Freezing Temps & Wind...There's no stopping a serious cyclist!
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
As I pulled out the layers on Friday evening, I had no idea that Florida was capable of reaching freezing temperatures! Sometimes we (Floridians) take for granted how lucky we are to have no ice or snow storms during the "winter" months. It was a rude awakening come Saturday morning as I headed out the door for a ride a little before 7am. The 8am CVS Gearlink group ride turned out to be me and 3 other guys, which then turned out to be a 2 1/2 solo ride. No worries-I was glad to be out on my bike with a foot that is almost healed and ready to run. As I am a committed music listener when I am riding or running alone, I was bummed that I left my music at home and rode over 45 miles with freezing toes and a wind-burned face. Yes-it was that cold and I was riding in 30 degree weather in Florida! The music would have made me feel better about the chilly conditions, so I added some intervals to warm me up. After a quick protein smoothie and breafast, the rest of the day was spent in San Antonio cheering on Karel (who raced his first Pro 1,2 race) and the rest of the Gearlink guys. The course was ridiculously hard and the competition was fierce. Great job to everyone who tested the conditions on the chilly hills of Florida. I also tested my skills as I was 3 for 4 for passing water bottles at the Feed zone for the Pro race. And I thought triathlons were fun. Try passing water bottles to a specific rider as 20 cyclists come racing passed you in speeds over 30 mph!
The sunday routine was similar to Saturday, but I had to wait until the rain stopped and the wind somewhat died down. So the 2 hour ride this morning might as well been journaled as a 10% grade hill ride. As I started out in head wind, in about 40 degree weather, I was feeling fresh and excited to get in as many miles as I could until 9:30am. But as I made my first turn, the wind picked up....and boy did it! My normal flat stretch of road, which I can average 20-22mph in no-wind was forcing me to go 12 mph in the awful head wind. But, actually, I kind of liked it. I am sure anyone who has raced in Kona before would agree with me, that nothing is like the kona winds! Although I have never raced in Kona and have only completed one IM race, training in the wind, for the Ironman World Championships in Oct. is only necessary for my training. The winds got so bad that I was leaning so far to one side that I might as well have been doing crunches in the wind. I couldn't get aero, I was on my smallest gear and pedaling like I was climbing a mountain. But.....it was fun and challenging...just like i love!
The Dade City crit was today and I also watched that as well. Karel and Tony were racing Pro 1,2 and Karel had an amazing finish for his first Pro 1,2 weekend.
The rest of today will be spent catching up on writing assignments and emails.
So what was my big surprise? I GOT ME A ROAD BIKE! Yeah..I can be a roadie! Thank you to the wonderful people of Blue who hooked me up with a wonderful RC5 Blue road bike. Although my seduza will be missed, I can't wait to test out my skills for a couple cycling races in the upcoming months!
have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone....and for those living in Florida...Stay warm!!!
*Also-a special congrats to Leslie Stallings who recently qualified for Boston this past sat at the Rock n' roll Marathon! Not only did this mother of 2, twice IM finisher train her butt of for this race, but she ran a 3:38 to blow her Boston qualifying time out of the water!! Great job Leslie!
The sunday routine was similar to Saturday, but I had to wait until the rain stopped and the wind somewhat died down. So the 2 hour ride this morning might as well been journaled as a 10% grade hill ride. As I started out in head wind, in about 40 degree weather, I was feeling fresh and excited to get in as many miles as I could until 9:30am. But as I made my first turn, the wind picked up....and boy did it! My normal flat stretch of road, which I can average 20-22mph in no-wind was forcing me to go 12 mph in the awful head wind. But, actually, I kind of liked it. I am sure anyone who has raced in Kona before would agree with me, that nothing is like the kona winds! Although I have never raced in Kona and have only completed one IM race, training in the wind, for the Ironman World Championships in Oct. is only necessary for my training. The winds got so bad that I was leaning so far to one side that I might as well have been doing crunches in the wind. I couldn't get aero, I was on my smallest gear and pedaling like I was climbing a mountain. But.....it was fun and challenging...just like i love!
The Dade City crit was today and I also watched that as well. Karel and Tony were racing Pro 1,2 and Karel had an amazing finish for his first Pro 1,2 weekend.
The rest of today will be spent catching up on writing assignments and emails.
So what was my big surprise? I GOT ME A ROAD BIKE! Yeah..I can be a roadie! Thank you to the wonderful people of Blue who hooked me up with a wonderful RC5 Blue road bike. Although my seduza will be missed, I can't wait to test out my skills for a couple cycling races in the upcoming months!
have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone....and for those living in Florida...Stay warm!!!
*Also-a special congrats to Leslie Stallings who recently qualified for Boston this past sat at the Rock n' roll Marathon! Not only did this mother of 2, twice IM finisher train her butt of for this race, but she ran a 3:38 to blow her Boston qualifying time out of the water!! Great job Leslie!