Some Sun and Some Storms

Training continues here in Birmingham.  The pollen continued to coat the streets, the trees, the cars, the people... I mean, I saw people running with things tied around their mouths/noses to avoid the pollen.  The lack of rain meant the pollen wasn't going anywhere.  I've had some pretty good workouts.  Last weekend I went on a long ride making the mistake of following someone who maybe didn't know exactly where they were going.  To be fair, apparently a road had been redone and something that used to parallel the interstate suddenly became interstate for a few miles, blocking the connector and requiring a very roundabout way to get where we needed to go. 

The good news is that I have a good sense of direction and once I was told what I needed to do in order to get back I made it in spite of being told a few incorrect things.  I also managed to get chased by not one, but three dogs.  All at separate times from separate yards.  I don't usually get nervous when a dog barks at me from a yard because they usually stay in said yard.  This time, a distant bark suddenly became snapping teeth right on my back wheel, so I had some unscheduled all-out sprints in the middle of the ride but I managed to escape unscathed. 

It's been pretty darn warm here, up in the 80s for the most part.  Although apparently it has been about the same back home.  This time last year I was talking to my mom on Skype and seeing snow piled halfway up the windows in the background.  Now I'm hearing about people going to the beach.  Oh, well. 

As far as the training itself, running is slowly but surely getting faster and for some reason I can't explain swimming is going exceptionally well.  I'm doing most of the same workouts, swimming the same volume, but blowing away times on some workouts I've done a dozen times before.  Let's hope this translates to my open water swimming next weekend. 

The sunny, clear weather gave way to some storms yesterday.  Actually, I hit the trainer yesterday.  Storms were supposed to be rolling through and I had a sort of insane workout day on tap and while I might have otherwise taken my chances and gone outside, thunderstorms down this way are a little different from back home, so I didn't want to mess around.  The result was finishing biking and going outside to find the roads still dry, but it did start to rain a little on my run and then started absolutely pouring by the time I was showered and sitting with my feet up.  Also, it's quite possible that it would've rained somewhere on my bike ride since I would've been off miles from home, so even though I am not a fan of the trainer, I don't regret my decision.  Also, I finished up my workouts yesterday with that feeling of wondering how I was even still managing to move forward, but at least I finished.

And this morning I had my first instance of pool closure due to thunderstorm nearby.  I was awakened to some pretty major thunder and lightning at about 5, left for the pool at like 5:35 after it was just raining a bit but then had to wait until six before they opened it.  What is the deal with that ridiculous rule?  Oh, well, at least I got my swim in and managed to run in not too much rain even though I was stuck on the trainer again.  Good thing because there was more pouring and more thunderstorms.  But at least my car isn't yellow anymore, especially because the paint is silver. 

Tomorrow it's back to another long ride and hopes that the thunderstorms spare me from their wrath.  There is only a slim chance of seeing one, so let's just hope I stay dry.  I am definitely looking forward to my recovery day on Monday.  No full taper for Galveston but I'll get a break after which will be much needed!