March: In like a lion, out like a slightly schizo lamb...

Okay, so I have had to kinda mix up the workouts this week. Felt like I first needed to get better from my cold thingy, and then the news of Matt's job hit so I wanted to spend lots of good time with him and help him out. So I've been mixing things up and despite taking two rest days I should still end up with about 10 hours of training this week. I'm gonna call that a small victory. :)

Last night Matt and I went to the winery again for a glass (or two) and some brie and fruit. Very yummy and good for the soul. Not as much for the training, probably. But hey, if it's good for the soul it probably IS good for the training, too.

So I decided I couldn't pass up this weather today and I'd move my long brick to today. When I started it was about 68 and sunny. BELLISSIMO. Got all ready to go and headed out on my first long-ish ride outside.

I felt very strong at first! Just whizzin' along the lakeshore. Man, is this wind pickin' up or am I just going slower? My stupid computer is still broke so I had NO idea how fast/far I was going. This was probably good, as I figured I'd be a bit slow today since I've just been on the trainer for so long, so I was just going for time.

Wow, that wind is picking up. And those clouds are getting dark.

Uh oh.

Now it started to rain. Just a little drizzle, and I thought, Oh, how nice! A warm rain to cool me down.

Famous last words.

Then the wind picked up again, and soon it was pouring. Crap. I was wearing just a short-sleeved jersey and shorts. Damn, it's cold when you're wet and trying to go fast on this thing!

I kept thinking to myself, "Come on! If it rains in Wisconsin, are you just going to pansy out and stop? Are you going to whine and complain like a baby? Waaa waaa...."

After making fun of myself for a while I realized it was actually helping a bit by getting my mind off the cold and I wasn't shivering quite as badly. I tried to keep drinking and eating but it was hard since everything was soaked and the puddles covered up the potholes. I was a bit afraid of getting a flat since my wheel has been on the trainer since 'Nam. I would take a sip of Gatorade, then hit a puddle-filled pothole, and then spray it all over my face.

Nice.

So I was covered in a mixture of fruit punch gatorade, rain, mud, sweat, and snot.

That's hot.

(not so much)

You know what, though? It was worth it. The lake was actually quite calm and really pretty, despite the wind, and it just felt good to be out there. I know it slowed me down a bit, and the temperature dropped almost 10 degrees on the lakeshore from when I started, but all in all, I did about 40 miles in a little bit under 2:30. According to my calculations (which are always up for debate) that put me around 16.2 mph/avg. Pretty slow, but I'll take it considering the conditions. Really need to get me a functioning computer though! All that math gave me a headache. ha ha

Bailed on the subsequent run and decided to tack it onto tomorrow's shorter ride, as I was shivering like CRAZY and just wanted to be warm. So now I've brewed some coffee and will be grading some papers, and tonight it's off to a movie.

Yep. Small victories. Gotta love 'em.