Crazy Weather Training

The last few weeks in Portland have been a battle with mother nature. We've had sub-30 degree days and  ones with 5 inches of snow. On the east side, in Gresham, there's been 60 mph wind gusts and 2 inches of rain in one day.

I ran 5:10 mile pace on barkchip in sleet blowing completely sideways for 4x10 minutes
I rode 76 miles in that same sleet and 37 degree weather.
I ran through an total downpour, 40 degrees, inch-deep puddles on the track, clicking off 30 second 200's.

Everyone remembers the videos of Lance Armstrong riding in the mountains, preparing for the Tour De France. He would ride in the worst conditions, on the worst roads, whatever it took to get prepared for victory. His competitors would say that every time they took a day off, they knew Lance was out training no matter what. Hard weather makes hard people.

I have these internal dialogues when I train in the terrible weather. I go back and forth between thinking how miserable this is and how much I love that I don't see anyone else out training. How badly I want it to end, and how badly I wish I could just ride all day so I'd be that much tougher. It presents repeated opportunities to quit, and just that many opportunities to triumph and reaffirm why I train.

Here's a couple pictures from the super rainy day. I don't have anything better since Tahir and I were trying to finish as quickly as possible so we could go somewhere and get warm.

Outside of Taco Del mar. Gushing water

Inside Taco Del Mar, victory burrito!

So a funny anecdote.. He were were, eating burritos, dripping all over the floor and shivering slightly.

-The shift change walks in,

"Dude, look how wet I got just walking from my car!"

- He looks over, sees us and our glorious puddle of filth.

"Whoa. What HAPPENED to you guys?"

Tahir- "Oh, we were running."

Feeling it

Do you ever get that feeling that you're about to have a big breakthrough? When everything seems to be going right, you start to feel bulletproof and you wonder if it might be too good to be true? That's where I'm at right now.
It's such a good feeling, and it perpetuates itself. Each good workout makes for a good day, and each good day of workouts fuels a good week. It all builds and builds until a race or unfortunately sometimes, an injury.

Got my feet in ice right now so I don't get injured and my season opener is 7 weeks away.
Game on.

2013 Sram Red- The new hotness

So Sram is debuting their new Red group this year. Red was initially introduced in 2007, and until recently, with the introduction of Campagnolo Super record titanium, it was the lightest group set. According to what I read on cycling news, the new red group will be 250 grams lighter than current Red and 240 grams lighter than the Super Record. That's over half a pound. Amazing. My mind is blown.

To Do List

The goal for March 3: Win Clermont Draft Legal Challenge and qualify for professional licensure.
The goal for 2016: Qualify for the USA Olympic triathlon team.

To do list for January 7, 2012:

Buy EricLagerstromRacing.com
Work on Eric Lagerstrom Racing business plan
Shovel the gravel in the driveway
Swim practice
Bike 70 miles
Nap
contact sponsors
begin work on "stealth" bike box project

March might seem like a ways away, and 2016 will find many people in completely different places in life. I'll be doing the same sort of things, but a lot faster :) Every day gets us closer to our goals and it's important to be able to see the connection and make each day count.

Here's my current favorite workout mixtape. I'm listening to it now. It starts a little slow, but keeps building and blends 25 different songs. 45 minutes of great mixing if you're into heavy beats for workouts.

http://bwompbeats.com/music/BwompMixSeries/BWOMP_Mix_Series_009_Mochipet-Space_Bass_Ship.mp3

Make today count!    -thanks for reading