Thin Crust

Well, the prayers of all northeast endurance junkies were answered with authority this week when the pouring rain finally let up and made way for blazing heat. That's right. In only a couple day's time, the damp, wet, sloshy weather was quickly replaced by bright, intense, focused sunshine. And of course, with this in-rush of warmth, came the onset of my allergies.

Indeed, it seemed yesterday during my afternoon long run that everyone and their brother was out mowing their lawns. Thanks people. The run wasn't hard enough after a 2500m swim and in the heat, and definitely needed the addition of your grass and pollen cocktail in my lungs.

Today was more of the same: heat and allergies. All day my throat and lungs felt as though I'd been coaching an indoor wood-sanding marathon, and my track workout this afternoon was warmer than... Well, warm. Speaking of which, the following dawned on me this afternoon: what's the difference between a brick oven and the track on a hot summer day? Nothing.

Sunday is the Saratoga Duathlon, and I'm looking forward to another strong performance. Last year I took second place in this race, and after my recent work at the Shamrock, I'm keen to kick things up a notch and take an early season age group win. My legs have been a bit heavy this week, likely on account of this being the final week of Build 2 and having gone pretty hard this past Sunday at the race. Today's speedwork session was reduced to 50% of the prescribed volume to begin a mini-taper for Sunday, and tomorrow and Saturday will be relatively light in order to line up Sunday morning at the start line with fresh legs.

Believe it or not, in the weeks that follow, it will be time to approach a training peak and begin a full taper for the Tupper Lake 70.3. The season just started, and it's already going by fast.

Thanks for reading.