Yikes! Part 2

"Nothing like this has ever happened before."

That's what they're saying around here. Since they started to keep these kinds of records there has never been a case where the Mid-Atlantic has been hit with two blizzards in one week. In-fucking-credable. This area is already a mess and to think were getting 16 to 20 inches more on top is nuts....or will drive folks nuts. This area of the world tends to be hyper mobile and in some areas ya just can't get out. We were out a bit yesterday and everybody was in panic mode...

And don't give me this "AL Gore was wrong " stuff. It's Global warming...not local.

For whatever reason you believe, man made or not, The world is getting warmer.

I just wish it would here for a bit.

Yikes!

Yikes! What a storm THAT was! We had 31 inches here in the front yard this morning...Very cold. Teens last night and calling for single digits tonight.

No organized workouts yesterday as ML and I shoveled snow three different times in a effort to stay ahead of the mounting white stuff. About 4 hours of digging altogether, if you count the time we spent on a neighbors drive way.

I here tons of folks bitching about it and even some complaining about missing work.

Please.

How often does this happen? What's wrong with a little down time? Can't you just see the beauty of it all? I feel sorry for them.

The cats are in a snit as they hate the snow. I dug paths for them to their favorite pee spots. Mrs. Norris won't even go out. She just uses the box and spreads cat litter everywhere. Riley is out now but he is a fan of warmer weather and won't be out long.

Ankle gave me a bit of a fit yesterday shoveling...all the twisting and torquing. It feels ok now. Back to the Dr. on Tuesday and on to some PT on Friday.

Riding the indoor trainer today. Contemplated X-C skiing but it's actually too deep. I'll let it melt off a bit then set some track in the woods near here..

Spring Plans...

Since Disney, I've taken a few weeks of reduced volume...gotten back on the bike and am hitting the weights again.

Spring Plans? For the first time in a number of years, I'm just going to concentrate on my running and use biking and weight training ( a crossfit program) as cross training. No spring tri's.

Other than the odd short event, there are two long races on the horizon:

The Virginia 24-hour Run ( a race close to my heart) followed three weeks later by the CAT-100, a 100 mile event here in the back yard... A fat ass race in it's second year. (for those who don't know, a "Fat ass" Ultra event usually has no entry fee and you help supply the aid)

After all that running I'll be concentrating on some fall 24 hour bike events and another crack at the Triple Ironman. Maybe. ;)

Now mind you...I hate broadcasting what I'm doing because it always seems to have a way of coming around to bite you in the ass...but if you don't share your dreams with folks they can't help you get there and no one, and I mean no one, reaches their goals alone.

Caw.Caw. Rarrrr!

Adventure IS out there and Mary Lou and I got a bunch of it this past weekend at the Disney Marathon weekend.

As seems to have become habit, we go to Florida every Winter to run at Disney...ML does the half marathon and I do the Goofy Challenge. I run the Half Marathon on Saturday and then get up and run the Marathon on Sunday. Goofy...This year, if completed...I'd become "Perfectly Goofy."

The weather forecast for the weekend is NOT the best. 35 degrees on Saturday and then mid 20's on Sunday for the long one.

The ankle forecast for the races is 80%. It's runable, but gets testy at speed...so a slow race. Most every year I tell myself I'll hop out of the race and have pics taken with Disney Characters, but I never do...this year will be the year for it.

Saturday Morning at 2am we're up and rolling to the race. My wave goes off at 5:40. ML at 6.

Thank goodness Disney provides a bus from their hotels...

It's 35 degrees with wet stuff possible. On site we go to the Runners Retreat (money well spent) and while there, the sleet starts. Sleet. In Florida. Last year it was 70 degrees.

We meet Becca, a cranberry grower, who we instantly like. We chat and then about 5:15 we head off to the start, which is a bit of a walk. Into our corrals and getting ready. Besides our race togs we sport nice thick plastic bags for warmth and wind protection....the sleet comes down heavier.

At 5:35 the wheelies head off in a shower of fireworks. My wave is next at 5:40 and off we go in a shower of yet more fireworks!

Not much to it after that just running in the dark...good lighting when needed though and a few places on the course it's a bit tight, but no worries. At one point though, a woman tries to come around me on the shoulder of the road trips and falls right in front of me! Jedi reflexes and I vault over her hoping for a good ankle landing. I stop to help her up and she is quite sheepish and says she's sorry, but sprints away. Over and through the Magic Kingdom and back to the finish area at Epcot. I'm in at 2:12, a PW (personal worst) for me, but the ankle holds up well and I'm ready for the Marathon. ML comes in in 2:37... PR for her! (she IS my hero!)

The sleet and rain never really stopped the whole time.

