Watching the weather

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I'm not usually the one to monitor the weather before a race. I usually figure everyone has to handle it and it's not something I can control, so why worry? Just roll with the punches and dress for the conditions as needed. But for whatever reason, I've been keeping a close eye on Sundays forecast - as well as the days leading up to Sunday. Why? Well, for this first time leading up to 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo I haven't spent much time on the bike. I've gotten some high quality interval workouts in and luckly, they've all been on dirt. But there hasn't been much "junk" hours on the bike - everything has been focused; hit the road, do the work and head home. Part of the reason has been the amount I've been working - we got crazy busy in December and it hasn't let up at all. Lots of night rides and night intervals, which has been interesting. I haven't done night intervals before - usually hiding in the garage when it's dark. But we have the lights and I need to take advantage of them. Some thing about 24 hour races happening at night as well. So I've gotten the workouts in for sure, but but of my hours of training have been focused on running this month.

I do usually switch to a running focus in the winter months because it's a lot easier to get a hard and effective workout on two feet instead of two wheels during the winter. I have better control when running with less risk of injury from falling on the ice. And that's been Important this year since it's been quite the winter so far! I haven't been running without a purpose though. I'm taking a chance with doing a half marathon two weeks before 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. It's the first time I've done this race and am a little worried about the timing. So lots of running with very focused bike workouts. With all the running, I'm really hoping for a good time. It all depends on the weather though - since I've been running so hard, it would be nice to have the time reflecting all the work. Hence the weather watching! It's snowing right now, with more snow and sub freezing temperatures on tap for the race. I'm not sure if the course will be conducive to the time I've trained for. But everyone has to run in the same conditions, so if the snow continues I'm not going to worry. Regardless, it will be interesting. Can I effectively train for a 24 hour mountain bike race with running? I'll find out in two days and two weeks!

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