Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Hint of the Chill to Come

It was 54° for this morning's walk of the dog; the running shorts and tank top I had on were hardly appropriate!  I'm sure it will warm up throughout the day and I know we are (hopefully) still many weeks away from the real cold setting in, but I can't help think about the looming winter.  

This will be my third winter since I moved back to New York and I am no more excited than I was for the other two. Maintaining my training is made exponentially harder by the cold temperatures and short days. Waking up at 5:00am is hard enough when it's nice out but sometimes your body just says "no" when it's cold. 

Weather aside, I'm working on developing a plan/strategy for the winter that will further fortify my foundation for when Mont Tremblant training formally begins in late February.  I am committed to working on my weakest link: swimming (specifically my form). I also plan to focus on increasing my cycling power.  To accomplish these two goals I'm considering both joining a Masters swim group (though I'm no aquatic Master myself) and trying the Sufferfest indoor cycling DVDs which I've heard great things about. 

For now I'll just enjoy the remainder of summer and the cooler temps of fall. Though the weather may soon put the kibosh on swimming and cycling, this time of year helps produce some of the best run results (see: Marathon Performance and Temperature).  I am signed up for next week's Cow Harbor 10K and plan to round out my season with a few more running races.  I've yet to run a standalone 10K nor have I raced a 5K with an actual goal; this fall - in a 5K yet to be chosen - I will be aiming to run sub 20 minutes (a far cry from my first 30+ minute 5K several years ago.

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