August 3, 2009

Blame It On The Rain

After a full day of rest on Saturday I was ready to get back to it on Sunday. A friend and I woke up at 5 a.m. to drive to New Paltz where the roads seem made for riding. I was really looking forward to it. The forecast had been sketchy, but only called for 30% chance of "showers" or "light rain" or "scattered thunderstorms." The weather man couldn't have been more wrong.

We drove up in rain and started our ride in the rain, which I really don't mind. You just have to go a bit slower and be more cautious. Neither of us were particularly dressed for the conditions so we knew we'd be chilly. The plan was to ride 84 miles on a 42 mile loop. It's a beautiful ride, even in the rain. There is barely any traffic, there are Catskills views everywhere, the roads are in decent shape and the air is so perfect. I absolutely loved being there and was riding well and feeling great.

But in the final stretch of the first loop the rain turned into a sheet of water and the visibility was minimal. We started to worry about cars being able to see us and decided we'd stop for a bit and see if it let up. We hopped in the car to stay warm and it continued to pour. Deep down I knew the ride was over, but I decided to do my brick run and hope we might be able to finish the ride when I got back. It was hard to go back out in the monsoon but once I did it was a good run. I ran on a rail trail so I had to be careful to avoid a repeat of Friday's fall. I used the time to think about the right thing to do - suck it up and finish the ride or call it quits for safety. Forty minutes later I called it quits. We attempted to dry off, changed our clothes and went to the local brewery for lunch.

I was incredibly disappointed about missing another long ride. I feel like the last real riding I did was in Wisconsin and that was so long ago. I've been sidetracked by racing, recovering, traveling, racing and recovering some more and am starting to feel like I'm falling behind. I scheduled an emergency call with my coach today to talk it over and he assures me I am ahead of where I need to be fitness wise and I'll be back on track with the bigger training in no time. As usual he made sense and made me feel a lot better. He adjusted my schedule for the week to account for the lighter weekend and the fact that I still can't swim due to a gooey elbow. I skipped my usual rest day and did some bike intervals tonight, I'll bike again tomorrow morning and then do a short run tomorrow night. On Wednesday I have my first long run of the week and then I'm off to Vermont. I think the increased volume will have me feeling back to normal.

A lot went wrong over the weekend. It definitely got into my head and had me feeling down and defeated. But my coach said something to me Friday that stuck in my mind. He told me not to focus on what I was missing or what had gone wrong, but to focus on the positive things I could do to heal and move forward, the things I could control. Just like I can't change that I fell, I can't control the weather and I made the best effort I could. I need to let go of the frustration and keep moving forward.

Biking (Sunday)
Distance - 42.65 miles
Time - 2:36:28

Running (Sunday)
Distance - 5.2 miles
Time - 44:44

Biking (Monday)
Distance - 22.32 miles
Time - 1:30:00

5 comments:

  1. Hey there! Where are you heading to in Vt. I have been reading your blog since I am also participating in IM Wisconsin, and I live in VT. I know lots of great rides if you are interested and there is a great olympic race on Sunday! Let me know if you need any info.

    Jessica
    http://tritough.blogspot.com/

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  2. your a LOT braver than I am when it comes to rain. Good job in some terrible weather conditions!

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  3. I think everyone has doubts right now! I know I do. One or two days is not going to effect a year of training.

    It is so much easier to say that to someone else -- now if I could just listen to myself - haha.

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  4. There's still a handful of weekends available for long training days, K - you'll get them in. No worries. You were smart to play it safe and call it a day.

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  5. How long did it take you to get there from NYC? If you wouldn't mind sharing I would love to know the exact loop - it sounds like a great ride! (kristagager@gmail.com)

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