One Week (almost) Down, 21 to Go

My little training vacation came to an end this past Monday when I decided to actually start training, with an actual plan, for my next Ironman.  Today is Ironman Florida which means it has now been a year since I last did one of those crazy races, and it'll be another five months before I do my next one.  And right now I'm totally fine with that. 

So on Monday I did something I haven't done in about seven months and I set my alarm and headed for the pool.  I've swum plenty, including some pool time down in Oklahoma and lots of lake swims over the summer, but I hadn't set foot at my home pool since before I left to drive down south in the spring for my racing/training adventure.  The people at the gym checking me in are totally different, there was nobody in the pool I recognized, and I forgot what it was like to smell like chlorine.  It was a good start, though.  Then there was some lifting, which I hadn't done in, I don't know, two years maybe? 

The beginning of this week reminded me why so many people must start an exercise program and almost immediately stop.  I was really, really sore.  Wednesday especially, for whatever reason, was the worst.  If I hadn't experienced that before and known it would go away fairly quickly, I might've been tempted to give up, too.  But even just Thursday I felt a lot better, and Friday nothing really at all.  So that was a good start. 

The weather for the most part cooperated so I was able to ride outside.  It hasn't been warm, but it's been dry.  Well, until today.  Today I knew the rain was coming for my long ride but I thought I might be able to squeeze it in between the first hint of daylight and the storm moving in without getting soaked.  That might've been true if my scheduled ride was about 45 minutes shorter, but, sadly, it wasn't.  And the mist that started things off turned into full on rain with about twenty minutes to go.  Oh, well.  I suppose it could've been worse, but as it was I got in probably three hours of dry biking. 

The last two years I became sort of a trainer wimp.  Maybe I shouldn't say wimp, because honestly, I've always found riding outdoors in less-than-ideal conditions to be the lesser of two evils when compared to pedaling aimlessly in the basement.  But I really did used to ride in just about anything as long as the roads weren't icy and it was above about 25 degrees.  Today was in the low 40s, very overcast, but I was reminded that really, if you are dressed for the weather, it's not bad at all.  Also funny was that I was all layered up and wearing gloves and shoe covers and fleece lined things and back in September I did a race in just my usual tri kit and it was the exact same temperature. 

The first week will officially be over after I finish up my long run tomorrow morning, in what is supposed to be 40-45mph wind so that will be... interesting.  But the good news is, so far things are going well and I'm enjoying it, even with less than optimal weather.  It's nice to have a big goal to get me through the winter.