Dressing for Cold and Windy Days
I don’t know about you, but I’m so over the wind (and rain), and ready for warmer weather. These cold windy days remind me of the first few weeks of high school track practice every spring. We didn’t have the wide range of athletic clothing choices back then so I pretty much wore shorts and a cotton t-shirt or cotton sweatpants and a hoodie.
Fortunately, these days I have a wide variety of temperature/wind/rain appropriate clothing for my various sports. I may be able to dress more appropriately for the raw wind, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 20 miles
• Average speed: 16.7 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:46 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in basement
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
With 70 miles on the training schedule for the weekend and having ridden 5o miles the previous day, I needed to get in a 20-mile ride. Hoping on my spin bike is much quicker than gearing up to ride outside, so with a busy day ahead filled with Easter plans it was much easier to ride inside.
Monday
Strength training: 45 minutes of total body
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day, plus 1 hour of physical therapy
I woke up with new pains in my back that I could only attribute to sitting on soft chairs and sofas pretty much the entire previous afternoon/evening (my princess-and-the-pea back likes hard chairs with added lumbar support). Luckily, I had an appointment with my physical therapist during the afternoon and she did her best to ease the pain through stretching and traction. I finally broke down and took some Advil which helped tremendously.
Tuesday
Cycling: 30 miles
• Average speed: 16.1 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 12:05 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66°, 50° and rainy outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra (put on tank for picture)
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
Even though I had 30 miles (including climbing my 2 favorite hills) on my training schedule, I skipped riding outside, instead opting to stay indoors on my spin bike so I could stop at anytime if my back started bothering me. I kept it easy and stopped frequently to stretch and walk around the basement and felt great the entire ride.
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 1 mile
• Average pace: 14:47 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 9:10 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67°
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
With heavy rain outside (day 3 of rain) and a very busy work schedule, I kept it inside and squeezed in a short walk on my treadmill.
Thursday
Walking: 4 miles
• Average pace: 15:23 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 193 feet
• Start time: 5:30 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 37° with a little fog
• What I wore: capris, l/s shirt, down jacket, knit hat , gloves, and mittens
Cycling: 20 miles
• Average speed: 14 MPH
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 531 feet
• Start time: 12:12 PM
• Location: W&OD Trail
• Weather: 54° and mostly cloudy, raining last 15 minutes
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, arm sleeves, light jacket, and fingered gloves
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
It was another double cardio workout Thursday, and first up was an early morning virtual walk while chatting with Kim who was spinning away on her stationary bike.
Midmorning, just as I was readying my bike for intervals, I noticed that my bike Garmin only had 3% battery so I changed gears and did a bunch of chores while letting it charge. My plan had been to beat the forecasted afternoon rain, but my later start had me riding into a headwind with each interval and in cold rain for the last 15 minutes. Luckily, though, I beat the gusty wind and sideways hail that blew in about 30 minutes after I got home.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 3 miles
• Average pace: 14:33
• Elevation gain: 120 feet
• Start time: 10:11 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 50°, breezy, and cloudy
• What I wore: capris, l/s shirt, jacket, ear warmer headband, gloves, and mittens
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
With about a mile to go while on a walk in my neighborhood, I picked up a 1-inch screw in my shoe. It went in at an angle and luckily didn’t pierce through into my insole. I could hear it scraping and naturally thought I’d picked up a rock. When I stopped to examine it, it had only gone in about ¾ of the way, but I couldn’t pull it out. As I walked I continued to drive it in farther until it was almost flush with my shoe. Once home, I had to use a screwdriver to unscrew it so I could remove the little hitchhiker. LOL
Saturday
Cycling: 50 miles
• Average speed: 13.4 MPH
• Bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 1,788 feet
• Start time: 6:48 AM
• Location: W&OD Trail Sterling/Purcellville loop with a side jaunt onto Meadowlark, Quail Creek, and Irene
• Weather: 40° (feels like 31°) and clear, climbing to 49° (feels like 44°) and sunny, with 7-15 MPH NW wind
• What I wore: fleece lined long bike pants, fleece lined l/s jersey, winter jacket, ear warmer bike hat, and winter gloves over nitrile gloves
Physical therapy stretches: 3 times per day
I dressed in full winter gear for my coldest ride of this distance. My fingers didn’t warm up until I got about 10 miles into the ride, and at that point, my toes got cold (should have worn my shoe toe covers). The wind increased to 15 MPH which created a brutal headwind the first half of the ride. Once I had the wind at my back, it wasn’t so bad as it blew me home.
