The great thing about Minnesota spring is the roller coaster ride that mother nature takes you on. She teases you first with a taste of the warm weather. She might even suggest winter has entirely passed on and summer is roaring over the horizon. Just as you think the you're in the home stretch, she smashes you back down to earth with a good, bleak winter snow event. Just for good measure. She will then tease you a little again with a quick melt and a warming trend, but this time with howling winds from the plains ensuring a frigid feel for the day.
So, why the focus on the weather, I hear you ask. It is because that type of teasing plays with the fragile triathlete's (or any other outdoor athlete for that matter) mind. You've been rooted in that basement and on that treadmill to oblivion for too long. The whiff of an outdoor ride or run is enticing to a fault. That's when you find yourself out and about in Vermont. It's 50 degrees on the fahrenheit scale and you think "it's not that bad.... The wind isn't that strong.... I can make this work in shorts and t-shirt" It would be shortly after this discussion, involving one, that you find yourself being hailed on, with wind gusts of about 40mph as you stubbornly and belligerently circumnavigate a track workout, refusing to stop until you're done. Upon returning from the outdoors, a quick check in the mirror reveals a somewhat rosy ear and blood shot thighs and a suggestion that perhaps a treadmill run would have been a better option.
Just two days later my faith in spring is renewed by the calm, clear weather in the recently tornado-ridden Tulsa. The weather is perfect for a nice run along the river. A quick check of the calendar reveals that perhaps a poor choice was made earlier in the week, as a swim is now on the cards. Note to self: Swim when it's hailing. Run outdoors when it's sunny. Check. Even though the beauty of a sunny run was missed, a very pleasant indoor pool swim (and most importantly, a free indoor pool swim) was to be had at St John's Hospital, who cleverly hides a fitness center within it's medical walls. Great facilities. One to be kept in the memory banks for the future.
Faith in spring was temporarily restored as I found myself with 4hours to kill in the airport in Kansas. I pleasantly discover that it is quite possibly one of the best for sneaking out for a run. With 12 miles to kill, the endless rolling plains of Kansas provided the backdrop for the next couple of hours. Good practice for the mental side of the game, as wind, sun and bland concrete roads adorned with shocking driving made for the entertainment.
Mother nature continued her assault on Minneapolis towards the end of the week. Teasing with an hour of sun, followed by two hours of torrential rain and wind, just as I wanted to get out the door. Thus, now relegated back to the basement, the movie rental menu was perused and entertainment carefully selected for the next four hours of basement biking. Good entertainment is simply a must. Once you find yourself north of 3 hours on an indoor trainer, each 15 minute block feels like a marathon of a bike ride. The psychology is fascinating. Therefore, good distractions are a must. Unbroken and Into The Woods duly served up said distractions, although those last 15 minutes still took on the guise of a slow moving clock.
A recovery week is ensuing. At the completion of this week, we are officially half way there. Aches and pains are beginning, with the niggles and soreness that is common as half way approaches. The pace will be ratcheted up next week with a push beginning for the higher mileages.
Good luck to us all!
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