Preparation

The first hard freeze of the year. Time to drag out the mits and tights. It's only October. I think it's going to be a long winter....

In the past I've made amends with the treadmill and spin bike by the first hard freeze. This year things are going to be a bit different though. While I have given in to the spin bike I'm holding the line on the run. My run season last year started out miserably which I'm convinced is due to spending all my time over the winter on the treadmill. Not this year. This year I'm set on running outside unless it's below 10 degrees or my route is covered by ice and snow.

This seemed like a great decision when I came up with it in the waning days of summer. This morning I got to put it to the test. It was very cold, especially into the wind. Oh yeah, wind chill. I remember that. I remember it sucks. Yep. Still sucks.

One of the things that got me through was focusing on the "what ifs". What if it's cold for the New York marathon? What if it's cold and windy? Cold and rainy? Snowing?

Training is preparation. Preparation builds confidence. If I don't train in bad conditions how will I learn how to deal with them? How will I know how much stuff to wear? How will I know what nutrition to bring? Do I get blisters easier? Do I need more pain management meds? What mental demons are going to attack me and how will I defeat them?

Do I want to seek these answers during the event? Silly rabbit, the time to seek the answers to the "what ifs" is in training, not during an event. If I don't train in bad conditions then I waste an opportunity to build the confidence I'll need to deal with them. If I do train in bad conditions I'll know that I'm prepared to handle them during an event. One less thing to stress about. Now if I could just stop worrying about whether or not I've set the hotel alarm clock correctly I'd be golden.

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Workout Summary

50 minute swim - S&D

45 minute spin class - endurance (seated mid zone 3 the entire class)

6.5 mile run - Z2/Z3 boundary

20 minutes circuit(cables)/core/stretching

For the S&D swim I focused on left side breathing. Still not completely comfortable yet but I am seeing progress. I noticed that I'm not bouncing up and down as much. My pull still isn't completely symmetrical when alternating breaths though. Oh well - have the whole winter to work that out.

My run this morning was flat compared to my Tuesday run. Combination of improper nutrition (low carbs) last night as well as doing high tension endurance work during spin class. Being weighed down by an additional ten pounds of clothing probably didn't help things any.