Training Update

Tri training is going well. I was half-way to spin Monday night when I was called and told it was cancelled. Seems like a bit of wintery mix shuts down just about everything in St. Louis. It was nice to go home and sit on the couch with Eric. We’ve both been super-busy lately. He’s finishing his quarter this week and I am “tri-ing” to get in shape! So we enjoyed some wine and we chatted and read side-by-side. Shouldn’t every evening be like that?

Yesterday morning, I put on my swimsuit and bundled up. I scraped a bit of ice off my windshield and was feeling very proud of myself for actually going to the Y. As I pulled out of our complex a guy was running down the street–in 24 degree weather! I was thinking since I HATE treadmills and a run is on the docket for Wednesday, I guess that’ll be me too.

So I got to the Y and managed to convince myself that I’d left my cap and goggles at home. Then, I found them in an obscure pocket in my gym bag. Why do things have so many pockets? It is rough at 6 in the morning. I swam for about 30 minutes. I am not a natural swimmer. In fact, we haven’t gotten to the part about how to breathe or use our arms yet, so I improvised a bit. I mostly worked on several technique drills–keeping myself horizontal on the water and steam-lined. I only swallowed water a few times–so I must be improving! As I was swimming, I realized the race was in a lake. I wish the race was in a pool with plenty of room between swimmers and a clearly marked line down the center of the bottom. It’d sure make things easier. I am interested to see what it is like to swim in a lake. I’ve never done much more than splash around in a lake, so it’ll be a very new experience.

Tuesday night I breifly considered doing some biking, but quickly decided nope. I did set out all of my running gear.

This morning I set my alarm for 5am. It went off and I snoozed, then re-set it for 6am. I got up put on my gear and went out the door. My shoe snow chain thingies are awesome! I didn’t slip once. Fifty minutes later I was back home and the warm air in our apartment was burning my lungs. Eric took these photos.

I wear the bib so cars see me. It has lots of reflective tape on it–sexy, no?

I asked him what the temperature was. It was the coldest I’d ever run in. Watching the sky light up as the sun rose was beautiful though.

He said it was 11 with a windchill of 0. I’m officially crazy. The funny thing is, if I had to choose between a treadmill and cold weather, I’d choose the cold weather. I think I like running outside because there is a change of scenery. Also, I do better at judging my progress by eye-balling trees and promising myself I’ll take a breather when I get there–I usually don’t but knowing I can makes me feel better!

My donations are coming in steadily, but I’ll need more to meet my goal!

Peace,
^-^