Yesterday evening, not being able to put off the workout any longer, Nancy and I saddled up under the threatening clouds to the west AND south of us (we had two out of four possible directions for the wind to be blowing covered). One mile out we passed Mary Cay on her way back in. "Take an umbrella," is all she said in passing. Approximately 3 minutes later, the rain came. It wasn't a light sprinkle that slowly dampens your back. No occasional large droplets splattering on your helmet and glasses. It wasn't raining one minute, and it was pouring the next. While I try my best to avoid riding in the rain for those reasons such as visibility (I like to see the potholes before I hit them, and I like drivers to see me before they hit me), or frequent flats (I had two last week already), or that soggy cold feeling you get in the late fall rides that causes you to shake uncontrollably from hypothermia, once you get soaked down and take off your glasses, it's really not so bad. Especially if you have a friend with you to commiserate.
Neither of us wanted to be the wimp who called the ride early. "What's your minimum mileage for the day?" I asked Nancy, or whoever that figure was that I could barely make out through my flooded eyes. "I have none," she responded (thank you!). "So how far should we go?" I had to be the first to pose the question. We decided to make it at least to the white church, and if it "stopped raining," defined as "we can actually see again," then we'd go a bit further. Well, the later happened and we had quite an enjoyable ride. See Joy? Nothing to dread. And it was waaaaaay better than riding the trainer. Talk about dread!
As I start real Ironman training, I know I'll dread some workouts. They never turn out to be as bad as you anticipate, though, do they? And as Laura keeps reminding me, don't write the book before it happens.
It could have been worse. Much worse.
I love your new pics. I was thinking about you two as Rooney and I ran through the pour. We actually stopped under someone's porch for a while- can't say I was too sorry to miss the bike ride! xxxoooo
ReplyDeleteOuch! I'm glad that picture didn't happen to me in Lake Placid either!
ReplyDeleteWay to stick it out and ride on through the rain!! Since you never know when you just might get caught in a downpour on the bike on race day (or all of race day....;)
Holy cow that photo is BAD! Thanks for the "good luck" cheer, totally appreciate it! AND I love your blog, my gosh all the little kid photos reminds me of my Kainoa!
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend!!
ugh. I dread the rain too. I decided to do a crit here in Nashville on wednesday and as we were standing on the start line the torrential downpour began. Luckily they let us wait 10-15 min to start, but by that time I was afraid of the puddles and slick pavement so I got scared and a gap formed right away...and that was the end of the race, but it was just for fun anyways.
ReplyDeleteOh, and about that bathing suit...there was actually a teeny tiny hole in the butt and I was afraid it was going to rip open mid-race and I'd have a thong the rest of the way. haha. Clear nail polish held it together though.
Great picture! Running in the rain isn't so bad, but riding is frustrating. Good job on not backing down!
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