"Hi's" and Lows

The roller-coaster ride of early training continues... let's hit the lows first. It's tough enough to get out to run in 30 degree, windy winter weather; add a bike in the mix, and all of a sudden there's a 12-15 mph wind joining you as a constant companion on the workout. Long story short: Wednesday was a hard ride. We rode after work, with plenty of light and sun, but the temperature readout on my bike computer read a steady 32 degrees through the entire ride. Within 10 minutes, my fingers and toes were cold. By the time the ride was over, I was pretty sure that maybe I didn't *have* fingers and toes anymore. I was pretty sure that nobody gets frostbite in 40 minutes in barely-freezing weather. But as my fingers twinged and twanged sharply through the first 20 minutes indoors, I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there's a first time for everything? Lesson learned: proper cold-weather gear is just as important as proper warm-weather gear. You can bet that I'm on the search for the BEST cold-weather gloves and some windproof "booties" to cover up my cleverly vented bike shoes. (Recommendations? Toss 'em at me in the comments!)

After that chilly experience, even getting up at 5 am for swim practice seemed like a luxury - at least swim practice takes place in an indoor, heated pool! So on Thursday morning, "dark and early," it was time to say "Hi" to about 60 of my new closest friends at our introduction to group swim. As soon as we got in the water (after 40 minutes of "lecture lite" about swim technique, etiquette, and equipment), it became clear that "closest" was an excellent way to describe our time together - as we all figure out how fast we swim relative to everyone else, we spend a lot of time crashing our hands into the feet of the swimmer in front of us. Despite the aquatic traffic jams, we must have done something good, because my shoulder muscles (and, I think, some back muscles, too) are reporting in as "well used" today. Oof. It was fun, though, to swim as a "community of swimmers," rather than the benign indifference among the regular swimmers at Arlington's pools.

More new experiences to come - tomorrow is our first group run, after a shoe clinic that will hopefully yield some new running shoes for Sarah. But tonight it's time to change gears, and clothes, and clean up enough to fit in with the opera-goers at the Kennedy Center. A little Verdi will be a welcome change of pace.