Chilled Out, Wimped Out

Oh, so that explains why I was so cold this morning.

I made a classic mistake this morning. I think my outdoor thermometer must have been showing a higher temperature than it really was, which was apparently 32°F, otherwise known as freezing.

I apparently went out under-dressed for reality.

Up on the levee in the dark was just Darren, who was probably wearing half of what I was. Still, I was already chilled and not really looking forward to the ride. We started out side-by-side, but I was just feeling colder and colder, so I dropped back into his draft, thinking it might give me a chance to warm up a bit. He cranked the pace up a notch because he was feeling pretty cold by then himself and thought the extra effort would warm him up. I don't know if it was working for him, but it definitely wasn't for me. As we approached Williams Blvd. I pulled up alongside and told him I'd be turning around in hopes of getting home before hypothermia set in. I never did warm up, so turning back early was definitely a good call today. Some days are just like that. You start out on the wrong foot, or in this case you get too cold too fast, and there's just nothing you can do after that to fix. Today was one of those days. I trudged back home, fingers and toes getting colder and colder the whole way. With considerable difficulty I got my frozen arms to turn the key in the lock at home. Then I had trouble opening the plastic snap buckle on my helmet strap because my fingers weren't working so well. All-in-all, it was not a fun ride, but at least there was hot coffee at the end.

Tomorrow morning is looking like it will be nearly as cold as today. The 7 am forecast is showing 33° F. This time, though, I will definitely not be under-dressed. On the plus side, Saturday should be pretty nice. Sunday morning is still a little bit up in the air, and I'm waiting until tomorrow afternoon to see what the hourly forecast shows before deciding what to do about my planned northshore ride. If we're lucky, we'll be able to get in a good ride with temperatures in the 40s and 50s before the rain moves in. If we're not lucky, the rain will move in halfway through the ride. If we're really not lucky, it'll be obvious that we'll get rained on right away and the ride will be scratched. We'll see. All I know is that my normal training routine has been suffering a lot for over two weeks now and it's really taking its toll both mentally and physically.