Sunday, April 5, 2009

Bi-POLAR New England Weather

Well there were many a mile put in on the bicycle this weekend in completely different conditions. Saturday, Bjoern, Josie and I struggled to get 40 miles in at Lake Waramaug. Pouring rain, cold temperatures, brutal cutting headwinds blowing the bikes all over the place. It was more reminiscent of my Ironman New Zealand training rides than an early spring session. Josie's feet went numb at about 30 miles and that left Bjoern and I to duke it out for the last eight, I don't know what it is with this guy but he has sprint power in reserve. We ended up thawing and drying out over Pizza in Middlebury.

Today, I found out that a family function was canceled which freed up my afternoon so I took the bike out for a 66 mile love fest in the hills. It was nearly polar oppostie to yesterday, 60F a little windy but I was comfortable in shorts and shortsleeves. I rode up to Lake Waramaug, did three loops then descended back into Woodbury and capped it off with the ascent up Ben Sherman Hill or that lovely 7-8% grade. My quads and hams were screaming with each revolution, but I figure if I keep working the hills now I'll be better prepped for Providence. I decided to throw on the running shoes and got a nice 5k in on the Griskus run course, my first brick since February. I was bonking hard core and decided that packing it in early was a smart move. Tomorrow morning I'm thinking of an early morning run session as I need to start building my mileage. I also need to start a routine so I can fix my training around my classes. The swimming is easy but the running is a tad bit more tricky and the cycling looks like it will be limited to weekends until mid-May...granted it is stayling lighter longer on Friday so I can probably start commuting by bicycle,and save a little gas. This Summer I'm commiting to commute the 2 miles to the office by bike unless the weather is horrible figure that way I can also go right into training from the office...but regardless that's for another post. All in all it was a good weekend on the training front. If I can get my run legs back with the program I'm confident that I'll have a good summer season.

R.D.

3 comments:

iron-boyer said...

we should have met up again today..I went out for a 40 mile ride too. I will be in the pool for 3000 yards tomorrow at 12pm...just bought a new swim suit since my speedo decided to fall apart. join me if you can. otherwise see you tuesday

Runner Leana said...

40 miles in pouring rain and brutal wind? That is dedication! I would have suffered through a trainer ride for sure instead. Sounds like the second ride was a good one though!

Commuting with the bike is a great idea. It is about 13 miles from home to office for me, and I can't wait to get going on that sometime soon. Probably May I'm thinking...

Charisa said...

Crazy CT weather!! :)