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Finally

...finally it isn't raining
...finally I feel strong
...finally I can ride my bike outside.

Karel braved the cold at 6:30am with Jeff. They must have been inspired by the stage last night, Levi crushing the competition at the Tour de California, and they rode their TT bikes for 3 x 15 min. all-out efforts. Karel said he was so cold he never warmed up.
When I let Campy out at 7am I knew I would never survive in the cold. However, I also knew I wouldn't survive the trainer.
I came up with several ideas to keep myself entertained for a 4 hour ride.
First I thought about riding an hour, running 10 min. I would do that 4 times.
Then I thought about being all sweaty on the trainer and then being so cold and wet outside. I decided to pass on that idea.
My next idea was to ride on the trainer for 2 hours and then do 2 hours outside.
I had my mind made up that I WOULD do a 4 hour ride so at 1 hour on the trainer, I let Campy out, got dressed and headed outside. It was a lot warmer than when I woke up (upper 40s compared to 34 at 7 in the morning) and I dressed perfectly for the weather. I was very comfortable when I got on the bike and luckily, I didn't overdress.
The ride went really well and I am feeling really strong on the bike. I think something is working and finally, things are coming together. I am not minding the 3+ hour rides, whereas a few weeks ago I was so bored and tired after 2 hours. I am constantly being reminded by Shawn that I have plenty of time until IMKY and I am really looking forward to increasing my weekly volume in a few months.
I ended up doing 3 hours and 51 minutes. 2 hours and 48 minutes outside and 1 hour and 3 minutes on the trainer. I think it was around 68 miles but my power was steady and I felt really good on my tri bike.
After the ride, I came home to Campy and Karel sleeping on the couch. Karel told me that Campy wanted to run with him when they went out around 10:30 but Karel told Campy that he doesn't run. Marni is the runner in the family. Campy was super excited to see me and he couldn't wait to run.
I just love running Campy after my bike ride. Sure, I would probably have a more consistent run without him but if I am out running for 30 minutes, I may as well be with Campy who makes me smile when we run. I even had someone yell to me as we were running "You can run my dogs too!". We stopped by the Trek store after 15 minutes of running to get some water (Campy has a bowl just for him). We then headed home for a great 27 minute run. Campy got his cottage cheese after the run and after I recovered, I made my whole wheat pancakes. At 12:30, I could finally sit on the couch and relax.

Looks like it will be a beautiful day today....so I will just look out the window as I sit at the computer all day studying for exams for my three classes.