Weather Woes

It's pretty hard to complain about the Arizona weather in  the winter - the forecast varies from "Sunny with a Chance of Clouds"  to "Sunny with a Chance of Three Clouds."  We've been spending a lot of time outside, climbing mountains and stuff.

However, every once in awhile, the weather goes astray.  When this happens, it becomes the top story on the news and the headline of every paper:  Weather Forecast is Changes!

First, it was cold.  Maybe not cold compared to the rest of the country, but cold considering I do not own running pants and that I require a sweater for anything under 75 degrees.

If I don't own running pants, it's safe to say the kids do not own running pants so this put a damper on everyone's training.  After suffering through multiple runs that left my hands so frozen it hurt to bend my fingers, like a fool, I decided to try riding my bike.  Of course I do not own cold-weather cycling clothes, so I did my best to improvise with a hair band across my nose, fuzzy socks for leg warmers and non-fuzzy socks for arm warmers:

After the horrible cold spell, the rain clouds appeared.  Rain in Arizona usually resembles the burst of a water balloon - immediately intense but a quickly empty sky .  If it rains on a Saturday morning, you will be running or riding your bike by noon.

Except not last Saturday.  It was raining heavily when I woke up around 7am.  So, I waited.  At 9am, I was surprised that it was still raining heavily.  So, I waited some more.  By noon, it was still raining!  So, I surrendered to the sky and rescheduled my run for Sunday.

Sunday was also the big race day for the kids - but unfortunately, the rain clouds did not clear.  The race was canceled.

One thing about a missed race, or even a bad race, is that there is always another race.  The kids have an  upcoming 300-yard dash.  I remain unattached, but have a tentative 8 races planned for the next two months.

And so training continues.

After the cold front, and the rain, came the worst - the wind.

I  try not to let the elements dissuade me so on Monday, I battled the wind on bike and tackled it on Tuesday for speedwork.  The planned workout was 3 x 6 minutes @ 5K effort.  After studying the wind during my warm up, I placed myself on the cross-cut canal, which by coincidence, was hit by a cross wind.  My first 6 minutes were erroneously 5:10 (@ 6:07 pace).  It felt good.  My next 6 minutes (and 10 seconds) were at 5:59 pace.  It felt good.  My last six minutes were 5:10 again (the wind had picked up and I got tired) @ 6:07 pace again.  Ended with 2:10 x 2 (@ 5:55 pace).  So, 20:40 and 3.45  miles worth of "speed."  Better than last week and my first sub-6 mile in many months.

I wish improving in the pool was as simple as improving on my feet.  But I will save a whiny swim post for a rainy day.