Thunder Puppy Popsicle

I just had to spend 15 minutes defrosting under hot water.

Why, you may ask? Well mostly because I was not as ready for cold weather as I had thought I might be. I always romanticize cold weather and the fall, but when it comes down to it, a chilly evening ride at the end of October (when very suddenly the air temp has plummeted. I swear last week was in the 70s) is just that: chilly. I probably should have gotten out earlier in the day, but I have been chasing around Halloween costume accessories all day and got home just in time to freeze my butt off before dark.

This, by the way, is all in the name of a certain sprint relay in which I am participating with my mother next weekend. My lovely mother lured me into doing two legs of the relay (bike and run, the ones where you actually sweat) by advertising the gorgeous location of this race: Bermuda.

I am of course very excited to go. But ever since my last race in early September I have been very focused on running the upcoming Annapolis half-marathon (end of November) and honestly I've been slacking on the riding. My run is great, I PRed in a 5k earlier this month and my training has gone really well. I even did some altitude training this week while I was out visiting my sister in Denver. But my bike? Well I have been riding, just not nearly as much as I normally would. For some reason after a half-ironman, getting worked up over 15 miles in a sprint relay seems...well...apparently difficult.

So today I realized that I probably only had 2 bike rides left before the race (I have to pack the bike up in a box on Wednesday and I have lots of running planned this weekend, which leaves only today and Monday to ride) and that I had better get my butt outside and try out some hills...haven't seen those in a while. Hills went better than expected, really. I have been riding a few times a week on my indoor trainer because of rainy weather. But the cold? That I was not prepared for. And it's only October.

I guess I better toughen up before I start training hard in January...

Oh yeah. The team name my mother chose for this relay? The Thunder Puppies.

Honestly, mother.