Singletrack with some unridable sections in either direction
Trip Plan:
We left mid-day and arrived just in time for dinner. Kirwans Hut was easily the nicest hut I’ve ever encountered. We're talking a mudroom, kitchen and double pain windows. In the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast waiting for the clouds in the valley to break, then returned via the same trail.
Elevation Gained:
1380 meters
Peak-a-boo view from Kirwans Hut
Kilometers Traveled:
About 28
Kirwans Hut
Weather:
Out: Humidity was high but we didn’t experience any rain.
Return: was hot and sunny.
Dan getting barreled in the green room
Company:
It was great, as always. We only had to share the hut with two other people.
Pack loaded, decent ready. Dan looking over the valley from Kirwans Hut
Bike:
Yeti Sb5c and Giant Reign
The Yeti Sb5c and Giant Reign ready to shred on day 2
TrailForks Heat Map Data for Sea To Sky Mountain Bike Exploring
A few weeks ago, I found myself wrapped up in some sweet, sweet data that the fine folks of TrailForks (a great trail map resource) rolled out in the form of Heat Maps. I uncovered some of the busiest trails in Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and the Sea to Sky as a whole. As a member of Team Arbutus, a grassroots mountain bike race team based in Whistler, BC, we are encouraged to share our adventures and biking thoughts on the Arbutus Routes shop blog: Tails From the Trails. The blog is a perfect avenue to shed some light on the new TrailForks feature. Check out the full Arbutus post here.
