#112: Chill out - Training in the tundra

When it's outside your control, learn to roll w/it

You know the phrase, don't sweat the small stuff? That was my mantra this week in regards to training. Of course, at some level this is at odds with what we're supposed to do when life throws lemons, but you get the idea.  This week, "roll with it" was far more applicable on the training front....so I did my best.

It started on Monday with some brisk temperatures....so I got on the bike trainer as planned. No problem.

On Tuesday winter weather pushed in, so it was a shoveling workout.....not my favorite, but you do what you gotta right?  Oh yeah, and my heart-rate monitor stopped working (now this is not good)....but I'm staying calm.

On Wed, more unseasonably cold weather, but I got a solid workout in on the bike trainer....despite my feet going numb by the time it was over from the garage floor radiating cold....I mean, it is winter right? What do I expect? OK, so it's not winter until the 21st, and last year was the warmest on record....but whatever, I can roll with it.

Thursday, with weather in the low 20s, I figured I'd roll-with-it again.....six mile run with frozen ground and headlamps made for an interesting thaw of my Left (now peg-ish) leg due to frozen toes, but it was still a strong run and I was glad I did it.

Friday, I took the day off.

How to handle predicted snowstorm on Saturday? Not a problem, just get a run in before it gets out of hand: 10 miles of hilly work and some snow to "cool" your face in the final miles.  Nice!

Sunday AM ride? Converted to 2 hours of shoveling.  The coating of ice on top of the snow was a nice way to add some resistance......

So it wasn't exactly what I had planned, but I still got in more frequency (six days) and more volume (15% increase).....not terrible.

If it's all about finding my rhythm right now, I'd call this week a success. If it was all about swim-bike-run, well.....not as good.  The best news is that my fitness is showing some signs of life.  My sessions on the bike are getting stronger and my running isn't as far off as I originally thought it might be.....and my shoveling is really pretty good.....however I'm not sure how that's going to help.

This week it looks like there's only 1 day of predicted winter weather.....and after a few more cold days, the weather could be back toward normal.  If not, I'm thinking about hiring this guy as my new coach.

Keep shufflin',

Mike E.

(photo credit http://www.darrenbraun.com/)