Started this morning with one of those oh crap moments. Last night when I rode in it was 18 deg. It was supposed to start in the low 20s this morning and then move up into the mid 30s by the time my ride was done only... the weather forecast said it was 13 degrees... Holy crap... Can I ride in that? As Larry DeWitt said in his 2009 blog, Leadman is extreme and calls for extreme training. I was offered a ride home and respectfully declined. It actually wasn't so bad when I got out there. I dropped the extra shell I wore the night before for the long climb home. 14.3 miles later and 900 feet of gain and I was safe at home as I noticed the thermometer at the bank by my house read 28 degrees. Yes my toes were numb even in my new "winter" shoes that I just got but not as numb as they would have been without. Was a good ride and I didn't really put too much effort into it. I took the detour again with the extra hill the last few miles up Garrett to Meridian so that gave me a bonus climb. After a soak in the hot tub and a nap I was quite groggy. It was hard to convince myself I to go run. I begrudgingly laced up the ol Pure Grit 2's with over 600 miles on them now and headed out the door with Baz for anything between 4-8 miles thinking it would be on the lower end. After a slower walking warmup half mile than usual and a slow first couple of miles, I began to wake up. My pace quickly moved down to the lower 8's as i moved the next few miles through a small climb. The final few miles of the run, I decided to kick it a little more even. Without breathing all too hard, I was hitting low sevens the last few until my cooldown back to the house. All in all a great 8 miles and although I didn't feel like getting out, sometimes you just have to go. Today those final few miles were faster than any mile on my "tempo" a couple days ago granted it wasn't snowing and was a few degrees warmer today. Either way a successful day. I have the incline planned for the morning followed by hopefully a decent bike ride climbing up rampart range road for some solid Ells. For now I sit here drinking my third beer after none for a couple of days. I am finishing the stash of Crazy Mountain Brews that my bro in law brought in town with him. Started with the pale ale, moved to the amber, and now enjoying the Boohai Red. Might have the stout before sleep overtakes me. I dunno.
Until next time...
See you at the top!
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