Sunday, October 11, 2009

Moving from hot to cold

I spent the majority of last week in Tempe delivering 10 training sessions to people that work in our business line.

I facilitated 3 classes on Tuesday; 4 on Wednesday, 2 on Thursday and one on Friday. Phew.

I also had a chance to enjoy some nice, warm weather. The temps were "cool" for Tempe -- 50s and 60s in the morning, rising up to the mid 80s during the day.

The weather people were warning people to wear a jacket or grab an extra blanket.

I slept with my hotel windows wide open and said "boo hoo" to all the Tempe weather wimps.

I also got one run in (wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt) and two swims. One indoor and one OUTDOOR!

The outdoor swim was wonderful! Sure wish we had an outdoor lap pool here that wasn't overrun by kids. We do have the Richfield long course (50 meters), which we can use in July at night, but I'm not familar with an outdoor pool option that can be used for lapswims during the day.

I really loved feeling the warm sun on my back and the cool water flowing around me. Plus it was cool to see my shadow on the bottom of the pool.

I came home Friday and you know what? You want COLD?

Try SNOW on October 10th. OUR weather people tell US that it was the earliest snow in Minnesota in over 24 years.

Fortunately, it melted pretty quick. Unfortunately, it is cold. Normal highs are in the 60s. Today, it was barely freezing when I woke up. So, I elected to turn over, get some more zzzz's and get my run in later in the day.

By the time I went out (dressed in long running tights, warm socks, long sleeved shirt, jacket, mittens and headband), the sun had peaked out from the clouds making the view pretty, but the temps were still cold.

People were hauling the last of the sailboats out of Lake Calhoun; there were significantly less people walking or running the lake, but the leaves on the trees were pretty and the water was still open.

It was a nice run.

After my run, I visited a local running store and bought a new HRM/pace watch. My coach for IM WI wants me to train using pace, not heart rate. It will be pretty depressing to actually see my pace, but hopefully it will help me in the long run. (ha ha).

We'll just see how that goes.

5 comments:

Sunshine said...

Trip to Tempe?! I'd be even less ready for this snow and cold!
But runners never give up!
I'm hoping for some warm fall weather in the rest of this month.

Nat said...

Glad you got a garmin! Okay, how do I get one of those handy dandy chart things on my blog?

Beth said...

You had great weather in Tempe. I'm so jealous! This weather stinks! Congrats on the Garmin. The one you got is very cool looking. I can't wait to hear how you like it. I use the 305 and am addicted to it.

Vertical Man said...

My youngest daughter lives in Tempe and attends ASU. For 6 months of the year she thinks I'm coming to see her when it's really all about warm-weather training!

Dori said...

I'm always sad to see the end of summer. We got 10 inches of rain Tuesday and winds were 20-40 mph. The day after, it looked like Minneapolis after a summer storm--downed trees, power outages, debris all over the road.

Come visit me and you can swim laps outdoors.