Wimpy

So I skipped my run on Tuesday morning.

Not because I was tired. Not because I was sore or injured. But because it was just too damn cold out there.

Instead I headed downstairs, hopped on the trainer for an hour and cycled up a mountain.

Am I getting wimpy in my old age?

I used to run in cold much worse than it has been this year. Cold that make this Polar Vortex thing seem rather balmy. I have a coat that I only pull out when it's minus thirty degrees for heaven's sake and I haven't worn it yet this year.

And yet this year, anything under -15 degrees has me scrambling downstairs on to my bike.

Which means that, so far this year, I have only managed two runs per week rather than my usual three.

Doug assures me that I will be able to pull of my March half marathon because a) I am in good shape and b) I am cycling and swimming as well so my body is still moving and I'm keeping my fitness level high.

I don't know if I buy it though. I mean I can pull off a long bike ride even if I haven't been on the bike for a few months. It might not be pretty but I can certainly do it.

Running is a whole other beast and even though I have a good strong base and have been running for years now, I am still surprised at how quickly I lose my running fitness when I take a few weeks off.

Good news is that weekends have been warm enough to get my long runs in so I haven't lost much that way. It's just my weekday runs that are a little less frequent than I'm comfortable with. And that has made my weekend long runs a little harder than they should be.

On the other hand, I'm getting a lot more time in the saddle than I normally would this time of year. And my friend Jeff assures me that this will help me in my summer triathlons.

Still though, I do feel a little wimpier this winter than last. I wonder what that's about?