There's no place like home

I was desperately searching for a pair of these today

The weather here has been brutal lately. Between snow and bitter cold, it has not been outdoor workout friendly. Obviously I've been doing my bike riding on the trainer. Thank goodness for Netflix because I can load a few movies or documentaries into the "watch instantly' queue and then watch them on the TV downstairs. My tolerance right now is still only an hour on the trainer. I just can't get past that point. Especially since I don't have any major racing requiring long biking coming up until this summer, this winter has been a running focus for me. My first 'A' race is a half marathon. 

I was super busy yesterday so I didn't get to my bike ride until late. Flipped on the TV and found a hockey game on the NHL network. Even though my workout was a 'spinning' workout, it quickly turned into a 'hockey' workout. I use the game to create mini workouts within the workout to pass the time. An hour still felt like an hour though.

Today was a big day of indecision. I had an 8 mile run planned. I looked at the weather forecast and it was 24 degrees out with 20mph winds to make it feel like 7 degrees. I thought about driving somewhere more populated so I wouldn't have to contend with the wind. Then I thought about just hitting the hamster wheel treadmill. Until I remembered how lately the treadmill has been flaring up my ITB. So the treadmill was out. I put on my big girl pants and a lot of other clothing and went out to run. Going out wasn't too bad, but coming home was into the wind. I could feel the stinging cold on my legs. Then after a short time I couldn't feel a thing. It was brutal. I kept hoping that Glenda would come out and tell me that all I needed to do was click my heels 3 times and say "there's no place like home. There's no place like home......" Alas, she did not appear and I had to keep on running.

When I finally made it home, I stripped off my sweaty clothes and tried to warm up my now pink skin and blue lips before I hit the shower. I lingered in the hot shower hoping it would help. When I got out I dressed in several layers, dried my hair, and sat under a heavy blanket on the couch. I was shivering like crazy. Seriously. You would have thought I was in the advanced stages of Parkinson's or having a seizure. Took over an hour and some hot soup to finally feel better. 

Also, my commitment to swimming is still there. I've been swimming with a master's swim club and getting a lot out of it. I am proud to say I was the fastest in my lane Thursday night. I'm not super fast, but my endurance is there. Most of the night was filled with ridiculous kicking drills. As the night went on, it seemed like most people were rolling their eyes with me as he announced the next drill. Finally we got some swim only drills in. I felt like I was moving quickly but saw the guy in the next lane above me swim right by. Zoinks! I still have a ways to go before I am moving up any lanes yet. But it's something to work on. Swimming has been a nice change of pace and I'm glad I got back to it earlier in the year than previous years. Perhaps soon I will be able to go to more workouts.

As for the upcoming week, we are expecting more snow. I know, a real shocker. I have to look at the schedule and forecast to see how I can move my workouts around. I really need to avoid the treadmill.