Any recent fun “training in horrible weather” stories?
I don’t feel like searching old posts.
We all know training in crappy conditions make you tougher.
Here’s my little anecdote from the wilds of Montana.
I have a heavy, but comfy pair of Nike Goretex running shoes and the insole says ‘Embrace the elements’ which I have long done running. Dontcha feel tough running when it’s zero (or 95) or when it’s hailing sideways? It sucks and everyone thinks you are an idiot, but you feel good.
After three years riding I finally broke through and felt that way on my bike these last few weeks, riding 30 miles in the rain and/or struggling at 11 mph into the wind on a road where I go 20 when its still.
A few days ago, 30 rugrats were churning up 4 swimming lanes (swim camp) and me and a few slower, “healthy” older women occupied the other two. It sucked , but I made my peace with it.
OK, I’ll wuss out if it’s really awful, but short of that, it’s so much nicer to embrace and even enjoy suffering this way.
I can relate to those rainy cold bike rides. Been caught in them a few times. Don’t think it makes me stronger, better or builds character - just wetter.
Embrace the elements? No, embrace the coffee shop. Yesterday Aderhold, Frankie and Mario and I were on a ride and it got crappy fast. 50 degrees and rain. We were like, “Oh, this ride is officially over, 20 minutes of all out time trialling back to the coffee shop and then breakfast…” We went 30 mph with Frankie on the front to get back to the coffee place for breakfast.
I’m also in Michigan. Usually the good weather days are few and far between. If it is warm enough to ride outside, it is usually raining and/or 25+ mph winds OR 95 dgrees and an ozone action day. Today it is 58 degrees and overcast, which is one of the better days to ride lately.
But living here I REALLY appreciate a good weather day!!! It is like Christmas to a kid. And often during races I hear people complaining about the weather and I don’t get it…
I think I rode exclusively on the computrainer from Nov. thru March.
yeah, about 8 years ago i had just begun to ride and i went down to berkeley where my best friend was going to school. At this point in my amateur career, I didnt have the kit or the nice bike or any endurance. So i was wearing a cotton tshirt and a pair of really old bike shorts (that i dont know wear i got them) and we ended up riding in the berkeley hills (on his usual route). The weather changed and it began to lightly “snow” it didnt stick or anything, but it wasnt hail–it was flakes of white stuff. I was freezing. My buddy let me use his arm warmers. Afterward i spent about an hour in the spa drinking beers. It was horrible and punishing, but looking back, it was awesome.
Last year, 3 of us started in Palm Beach, with some clouds rolling in, after 10 minutes it starts sprinkling “At least it’s not hard” so it starts pouring…“At least there’s no wind” so it starts howling…we didn’t dare say anything else, but the lightning came anyway.
We just kept going, through 3-4 inches of water, all the way to Ft. Lauderdale. Motorists were honking at us, thinking we were crazy. Other cyclists took cover, but we just rode.
I must have poured a liter of water out of my frame.
For me, it is kind of like this: I have been in this sport 21 years. I have done rotten training rides and runs in all conditions. In the military the training we did was brutally difficult and conducted in all conditions. I’ve raced on all seven continents from the Sahara to Antarctica to Vietnam and back again. I trained in abominable conditions this winter for IMNZ. Nothing stopped me from going out on a long run. Several runs I did I said to myself “This may be the hardest run of my life, and the most important”.
I’ve done a lot of “Going through the thickest part of the hedge”.
But I’m still arouund becasue I know when to go with the flow and when to go against it.
Sometimes I don’t go against it. If it is cold and rainy out and my girlfriend is warm and cute in bed at home I go home.
Life is too short to needlessly subject yourslf to extreme discomfort. Suffering has a time and place and there is no shortage of it in this life. There isn’t any need to needlessly subject yourself (myself) to it.
"Life is too short to needlessly subject yourslf to extreme discomfort. Suffering has a time and place and there is no shortage of it in this life. There isn't any need to needlessly subject yourself (myself) to it."
I mostly agree, but, of course, immediately the issue comes up that what is ‘extreme discomfort’ for one is joy for another. For myself, significant discomfort is running on a treadmill or riding a stationary trainer in the stuffy indoor world and staring at a wall or watching that tedious commercial blue tube. I would BY FAR be riding outside in the REAL world in the woods in 30 deg. F snowy weather with studded MTB tires than pooling sweat indoors like a rodent running nowhere. I wonder how (and why) people do it. Decent warm clothes are not that expensive and the payback is fantastic.
I’ll take this as a compliment. Thanks. Makes my weekend complete, along with the PR I threw down today in the CDA half marathon. Speaking of the elements, though, I did wuss out today. After the half marathon I was going to inaugurate my new wetsuit in the lake, but the rain and 50 degree temperatures, the 55 degree water, the 1-foot white caps and the fact that no one was on the beach … Well, another day.
Any crazy swim stories anyone? (enjoyed the shark story found in another thread)