Race week

I have a Half Ironman on Sunday. This is hard for me to believe. I have only done 3 in my life. Each time, they have been a MAJOR focus of my season. THE focus for that matter.
Not this time. This time, I am all about 140.6 on 7/26/09.
And yet, 70.3 is Nothing to take lightly. And of course, I dont' take any race lightly.
So this is race week. I am slowly but surely calming my thougths for Sunday. Getting ready. Phsycially. And mentally.

That's not what this post is about. I will save more race chatter for a later in the week.

I had some intense training last week. It wasn't that it was so Hard....but it was just intense.
Let's just say that during the middle of one of my rides, I had to make a conscious decision to focus on all that I was Feeling.
I was surely alive that day. My senses were on overload.
It was a cold rainy week in Maine. Spring is either glorious here in the Northeast, or, quite frankly, miserable. We had a miserable week.
I went for a 2 hr ride towards the end of last week. No big deal. I was in my hometown...ready for a nice moderate ride. I know how to dress for runs at every temperature. I have been trying to learn this for biking. I typically overdress. Not This time! I would not be crazy layered Ange. I left the bike shop in town with short, a thin shirt and a jacket. About 10 min into the ride, I knew I had messed up.
First, it started to pour. And then the wind howled. I coudn't wear my glasses. They were covered with water and fog.
It poured and poured and poured.
One hour into the ride, my feet and hands started to burn. I was wishing they'd go numb. Instead, pain. I could feel the water splatter up my back. I was so wet, at times I felt like I was naked. I even checked to make sure my shorts weren't ripped! They were just so wet! I felt every single pellet of water on my face, splashing into my eyes. There were rivers in the roads. Cars sped by me splashing me even more. I felt sorry for myself. I could barely engage my leg muscles to pedal they were so frozen. My left quad stopped working.
Then it hit me.... I was feeling every thing. And for that, I felt lucky. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. It wasn't the pleasant pain of a hard workout. We all love that. This was something different. It might have felt better to be in my warm sweats with a cup of tea, but instead I chose to feel lucky that I was experiencing this intense misery and getting through it. That sounds dramatic. Intense misery. Of course it wasn't That bad. But by the time I got back to the shop, I was at the end of my rope. I couldn't use my hands to put the key in the car door. It took me about 15 min just to get the wet stuff off and the bike in the car. My feet were 100% numb. Hours later, I wwarmed up.
Not all workouts can be done when it's 70 degrees and sunny. In fact, perfect conditions are rare. I was not a happy camper out there but do still feel lucky that I can get through nasty moments well enough to feel all the feelings and savor the next beautiful day even more.