Brrrr....icks!

Man, it was cold this past weekend. At least, it makes the start of the swim more comfortable. I got in the water and I was still tired from my 2000 yard effort earlier last week. So I just cruised easy on Saturday morning. This was good because I went out to my last team ride.

We went up one of my favorite routes, Dairy Creek. It kicked my ass. My first team ride was up that beast and it killed me. I can't believe it crushed me yet again. I guess it just shows how much top end I've lost. I've just been spinning for the last couple of months and it shows. I'm okay with it as the real training doesn't happen yet. Overall, when I got off the bike I had put in 74 miles and 4 hours of riding. Not lightning fast but just there for a winter ride. The temperature at the end was a balmy 40 something compared to the frosty roads at the beginning.

On Sunday, I swam an easy 1000 before hoping on the bike. It was colder at a whopping 28 degrees. I decided to ride and then run afterwards because it would be my last ride with the Sunday riding group. I usually ride almost all summer with these guys so it would be fun. They are usually really laid back and my legs needed a nice spin ride before pounding the pavement for the run.

The ride started off super hard at least it felt hard to me. My legs were just dead. I had looked at the doppler radar before the swim and there was moisture on the coast. I figured we'd stay dry til Noon. We started to head towards Hagg Lake. We decided to stop at this golf course about 16 miles out and make some decisions about total mileage, etc.

The pace was pretty smooth and hard out to the golf course and it was still about 32 degrees because unlike Saturday there was only clouds and no sun. I stuffed a whole Clif Bar in my mouth at the golf course as people took bathroom breaks. We figured to go about 3-5 mile more miles out which would make my total for the day around 50. We started pedalling and not about 5 minutes later it started to sleet.

We all immediately turned around and started hightailing it back. All I can say is I'm glad we weren't in the middle of a longer loop. I was racing the roads becoming wet and slick. We were rotating pretty well and only dropped one poor soul. He had a rain bike so I wasn't too worried about him not making it back. It was every biker for himself. I had to get back through Tigard before it got too dangerous. I just remember the last time it started snowing on a Sunday afternoon when it was cold and there was mass accidents.

I got back to the 24 hour Fitness parking lot and tossed the bike in the car. I downed a power gel and put the running shoes on. I took off on a nice 7.5 mile loop as the snow was still coming down but not really sticking. My legs felt great on the run compared to how crappy they felt on the bike. I'm really surprised about how fresh and relieved the muscles feel when I get off the bike. I think my body is just built for running.

I finished my run and was tired but not totally wiped out. I was totally frozen though and was thankful for the hot shower when I got home.

It's still cold today so I decided to stay warm by just spinning on the trainer. If the weather stays dry, I may venture outside tomorrow...we'll see.