One of the more pleasant ways to disrupt a training plan!  My wife and I have been fleeing to Aruba over the February school vacation week. We first came down, nearly 20 years ago to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we returned 10 years later with out kids to celebrate our 20th, then about 5 years ago, it became an annual respite from Boston in February. 

This year, we tried a different hotel, a place called Bacuti and Tara.  It’s a lovely place. Very different from the crowded bustle of the high rise hotels. It came equipped with a very nice and airy fitness center, and about 4km of soft sand beach.

Sunday 2/14: travel day, no training

Monday 2/15: Run on the beach. 6km, no HR data. Hot!  Threshold intensity. 

Tuesday 2/16: used the horrifyingly bad knock off version of a water rower that they had in the fitness center. I lasted twenty minutes on it and then I retreated to a cross trainer for another 40 minutes. Whole workout was <150 HR. 

Wednesday 2/17: short, hot, hard run on the beach. Around 4km, about 26 minutes. 

Thursday 2/18: 60 minutes in the fitness center, this time 40 minutes on the awful rower, and 20 minutes on a stationary bike. All <150bpm. 

Friday: 7km run on the beach, 44 minutes. Started easy-ish, BRuth then Higher intensity. Threshold intensity, 7 minutes above 170bpm. 

Saturday 2/20: 60 minutes in the fitness center. Light and easy. 

Sunday 2/21: flew home. No training. 

The objective was to try to avoid losing too much fitness and enjoy myself. It felt like a good balance. It would have been much better if the rowing machine was a proper concept2, but all in all, that’s a pretty minor quibble.