I said...Burrr...It's cold in here!!!

Again, I've been slacking on my blogging.  Apologies to those of you who are keeping up. I've heard several people wondering how to get an e-mail notification when I post.  Unfortunately I don't think this is something you can do as a follower.  I can, however set up this blog to send a notification an e-mail every time a new post is made.  If you're interested - let me know (somehow...not necessarily through the blog) that you would like to receive post notifications.

On to the fun stuff…Jen is done with cancer treatment!!!  Ok - not totally done (you're never done once you've been diagnosed), but her last radiation treatment was a week ago.  I know she’s excited to feel in control of her body again, and it's great to think about what the next few months hold - looking forward to a fun year and beyond. 

I had missed the last 2 official TNT trainings leading into last weekend.  Not that I haven't been doing the work - I just didn't make it out to BFE (bum-fart-Egypt...AKA, outside the 435 loop) to train with the team for those trainings.  I missed a swim clinic (that I could have probably used), and a COLD 10mile ride.  I knew I had to make it to the next one being the first brick training of the season.  A brick (for those of you unfamiliar) is when you practice the most important transition in triathlon – bike-to-run.  I’m still not 100% sure why it’s called a brick, but perhaps it stems from the fact that when getting off your bike - running feels like Wylie Coyote mistook you for the roadrunner and replaced your legs with 40lbs of ACME product.  Regardless of the Warner Bro’s antics – I was going to make it to training….beep-beep! 

I think the multi-sport gods had decided to punish me for missing that first cold bike ride.  Knowing I’d be on my bike early in the morning – weather became an important player in how this training would go.  I began checking the weather all week, with mixed reviews.  I watched Lezak and/or Busby every night, I even got desperate and turned to that crazy Horner, but more for comic relief than a forecast.  I checked The Weather Channel, Weather Bug on my phone, and NOAA (for when I wanted to feel more scientific).  It was like eating a Lay’s potato chip – I couldn’t eat just one, or once I popped I couldn’t stop…maybe I was just hungry.   As I gathered the data from all the meteorological misfits throughout the week, my general assessment was that Saturday’s forecast was getting colder, but dryer.  Ultimately I couldn’t complain about that (yet).

 

The training session started at Roe Park.  According to my previous classification of BFE, I can't say this meets the criteria, but being a 40min drive - we'll say it was BTL (butt-toot-Libya).  A last look at the weather told a tale of a dry yet cold morning – 18 degrees at training start.  I put my bike in the truck and grabbed every piece of warm clothing I could think of that would be applicable to a bike ride and set it out the night before.  I was convinced that upon arriving I would be informed that because of the cold – we’d only be running. 

Again a 7am start – I got up at 5, grabbed my PB&H/banana, and headed out the door.  Pulling into the parking lot, I didn’t notice so many bikes (the prophecy was being fulfilled…running only).  I got out of the truck, and here comes the lead coach, Jen.  No doubt to tell me to put a lock on my bike, because I wouldn’t need it this morning.  Of course, I’d look disappointed while the decision, but the coaches know best.  All the while I’d be rejoicing like an elf who just got promoted from the old man’s house making shoes to Santa’s workshop.  “We riding today!?” I asked, a short little smirk on my face.  “Of course!” she replied.  No doubt a little humor to rev the engines on a cold morning.  “No seriously, we’re just running, right?” I laughed.  She only grinned at me.  Now, I’m no FBI profiler, but I was starting to wonder why she was stringing me along.  Was she a comic mastermind, or did she just like seeing me squirm?  It was time to end the charade…”really?” I finally asked.  I felt a shiver (literally…we were standing outside) trickle up my spine as she explained something about how the cycle group needed to get used to the cold…blah, blah, blah…whatever!  She wasn’t serious – hypothermia, frost bite, SARS???  Only she was serious – there was no back-up plan to run if the weather was below adequate temperatures.  We were doing this! 

I have never ridden my bike outside in temperatures less than 50 degrees, and really don’t have the cold weather riding gear one should possess when venturing out in weather of this caliber.  However, once reality set in that I wasn’t going to be the wimp who didn’t go-I decided to just try to make the best of it.    

So we’re going out to ride bikes when it’s 18 degrees outside...

I could go ahead and finish this story but it is bedtime and I have an early morning run, but mostly, I’ve always wanted to do this:

To Be Continued…