October 4, 2011

Redlined to Relaxed

Posted in Life tagged management performance, normal, opportunity, perspective, redlined, relaxed at 3:54 pm by lindaslongview

It’s been awhile since I have had time to blog. First it was a new job and finding my way around, then the broken toe and the recovery process, and then just the usual drama when associated with raising teens…

I’m taking a break week between jobs. It wasn’t that I wasn’t satisfied in my last job; it was truly that a better opportunity found me. Because I believe that I will cultivate more positivity with the newer opportunity, I made the change. And I got a week to relax, rejuvenate, and blog…

Over the prior two weeks, I wanted to be sure that I had left my old gig well, completing technical reports, effectively transferring knowledge and information, and reinforcing the positives with my many wonderful colleagues. Although it probably looked “effortless” to those around me, it took time, effort and was quite stressful.

Being the data junkie that I am, I was delighted to see that the effects are measurable. When I reviewed my heart-rate (HR) results from my regular Sunday runs (which are essentially the same week-to-week, 6.8 miles in about 1 hour exactly), clear differences emerge when reviewing time spent in each HR zone over the duration of the run:

Three weeks before my last day –> Normal:

The week before my last day –> Redlined:

The week after my last day – Relaxed:

The more detailed data shows that normally, I am running about a 9:00/mile pace, and get near 7:00/mile pace at the end of the run when I sprint the last few hundred yards. Even though my heart was working harder when stressed, I was actually going SLOWER. When relaxed, my heart was working less and I was going FASTER (just a little).