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April 28, 2007
Crazy Cold
As O was leaving this morning for his track meet I (still sleeping) groggily asked if it was raining. "Off and on" he replies. So when I finally got up around 7:30 and got rolling around 8:15 for my ride and it WASN'T raining, I was pretty excited. About 20 minutes into the ride though the "on" came and the rain started. It wasn't bad at first, not raining hard and I didn't feel that wet. But as the ride wore on and the rain continued and the headwind that has prevailed since my Thursday ride didn't slow down, I started to get really cold and really cranky. But I told myself to continue on, the rain would slow, I would get dry again and all would be well with the world.
Famous last words.
I realized about 50 minutes into the ride that 2 hours was going to be my limit in this weather. It was about 50 degrees and by this point I was soaked. And freezing cold. I told myself 2 hours and then I could do the last hour inside on the trainer. So I continued on my loop. With about 15 minutes to go I thought I was going to cry. My hands were so awfully cold I couldn't shift and I couldn't make them work anymore. And then I hit a huge pothole and lost my water bottles. Seriously - what is going on here! :)
When I finally saw our house I was so happy - warmth was right around the corner! I had survived outside for 2:15 right on the nose and had a mere 45 minutes left to go on the trainer. I brought my soggy self and soggy bike inside and then made the decision to take a quick shower.
I occasionally shower before a workout, always shower after but showering in the middle of a workout...now that's a new one for me. :) I just couldn't think of any other way to warm myself up. I literally could not unzip my coat my hands were so cold. I ran them under hot water just to get my coat off! So in the shower I went for a good 5 minutes of just standing under the hot, hot water. When I finally felt some sort of sensation in my fingers and toes, I hopped out, put on dry clothes, set my bike up on the trainer and finished the 45 minutes I had left. Then I threw on my running shoes and did a 30 minute transition run. The run was actually quite delightful. At that point it has stopped raining and the sun was even peaking out. I felt good and was happy to be outside when just a short 1 before I was so miserable I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide.
And it's still not raining now. I had basically picked the 2 worst hours of the whole day to ride my bike outside. But now that it's over and I'm dry and fed and my bike is cleaned up, I can honestly say I'm glad I was out there in the misery. I was glad it rained hard and I just kept riding. I was glad that headwind was bearing down on me and I just kept riding. I was glad to see that even when it's miserable, even when I'm miserable, I can indeed, just keep riding.
I've been a runner for a long time - 15 years of racing and training in all sorts of conditions. I can remember races in torturous heat, stiffling humidity, awful wind and teeth chattering windchills. I've trained when it was pouring down rain, hailing, icing, snowing so hard you couldn't see your hand in front of you. I've run through mud and sand and knee deep snow. I feel like I can run in anything that comes at me, because somewhere along the way I've done it before and I know I survived.
But I don't have that kind of background in cycling. And I need to slowly build it up. Last year at this time I wouldn't have even dreamed of riding outside when it was raining. I was scared to death to do it for fear of crashing and of course the misery it brings. Now I know I can handle at least 2:15 of rain in 50 degree temps with a pretty stiff wind. Check that one off the list. Maybe by summer's end I'll be able to say I can survive a 5 hour ride in 90 degree temps with 95% humidity. Who knows. But I'm just going to keep trying to build up the resume so on race day when things are perfect and it's raining and it's 50 degrees I can say - "hmm...that's all you got Mother Nature?! I know I can handle that..." :)
Posted by beth at April 28, 2007 2:50 PM
Comments
GREAT attitude! you are so inspiring!
Posted by: regular reader at April 29, 2007 5:07 PM