Nuts or Dedicated

Mascoma Man 2012 - my favorite 

part of any tri (see the splint - I won't

have that this year!)

Today I had  a tri workout on tap. The weather forecasts are the same for days.  Okay mornings followed by thunderstorms and torrential downpours in the afternoon.  There are daily flash flood warnings and it is only getting worse.  Selfishly it also affects me as an athlete.  When do I manage to train?  I didn't do my tri workout yesterday as planned because a friend wanted to join me and thought Wednesday would work better for her.

 So I changed my plans yesterday morning and ran the 10 mile run from hell.  I drank 3 water bottles and never had to pee!  It was beyond humid.  I came back to the house which I don't usually do to apply more sunscreen and refill my water bottle. I rarely carry water but thankfully the brain cells were working and I took one.  I had thought about doing the 3ish mile loop past my house a few times but was afraid I would quit so I took my usual route and went as far as I needed before heading back home. It was slow and it wasn't pretty but the ten mile run got done.  I was wondering why in the world I registered for a half marathon in July but Christa reminded me it was in Maine!  Plus ocean views for most of the course, a fun medal and a good beer sponsor.  Back to today.

So today I needed to do that tri workout I didn't do yesterday.  Problem was it was raining right from the get go.  I searched all the weather apps I could trying to find one that I liked.  Some just said rain - I can deal with that while others had the old lightning bolt throughout the day.  I texted my husband and he said go down and see how it was.  It is likely to be raining during the tri on Sunday so it made sense to me to practice in the rain.  My friend had emailed me and said she wasn't up for the rain so it was just me.  I drove to the lake thinking I would be alone there but there were a gazillion girl scouts as well as others.  It rained most of the way down but wasn't raining when I got there.

The swim: it did not rain during this, the one it mattered the least.  I wore my tri outfit under the wet suit which I would continue to wear on the bike and run.  I swam for about 20 minutes and still feel quite anxious about the swim but if I want to do the rest of the tri I have to get through it.

I transitioned to the bike and then went and used the bathroom before I left. I wouldn't do this race day but decided why be uncomfortable for the next several minutes.  My transition was very long even without the bathroom break but I wasn't going to run up the beach and go crazy.

The bike:  yes, it began to rain as soon as I started biking. At first it was very gentle but then it really started coming down - steady, not a downpour.  I tried to constantly remind myself I was trying to better my time and did fairly well.  One hill in particular is a killer.  It is a 14 mile loop that I mentally divide into 5 parts.  I was going to be really disappointed when I stopped if I hadn't improved my time from the week before as I had worked at it.  It was better by 1.2 m.p.h.  Yes! I think the actual race will help even a bit more.

I transitioned quicker to running. I started out and it was only drizzling which pretty much is what it did the whole time.  I still managed to get very wet.  Again, my first mile was quite slow with each following mile improving.  This improved a couple of minutes from the week before and again I am hoping race day improves even more. Plus I won't have done 10 miles in the heat the day before.

I think I did a good job of simulating my race and effort as I am TIRED!  On the way home the skies opened up and it poured. Enough that I pulled over and waited for a bit.  I couldn't have ridden my bike in that so I am lucky the weather cooperated.  Rain, not too much, and no thunder.  I'll take it.  It's that or never get out for a workout.

What do you do if the weather is less than optimal?  What does it take for you to not go outside?  Do you sometimes push it when you shouldn't in less than ideal/unsafe weather?