Add Another Layer...

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Triathlon is a summer sport - and that goes for ironman as well.  Nothing makes a triathlete happier than heading out for a swim, bike or run on a gorgeous summer's day.  Training for ironman, however, is more than a summer season project.  Most athletes will start training for ironman seriously 8 or 9 months out and many of us (me included) will be training consistently for almost a year.

And that means only one thing.  There is no getting away from training in winter.

Don't get me wrong.  We're not having to wade through snow and ice like some fellow athletes in the northern hemisphere.  A frost and occasional bad patch of weather in Christchurch is generally the worst that needs to be contended with.  But even so, winter brings its own challenges, and challenges for the team management in particular...

Tonight I was tasked with a 60 minute spin on the wind trainer and then a 20 minute run off the bike.  Spending an hour on the wind trainer is great in the winter...for me...  I don't have to contend with the dark, cold, wind, rain or ice.  There's no concerns about punctures, drivers running me off the road or animals running onto the road.  Instead I get to spin while watching the news or whatever else might be on TV at that particular time.

For St Pete, though, it means freezing his bits off.  You see, with the wind trainer in the lounge there's no way I want to be going hard out in a room with the heater on.  No, I'm looking for as much cool air as possible and so Pete walks around and opens all the windows and doors so there is something approaching an equilibrium between the 4 degrees outside and 14 degrees inside.  Then he goes and adds another layer or five until such time as I stop and he can turn the heating on.

The sacrifices he makes for my comfort...what more could you ask for in your team manager and chief cheerleader?