Saturday, March 28, 2009

A 2 Verve Day

The sound of the alarm woke me but the sound of ice pellets hitting the window made me want to stay in bed. On the schedule was a 1:30 run with 30 sec. to 12 minute surges (90 sec. to 3 min. recovery) followed by a 30 min. easy spin and then later a 30 min. swim. The treadmill was NOT where I wanted to start the day. I have made peace with riding on my trainer, but the treadmill...NEVER! I decided to stall the decision and see if the weather would make a gore-tex run a little more reasonable a bit later.

I usually go to spin class on Saturday mornings and then clean and do simple maintenance on the bikes for a membership trade-out. It is a sweet deal and I'd rather take the class than just go clean the bikes some other time so at least some of the sweat I mop up is my own. So, I drank Verve #1 and went to class. I had to remind myself to stay in the moment and enjoy the ride and let go of impending treadmill dread (while also keeping the effort easy since I was adding another hour to an already long enough training day).

I admit I spent most of the ride thinking of ways to re-arrange my training so I wouldn't have to run inside. I could swap Sunday's long ride with today's run but the forecast still threatened ice and snow and a low of 19 tonight which could make for a just as likely chance I'd end up on the treadmill anyway. After class it was sleeting hard...UGH!

Once I got home, after navigating the thick slush through the iced over windshield, I knew it was time to suck it up and climb aboard the gerbil machine. All in all it wasn't so bad. The mix of surges made for a good distraction and I got to watch some quality public television which included learning how to make a wooden wine bottle stopper and how to select a good table saw (it was either that or The Care Bears). I finished up with an easy spin on the trainer while touring some gorgeous gardens in France.
After refueling and resting for a while I sucked down Verve #2 and headed to the pool.

I don't know why I get so worked up and anxious about some of my workouts. Again and again I am amazed how time passes and the effort eventually comes to an end. I love being on the done end of a workout and once I am there it sure makes getting it started worth it!

I've been hibernating (and silent) for quite a while and I am so glad Spring is here (although you wouldn't know it by going outside today). I am going to Duathlon Nationals in Richmond, VA at the end of April with my Coach, Karen Buxton. I can't afford missing any workouts after my most off off-season I have had for many years!

I'm contemplating Verve #3 as the next dreaded task of the day is taxes!