Ha 100 points! Documented sighting of a Prof AO on campus during biz hours. Now looking for elusive #SedgeWren

Or a White-rumped sandpiper or Mourning Wabler?

Even Ann is wrong sometimes

So yesterday was a pretty crappy Sunday, and really not the kind of day you would like to train in. Cold, windy, rainy. Bad enough that dear Ann chirped the cognoscenti among us who sucked it up and got wet.

Context: on Sunday @bobsica tweeted: 2.5hr run in the 9deg rain & wind Felt like a #WharfRat Anyone else feel like one: http://bit.ly/kNAw1c Note bloke strumming with Bobby

To which AO replied (following replies from several comrades who braved the day and told their tales):  "Let's call you all insane! Treadmill? Day off? Shift the schedule to swim or trainer ride instead? Helloo??" 

(fyi: bloke is Peter Townshend)

Ann weighted in on Facebook no less, the town square! Are we just Rule 9 hardmen or did we realize race day for many of us at Ironman Canada this August might bring worse weather than yesterday?

How bad was it in the YXU yesterday? Best data I could find was a mean temperature of 9.7 C, with 14.8 mm of rain and gusts up to 50 km/h.

You should be prepared to train in what you might have to race in, just like if you race has lots of hills you can’t do all you training in the flats. Ann, perhaps you have forgotten August 14, 2009? Fortunately my blog didn’t, you can remind yourself of that lovely Okanagan day here. Coming back to you now? Remember riding the backside of Richter the next day all bundled up and seeing all the new snow on the hills? Way down the hills.

Matter of fact that day was only a couple degrees warmer than yesterday (12.3 C) with 30 km/h gusts and 39.1 mm of rain. Yup, over 2.5x as much rain as yesterday. With wind. And cold. And we only ran 2.5 hours yesterday, what would you do if IMC was on that day? It could be that Okanagan day this August.

IM newbies: the moral of the story is you don’t have to risk you health consistently training in ridiculously bad weather. But if you AAA race is IMC or Muskoka 70.3 you better not hesitate to get out the door when it is crappy out so you’re not one of those people freakin’ out race day when the weather sucks and you don’t know what to wear and how your bike will handle.

Ann, I truly hope the weather down in Ohio is warm, dry and the only wind is at your back for TTT. And if it’s not I know you’ll deal with it. But I believe it was Orwell who suggested a lunatic might be a “minority of one”?

Steppin’ off the soapbox,

boB