Transition runs in winter

For some reason I have decided I like living in New Hampshire. Usually those thoughts are more prominent from about May through October, maybe even November. I don't mind winter terribly, even though my car is so terrible in the snow that the slightest incline causes my tires to spin out and there have been a few times I've been unable to get out of my own driveway. I do ski on occasion and appreciate the snow under those circumstances, and someone once mentioned how winter was good because it sort of cleaned everything up and killed off all of those bugs and things, so we do at least get several months a year without having to deal with that. I don't even mind running outside in winter for the most part, or even if it is snowing. I do, however, miss riding my bike outside.

This week marked the end of my base phase of training and the beginning of the build phase. I don't think I've ever started a build phase this early with the exception of the time I did an Ironman in April, and at that point I was living in Phoenix anyway, so I didn't really notice. So with the beginning of the build phase comes the transition runs. Again, not something I have ever made a habit of doing in NH in the winter. In fact, I believe I can only recall one other time I have ever done a transition run after riding my bike trainer, and that wasn't even really winter but rather a day in which it was pouring rain and windy and I just couldn't stand the thought of riding for 5 hours in that, so I stayed inside. A lesser of two evils kind of decision.

The problem with this is of course the extreme temperature difference between the bike ride and the run. I'd love to be riding outside right now, but the roads are covered in snow, salt, sand, ice and water and it is just not happening. So for my rides I am in the basement, pedaling away and watching more movies than I ever thought possible. When I ride the trainer I sweat like crazy. If not for the bike clothing and the fact that there is no pool in the basement, you'd have a very hard time being able to tell if I'd just finished a bike workout or a swim. So I emerge from my sweaty dungeon and now have to figure out how to quickly change and prepare myself for the cold weather and not freeze to death while I'm out there. Of course in the spring, the transition run involves a change of the shoes and maybe a shirt change and I'm off. The winter transition requires a total wardrobe change, because if you set foot into the cold air in clothes that are already wet you are probably not going to enjoy it very much. Inevitably it is cold out there anyway.

Yesterday wasn't too bad since it was a toasty 32 degrees out when I went for my run. Considering the weather as of late, I'm not kidding when I say it actually felt warm. Today was different though. I emerged from the training lair to check out the thermometer and see that it was 18 degrees out. Nice. Not only that, but it was windy, a windchill of 5 as I later discovered. But hey, the sun was out. This is where Gore-tex comes in very handy. If you don't have a Gore-tex jacket and you live in a colder climate I would strongly recommend it. I swear, it's only a shell but it almost doesn't matter what I wear underneath because it always keeps me warm enough. So off I went to face the cold and wind, the wind that always blows in your face even though you are running a loop and running in every direction possible. But I'm getting used to it. I'd better, because I do believe I'll be doing these 5 days a week. Yikes.