"You must be dedicated...

...to be running out in this cold weather" was a comment made to me today as I was out on a great little :50 run at lunch.
We've had a bout of warmer weather in my neck of the woods over the last week or so, today was the first day in about a week that was below 0*C (-1), I thought it was a great day to be out. Not like somedays when I really struggle to get outside, today was a no-brainer; probably about 10-12*C above my "treadmill temperature threshold."
I started to think about her comment and her perspective as I continued my run. This was just one little run on what I thought was a great day to be outside. From her tone of voice I gather she thought what I was doing was crazy, if it was up to me, I'd be out for a much longer run or a nice bike ride; different perspective. I (along with MANY other athletes) am not only willing to train despite a bit of snow in the air and a cool breeze, I enjoy it.
But she was right: "you must be dedicated." Today it was easy. I don't imagine I'll be racing that woman this summer, so doing something that she (and honestly most people) thought was crazy is no big deal. At some point between now and the 2008 triathlon season I'm gonna hafta do things that really do take dedication, things that my competition not to mention the lady on the street are unwilling to do.
Today I'm enjoying the easy, no-brainer days. I wanted to blog this so I'd remember that comment during the workouts that aren't so easy, the workouts that will hopefully set me apart.

Beautifully Ugly

Probably best describes my first swim "workout" since October, I loved every second of it but I bet it was U-G-L-Y to watch.

After spending my formative years fixated on the black line, starting set after endless set 'on the top' I go through periods where the last thing I want to do is pull on my speedo and go for a dip.
I've tried to force myself back in but I always end up hating it. I've now learned to let it go a bit, that it's OK to not swim. If I don't feel like swimming I do something else, for the past 2-3 months I haven't felt like it, I also haven't stressed about it. Sure, it's a nice luxury to have as a strong swimming triathlete but today I felt like swimming so I swam.

It was good to be back, I sucked, but it was a good suck. The sound of the water rushing past my head and was calmingly familiar, I guess I'm still a swimmer after all....even though 2001 me would laugh his ass off at the pace times 2008 me is using.

Happy New Year!

With the exception of a few 'ZEROES' over the past few weeks to do the holiday rounds, training has been rolling along OK. The volume is pretty low but I've been trying to get some quality/intensity in most days.
On the competition front (if you can call it competition), I ran my first beer mile just before X-mas and man did I under estimate the difficulty of that event! A beer mile consists of 4 beers, 4 laps of a 400m track, alternating beer/lap. I came out on top of our little group and finished in 7:40. We had about 6" of wet snow to run through so I think I can get close to 7:00 with a faster track. Regardless, it was a fun event, I think there's video footage floating around out there. I'll see if I can get my hands on it and post it here.

Keep fit and have fun,
Ian