Review and Preview

Last weekend I headed down to Rochester with the boys for a training weekend. I was able to unload the kids onto my sister (thanks Liss!!) while I headed out for my longest weekend yet - 4.5 hrs on Saturday and 3+ on Sunday. Plus, the Rochester area isn't exactly flat.
The forecast all week leading into the weekend called for rain so I was pretty prepared mentally for a wet workout and by the time Saturday rolled around was actually, dare I say, looking forward to it! Mother Nature didn't let me down either. About 5 minutes after I jumped on my bike for my 3.5 hr ride it started drizzling. Nothing major, but enough to make me pay attention more than normal. Fine, I thought, I can handle this. At that point I was actually more concerned about the wind. It was a crosswind coming from the SSW and a majority of my route was E to W and back with a loop in the middle. I got to wondering if I'd rather have a crosswind the whole time, either direction or would it be better to have a headwind and then a tailwind? I think the headwind/tailwind scenario is a better one.
Well, the first 2 hours went well and I was holding my own. The wind was more of an issue than the rain, that just made things wet. At that 2 hr mark things got interesting though. As luck would have it, I was at the farthest point away from where I parked, out in BFE, and all I can see coming towards me is a wall of gray! For the next 15 minutes I pedaled in my granny gear (on flat roads!) straight into a blowing downpour, or it would actually be more appropriate to call it a diagonalpour. With the wind, the rain felt like pins and needles hitting my arms and legs. It brought back memories of when we'd get caught in the rain waterskiing and trying to make it back to the dock.
I did think about stopping, but didn't really have any place to pull off to. I could've just layed in the ditch and let the storm pass, but then I thought this is why I wanted to ride in the rain, to see if I could, what it was like, get used to it in case race day has crappy weather. So, I rode on. Not my best decision, but I won't tease you and make you think anything happened. I got through it, but 20/20 hindsight says I probably should've stopped and waited it out.
That storm lasted about 15 minutes, it rained off and on for another 20ish minutes after that and then for my last 45ish minutes on the bike the sun slowly made it's way out and it cleared up. Just in time to get warm and humid for my run! Yippee!
Remember that crosswind I was talking about during the first part of my ride? Well, it decided to turn into a headwind on my way back. Yup, it switched directions and made this bike workout one I won't forget anytime soon.
So, I get done biking (my longest ride ever, personal best distance and duration!), clean up/dry off and head out on my run. By now, the sun is out and heating things up, just another less-than-ideal workout condition. I would've preferred it stayed overcast. Running after biking is always a strange feeling, odd sensation - the legs don't feel like they're working, but somehow you're moving forward. The whole 50 minute run I didn't feel like I was holding a very good pace, but once I got done I was more than pleased that I held an 8:15 pace for 6 miles! If I were a bettin' man, I would've thought they were more like 9:15s. Good thing I didn't put money on that.
Sunday's workout was even more interesting. I signed up for the Rochester Triathlon on June 19th so I wanted to run/ride the course to get a little familiar with it. I ran first this time and it was pretty uneventful. The course is nice in that I can break it up into little segments and just move from one segment to the next. There are a couple of interesting "off road" portions that I'll make sure to mention in any post race survey, but that's for another day.
The ride was brutal. Sunday was even windier than Saturday and it just made the hills seem even steeper. With the course layout, it was a tailwind first which only meant a headwind coming back. I'd much prefer the opposite order! Add on top of this hard workout some nutritional mistakes I have since learned from (eat more!) and it made for a very long, slow ride! With the wind as strong as it was, there were actually times I was slowing down while going downhill!!
I finally got back to my car about 20 minutes later than what it normally takes me to cover that distance (40k) and said good riddance to Rochester until the 19th! I like to think I persevered and powered through Saturday, but the elements dominated me on Sunday.
I've had a good training week since - some long swims, a nice BRick on Tuesday with a 30 mile ride and 6 mile run right after (@ 7:45s!) and another 8 miler at sub 8's tonight. This is all leading into what I hope will be a fun and worthwhile Memorial Weekend.
I'm heading down to Madison to ride and run the course with Tim and Karl, 2 other IMers this year. I'm using it as more of a learning weekend than hardcore training. I just want to see what the bike route is like, experience the hills I keep hearing about, and get a lay of the land for the run route. There is a 30-40% chance of wetness, but after last weekend I'm more concerned about that because we're camping in tents, not because of the rides or runs we'll do!
Check back next week and I'll let you know how my first foray into the belly of beast went!