Day 293: Cold and Wet

That's the weather: cold and wet. It seems to continue on, day after day, throughout our spring. I'm wishing I'd gotten myself some long bike tights, because biking in the early morning with bare legs is not ideal. Even the long woollen socks aren't enough to prevent chill from seeping into my bones (and my toes; not that pants would help with that).

Yesterday's bike ride was the longest yet, as we attempted to bike the race course. We decided (wisely, I think) not to attempt the last stretch, an out-and-back of about 10km (I'm estimating). It would have added to the going-home agony of biking directly into a stiff and chilly wind. The last part of the ride almost had the urgency of "let's survive this." My toes were completely gone, and I felt tired. The ride completely drained me. The last thing I would have felt like doing was throwing on a pair of running shoes and staggering 4km. Well, I'll leave that bit of joy for Monday.

I'm trying to change my attitude about this Monday's race, and to think of it as a a new experience, and a learning experience, rather than a challenge to myself to push to the limits of my endurance (yeah, that tends to be the direction I take these things). I will try to approach it more like the half-marathon than the 10km race, starting slowly and pushing harder toward the end, rather than pushing hard the whole way through and wringing out every last ounce of energy in my body. At least I have no expectations about time. The whole thing is a mystery to me.

I was just thinking how weird it's going to be to compete in a bike race!!! I've never been in a bike race before. I've only ever seen them on tv. Whereas with the running, I'd been in races before in my lifetime.

There are some mighty steep hills on our race course. It's going to be hard work. I'm thankful for the layers of endurance that I feel access to after all this training. It doesn't actually seem to get easier, probably because the more fit I get, the harder and faster I go, but the biggest difference is having confidence in my ability to find more, time and time again: another burst of energy, another layer waiting under the last, even when I feel briefly spent at the top of a particularly long hill.

I went to a 90-minute hot yoga class last night and totally appreciated the stretching. My lower back got progressively stiffer during the bike ride. I needed some backward bends to stretch it out.

I ran this morning with a friend, and didn't feel awesomely awesome, but improved as the run went on. My breathing seems to smooth out the longer I go (assuming we're sticking to a reasonable pace), and my muscles definitely loosen up.

Now to get writing for next week's posts on chatelaine.com. Any topics you're particularly interested in me covering?