Over the weekend we had weather in the low 40’s which not only melted most of the snow left on the ground, but also let me break out shorts for my run on Sunday.  It was actually pleasant enough out that Jennie and I were able to walk up to Big Bob’s Pizza in Gaslight Village to have lunch with her brother, his fiancé, and his room mate.

So much for our heat wave.  Today was back down in the 20’s with a single digit feels like temperature.  As I sat in my office, I was dreading my run as I watched the wind blow the snow all over the place.  I sucked it up and headed out around 4:00.  Even though it was still light out, I decided to go with the reflective gear because the blowing snow as reducing visibility and I didn’t want to become someone’s hood ornament.

It was slow going – especially into the wind – but it was a relatively good run. 

On top of running, I did a long swim today.  For my workout, I did:

800 yard warm up
3×300 yards (30 second rest)
200 yard kick
3×200 yards (30 second rest)
200 yard kick
3×100 yards pull (20 second rest)
100 yard cool down
3100 yards total

I stayed almost perfectly consistent on all of the intervals (5:10 for the 300’s, 3:30 for the 200’s, and 1:40 for the 100’s)which was the goal. 

Also, at the pool, I had a “small world” moment.  I found out that the husband of one of the women I swim with works at the same company as Jennie.  We are both regulars and see each other two to three times a week and chat while we wait for the lifeguards to get ready and didn’t realize it until today.  It is amazing how we are all connected in some way or anther.

As for my strength training, it is progressing nicely.  I absolutely love my new weights.  I am still hoping to find some good strength routines to mix things up though.  For now, I have just been doing a set from the 12 Week Triathlete book.  It takes me about 25-30 minutes to go through and I feel so good after doing it.

On the non running front, Jennie and I cleaned and repopulated our aquarium.  It turned out to be a pretty big project because I neglected cleaning it for so long.  We still need to get some new plants to replace ones that didn’t make it through the cleaning and I have to build a new hood because the old one finally bit the dust, but here it is.

Kind of hard to see all the fish, but there are: 4 Giant Danios, 4 Red Velvet Swordtails, 5 Tiger Barbs, and 1 Pelco (Algae Eater).  I will hopefully do a better job at preventive maintenance so it doesn’t get so bad this time.

That is what my wife yelled after me as I headed out the door on my run today.  I really didn’t want to go.  It was cold.  I was tired.  It was getting dark.  And did I mention it was cold?  I only had to do 6 miles today, but after a long weekend, it was the last thing I wanted.

I checked the weather before I headed out – 25F with a feels like temperature of only 12F. So, after I bundled up, out the door I went.  It ended up being a rather enjoyable run.  I didn’t have a course planned out or anything and just ran free.  I stayed fairly warm despite the chill in the air, except when running into the wind.  I perked up quickly and was less tired after my run than I was before it.  And in the end, it was fun.  So mission accomplished, I guess.

After the run, I returned home to a homemade lasagna cooked by my wonderful wife.  It was delicious.  She outdid herself (again).

 
It was so good!

And now, after an incredibly long weekend, I need to sleep.  But before I go, I’ll leave you with a clip from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert Jennie and I went to this weekend.  The tickets were a Christmas present from my Dad, and the concert was a blast.  One of the coolest things I have ever seen.  If you ever have a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

After overindulging on turkey (and subsequently passing out in front of the fire), I decided that I should go for a bike ride on Friday.  As luck would have it, Friday turned out to be one of the coldest days of the season.  Our unseasonably warm weather appears to be behind us.  I knew that the weather was going to be a bit colder and had packed my cold weather gear.

Passed out in front of the fire… too much turkey!

I started my ride headed west into the wind.  My goal was to ride the Orchard Trail, which started about 9 miles away from the in-law’s house.  This was the most difficult part of the ride.  Not only was it directly into a frigid headwind, but it was entirely on surface streets, most of which were not suitable for bike traffic.  Some of them were busy two lane roads with 50 mph speed limits (closer to 60 mph actual speeds though) with absolutely no paved shoulder.  The frustrating thing was that there was plenty of room where there could be a paved shoulder, but instead it was just gravel.

To give you a sense of the wind, the first 9 miles was into a direct headwind and the last nine was a direct tailwind.

By the time I actually got to the trail, my feet were absolutely freezing.  I pushed forward and after 2 miles on the trail, I passed a bike shop.  I decided to stop and see what they had in the way of shoe covers.  I ended up buying a pair of Specialized Neoprene Shoe Covers.  As soon as I put them on, there was a noticeable difference.  They were a lifesaver.  Had I not bought them, I probably would have turned around there rather than adding on a few more miles.  The only downside was that I didn’t have them at the start of the ride so my feet were already cold when I put them on.  They kept my feet from getting any colder and even warmed them up a bit.  I’ll have to give them a try start to finish next week to see how well they work at keeping my feet warm to begin with.

The return trip of this ride was glorious.  I knew that I would have a tailwind nearly the entire way and it would be mainly downhill.  Knowing this was one of my motivations to keep heading out further on the first leg of the ride.  The longer I suffered on the hard part, the more I would get to enjoy on the easy part.

I flew back to the house on the return, making the wind all worth it.  In the end, it was a 35.8 mile ride in 2:05:39 (17.1 mph).  My splits were 1:10:00 for the first half and 55:38 for the second; 4 mph faster on the way home.  All in all, I think it was a good way to burn off all of the excess eating.

I had a lovely fall bike ride today.  It was a bit warmer (45°F) than my last ride (30°F), so I was able to enjoy it more.  I biked on a lot of low traffic roads some of which I had never been on before.  It made for a very pretty ride.  Here is a quick shot of the colorful tree line.  I could have taken pictures like this all day long, but I’d have never finished my ride.  The only reason I stopped to take this picture was because I had just climbed the biggest hill I have ever climbed and needed to grab some water.

Despite the warmer weather and extra layer of socks, my feet were still the coldest part of my body.  I wore my bike shorts with long tights over them along with a long sleeve shirt and bike jersey over that.  Coupled with a headband and gloves I managed to stay mostly warm.  I just need to find a way to keep my feet warm at this point.

 
The hill mentioned above was at about the 18 mile mark.  It may not look like much, but if you zoom in,
the elevation graph goes nearly completely vertical for a bit.

Overall, it was a very fun ride.  A bit hillier than I thought it would be, but that is what I get for trying out a new route.  I ended up going 26 miles in 1:28:36 for a 17.6 mph pace.  Hopefully this warmish weather keeps up for a bit longer so I can delay moving the bike onto the trainer.