No flat but I lost another soldier...

I was really feeling melancholy today and I was hoping that working out would help. It normally does. I had to be out the door by 5 pm in order to get back from my ride before dark. Before I could ride I had to pick up a spare tire, a hand pump and a couple of new water bottles. I've been losing so many water bottles on my rides. The ones I lose are always the two behind the seat and they seem to work their way out of the holders when I go over bumpy roads or train tracks. It's really frustrating when you lose them on a long ride when you really need liquids. I was also anxious to see if my rim was okay from riding on a flat tire for 10 km and if I repaired the tire and tube properly. The fixing took me close to an hour after I took a "fine tooth comb" to everything, I even sanded out any nicks in the rim.

It was cold out today, -6 with windchill and 40 kph winds. Things didn't start out that well. I couldn't find my flashing red light I normally wear on the back of my jersey for safety. Then I had to stop to realign my speedometer and cadence magnets and to top it off I had to go back home after a kilometer to fix my cycling shoe, it had rocks in the pedal and the shoe wouldn't lock in. It was a good thing I had my toe warmers on, near the end of the ride my feet were okay but my hands were starting to freeze through my cycling mitts. And even though I kept checking to make sure the rear water bottles were secure I still managed to lose one again. I was pissed. One highlight was that I didn't get another flat tire and the rim is fine.

When I got back home I was freezing and the middle of my back was sore from shivering. I took off my wet clothes, put on my dry running clothes and ate my dinner on the couch with a blanket covering me. It took about 45 minutes for me to warm up and once I was warmed up I really didn't want to put on my cold wet jacket again and go for a run. But I did anyway. It was a moderate run so I took it easy and really enjoyed the run even though I was looking for it to end so I could get home to warm up and relax again. When I did get back I was feeling a lot better mentally. Since I started race training a month ago, in the past two weeks I can really tell I'm getting in better shape. I'm not fatigued after a workout and I today my legs didn't even feel like I trained at all, they were fresh as daisies. Last March I did 651.29 miles, this March I ended up doing 697.25 miles. Details below.

Mod Bike - 2:16 / 64.73 KM / 28.5 kph

Mod Run - 56.37 / 6.56 M / 8:37 pace

March Totals  

Swim -15.68 Miles / 25.29 KM

Bike - 554.85 Miles / 894.92 KM

Run - 126.72 Miles / 204.38 KM

Weights - 9 sessions

Total - 697.25 Miles /1124.59 KM

Calories Burnt - 51,643

170