Weather breaks and random thoughts

Caught a couple breaks in the rain today. Took Paul and Sooner for a run in the cruiser and got in one 3 mile lap before the rain hit...well, about half of the lap and ran the other half in a light mist before a short downpour hit. Of course, then it didn't rain for a while but the timing was good because I had a work call I had to be on.

Then I decided to bike after dinner, which I've never done before. Still raining while I picked up my mountain bike from an annual tune-up after work. I did NOT want to ride inside today, so the skies were either going to clear up or I was going to bail on the bike workout. As we ate dinner, the rain stopped. I decided to go for it, keeping open a few options for a shorter ride if it started raining. Once I passed the last turn for a short ride, I was committed to a 40k, but the skies were clearing. The last stretch home was in a bright sunset....that beautiful kind of sunset right after a rain. It was AWESOME! The ride time felt slow and I felt weak in the legs, but my time was better than average. Very little wind, too!

Some random thoughts:

Now I know why you should always wear some kind of glasses on the bike. I didn't tonight because there wasn't a lot of bright sunshine (til the end, anyway), and my eyes are hurting from the wind. I go so fast that there is always a 40mph wind in my face!!!! Ha!

My ski buddy is full of good quotes, like "You don't know til you go." Just like tonight. I thought of that as I decided to go for the ride with the possibility of getting rained on. I'm a fair weather biker. It paid off tonight!

How can I ski a full season and never have cold toes, but any bike in temps under 50 degrees my toes freeze? How is that possible? I even wore wool socks tonight, thinking I'd be able to keep my feet warm as I departed in 46 degree weather. I couldn't wait to get hot water on them when I got home because they were nearly completely numb. I can ski in any temperature and not get cold feet, but 46 degrees on a bike and they freeze.

Sometimes it's good to get out of a routine. I have never ridden after dinner before. Now it seems like that's what I'll be doing as long as there is sunlight. I get to hang out with Paul an extra 90 minutes, and Tera gets a much calmer evening. If it makes Momma happy, it makes everyone happy.

Hill workouts is where it's at on the bike for me. I'm not good at hills...well, I'm not a good bicyclist yet, either, but hills are certainly my weakest point on the bike (excepting corners, which I've never really had to deal with it). Just getting out there and doing a few hill repeats is reaping immediate noticeable improvements.

My run is beginning to suffer because of my bike focus. At this point, I'm depending on the theory that biking helps the run more than the run helps the bike. And I'm missing a few swim workouts, too. But that's the concept I've decided to use this year, so I'm sticking with it. A ten percent improvement in the bike is far more time off the overall time than a ten percent improvement in the run or swim, both of which I'm probably close to maxing out given my overall abilities.