Folks at cold races bring throw away clothes to wear to the start. Old shirts. jackets,sweat pants, that they toss when the gun goes off. Usually the clothes are donated to charity after cleaning. This was the first race I've ever seen where folks would discard clothes and people behind them would pick them up and put them on! Nothing Compared to what I'd see on Sunday.

2am comes early (duh) two days in a row. and this time I'm off to the bus alone. The TV said 25 degrees. The bus driver says it's 22. In Florida.

Runners Retreat where I meet Becca again (running her first Goofy) and together we walk over to the start...off again at 5:40 this time I'm loaded for bear. iPod, camera, gels and three layers of spandex. More folks scarfing up tossed clothes AND plastic bags. From Epcot over to Magic Kingdom...to Animal Kingdom then the long bit to Hollywood Studios and back to the World Showcase at Epcot. This time though I'm snapping pics of the course, mile markers and of course Characters. Mary Poppins IS quite lovely. The Princess and her Frog are out and stunning... Alice, Tweedle Dum and Dee, a Wicked Step Mother or two... and later Mr. Incredible, Mike Wishowski, Green Army Men and the two above. Russell and Mr. Fredrickson from the movie UP! (See it, you'll cry).

The aid stations become skating rinks in the cold but the Disney crews are out quickly with sand...still, trying to run through them is foolish. I see several falls. My energy gels are chewable and I never really break a sweat it's so cold. Definitely Jens factor 5 (see previous post)

All the pictures and the fact I have to pee like a race horse every so often (kidneys over produce in the cold) make for a slow race. Another PW (5:12) but I just don't care. This was F-U-N!

The Jens factor

Jens Voight is a pro bike racer. He wins classic one day races. He wins stages at the grand tours. Jens is a hardman. He's also the niceest most widely loved bikie in the pro Peloton. His fan base is huge.

Here's a little something I found that puts riding (or running) in the cold in perspective.

Click on the image for an bigger view...thanks to pezcyclingnews.com

Mush!

Had to get in a long run this weekend...with the ankle feeling better it simply had to be done. Before I had sprained my ankle I was up to 70 mile weeks and damn my running was good...like it was before I started all this triathlon business!

So...major snow storm on the horizon

(which turned out to dump a record snow on the DC area) I had to decide which day to go...Saturday or Sunday...

With an eye to weather reports I figured Sunday could be an icy mess, so Saturday it was...

Couldn't run the usual routes as the Park was closed and I needed to run roads not trails because of the ankle. So nothing for it but to run in the neighborhood. Laps. Lots of laps. Now I don't mind laps on a short course because, to paraphrase this other endurance type, I can crawl into this little corner of my mind and not come out.

Made it easier, too, to have the house for an aid station complete with warm air and smiling wife.

When I left the house the storm wasn't too bad although we already had about six inches on the ground. The plows had been by so the road was only covered by a thin snow pack. Run much in snow? Well, it can be like running in sand, which is tough. It changes your gait and has you working harder than you might normally. Add to that , my neighborhood has no flat areas. None. I looked for them. Nada. It's either UP or DOWN. Period.

The storm picked up in intensity...at times you couldn't see more than a tenth of a mile. cold...windy and ...well, it was a blizzard! I've been in blizzards where you'd expect them...Maine, Colorado, Canada, a Kansas wheat field, places like that. Saturday was a blizzard.

One foot in front of the other, stop at the house every 40 minutes or so for for an unfrozen water bottle, some Gu Roctane, a smile and a smooch and go.

Finished 19 miles in 3:16 which was slower than normal but, duh! To honest, my legs were trashed...like I'd just run a 50 miler or more. While a run of over 20 would have been good, I figure with the extra work involved...19 was just fine.

Starting the taper for Disney..will keep the runs easy ride the bike indoors and treat the ankle gingerly and just use the weekend with the mouse as a training weekend!

Oh, today is the 8th anniversary of Mom's death.

Yes Mom I'l still running. No, I'm never going to stop and no that's not why I lost my hair...

Ankle update

Three weeks ago I sprained my right ankle while out on a casual 12 miler...Oh man it hurt and since I have a high pain threshold...it must have REALLY hurt! (It's been said I could give birth to an elephant through my nose and would wonder what the big deal was.)

I've been very diligent in rehabbing it and today I got out for 12 miles and while sore...it didn't suck! Wore the ankle brace and went easy till I warmed up...now I finished the last hour in the dark which meant that last hour was a really paranoia fest! "Is that an acorn/pothole/sidewalk crack?" Afraid to turn the ankle again and really muck it up this time! Got home with no problems....

I'll push the milage a bit this week. Can't make up for lost miles while I was getting the joint back in working order, but I'll feel MUCH better going to Disney for the Goofy Challenge a bit back on form.