Oh, and I saw a peacock standing on the side of the trail about 4 feet from me as I rode by. He startled me and since I wasn’t sure if male peacocks are aggressive, I decide to keep rolling. Plus, I was in a rush to finish my ride because I had to teach 2-hour afternoon fitness orientation class.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • Has it been windy where you live? ~ yes
- • Have you ever been ready to workout only to find a dead or nearly drained battery? ~ yep
- • Did you run in race this weekend? ~ no
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Just like you, I am OVER this weather. I tried to move my workouts around to accommodate the rain, but nope, there was no wiggle room this week. I’m heading out early this morning to try to avoid the impending rain. Stay tuned to see how that works out.
So crazy about that screw in your shoe!
Hope you got your run in this morning without getting too soggy!
I’m mostly tired of walking Scooby in the rain, although he doesn’t seem to mind it!
That screw is scary! My husband has been getting a lot of flats on his bike commute — so much crap in the roads.
Hopefully this week will be nicer!
Yes, walking in the rain isn’t any fun. It’s good that Scooby doesn’t mind it, though. Pablo isn’t a fan.
The first thing I thought of when I saw that screw in my shoe was thank goodness I didn’t pick it up with one of my bikes because they each have a brand new set of tires.
Haha, it’s funny how we refuse to do a workout without a Garmin! I do the same – wait for it to recharge.
Well done on riding in that headwind! That’s really tough!
I still don’t dare to take photos while on the bike – it’s a skill I need to learn.
Isn’t that the truth! I could have used my running Garmin because it has a bike mode, but it doesn’t give me as many stats as my bike Garmin spits out. You know it’s all about the stats. LOL
Two years ago I was afraid to pull my water bottle out and drink while riding, but got up the nerve to do drink and take pictures last year. You’ll get there!
Well…. it seems like South Florida is the only area of the country that had beautiful weather this week! But don’t worry… soon I’ll be the one complaining. Your cold, windy, overcast weather does sound pretty miserable! Nice job getting out there in spite of it.
To answer your question… I’m practically OCD when it comes to charging my electronics, especially before a long run. So I don’t think I’ve ever had a dead battery before a run! But if I did… I would go out anyway for a shorter run (since I run the same loops and know all the distances.) For a longer run I really need my watch, because I’m usually running all different routes. Although I guess I could always do it the old-fashioned way- go by time and just estimate the distance!
Thanks, Jenny! And yes, your weather will turn way too hot very quickly.
About charging my Garmin… It was around 70-80% at the end of my ride on Saturday and I turned it off and plugged it in to top off the battery. However, I must have hit “sleep” instead of “power off.” Once it had fully charged I put it away and I guess it loses battery power in that state. I could have used my running Garmin in bike mode, but I have power meters, cadence sensors, etc. on my bike that send info to my bike Garmin and you know that I “need” all those stats. 😉
What is with the wind???? It’s always windy here, especially this time of year, but it’s been insanely brutal this past week. It sounded like a tornado/blizzard was raging all night…
And that screw! Dang, it was determined to take up residence in your shoe!
And today it was windy again… Hey, at least you weren’t getting blown around on your stair climb! Although, you might have liked a little to cool you down. 🙂
You are still killing with the cycling! How is it going? Is it starting to feel like a chore yet? I remember when I trained for my first marathon I felt like I was running every single day, which I didn’t like. Now it’s a treat to run every day! haha!
Glad you found the screw in your shoe and not the bike tire!
Lisa @ TechChick Adventures recently posted…Weekly Workouts – the max is here
Thanks, Lisa! My husband and I were having that very conversation after today’s ride. We don’t want to dread going on rides because it’s becoming too much. I am starting to feel like it’s all I do and think about, though.
And yes, that was the first thing I thought of, too! Both of my bikes have new sets of tires so getting a hole in one of them would have been a real bummer.
Oh I’m so with you about this weather – just over it! Hopefully it turns a corner for all of us soon.
That is just crazy about the screw in your shoe! Glad it didn’t pierce your insole.
Thanks, Michelle! I’m even happier that the screw didn’t end up in one of my bike tires!