BRRRRR!!
Even though I went to bed relatively early last night, when my alarm went off this morning, I was nowhere near ready to get out of bed. That’s been happening more often these days. I assume that the increased time and intesity of my training is causing my body to want and need more sleep than before.
I did drag my butt out of bed and set up the trainer in the living room for my 1:00 spin-ups ride. The ride went well and actually passed fairly quickly. I guess doing the spin-ups made the ride go by faster. Also, it was only an hour! Saturday, I’m scheduled for another 3:30 ride. I’m hopeful to do the ride outside, but there’s a chance of snow tonight and tomorrow and just in case the weather isn’t cooperative, I set up the Tivo to record a bunch of stupid stuff between now and Saturday morning.
This afternoon my legs, especially my quads, started feeling sore. I couldn’t figure out why – I wasn’t feeling Sunday’s half marathon any more, and this morning’s ride wasn’t anything too intense. Then I remembered – this is what it used to feel like when I lifted heavy, especially squats. Ah ha. And Duh.
After work, I went for a run. All week long, the weather people have been threatening that from tonight until tomorrow night it would be absolutely freezing, with real temperatures going down into the low teens, and the wind-chill taking it down below zero. Well, if my run from 7-8PM tonight was any indication, the weather people got it right this time. Walking home from work, it was cold, but not too too bad and there wasn’t much wind. So, I put on shorts, two long sleeve shirts, a hat and gloves and hit the road. It was cold, but I was comfortably cold. Then, about half-way through the run, the wind picked up and I was no longer comfortable. Coming back up the West Side Highway, with the wind blowing into my face, I wasn’t really having much fun anymore. My legs were fine, it was my hands and nose that were the worst. I assume if I had warmer clothes on top, my core temperature would have stayed higher and I would have been better. But I did feel tough! Once I turned off the highway and started weaving my way home, the wind wasn’t so bad. Coming back, I ran past a group of people and I heard one of the guys say, “That guy’s crazy!” Hearing that was more than enough to keep me motivated to get home (not that I needed much extra motivation to get home, where it’s warm!).
I’m home now and slowly thawing. Tomorrow, I’ll be hiding most of the day!
Bike – January 25
Time: 1:00
Average heart rate: 118
Indoor ride
Run – January 25
Time: 1:00
Distance: 6.5 miles
Average heart rate: 136
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: COLD and windy! Clear, low 20’s before wind-chill, weather.com says it feels like 10 degrees, which it definitely does!