Week Five - Day Three

TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, 3C, 20km/hr wind there; overcast, 10C, 35 km/hr wind (gusts up to 45 km/hr) on the way back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, cotton gloves (gloves in panniers on the way back)
NOTES:
Another 5-hr. night of sleep, thanks to the baby. She didn't fall asleep at all til I gave up on every other effort to soothe her and gave her some Tylenol at 1 am. At least that worked and she fell asleep, but then she was up again before 6. Maybe she's teething again, I don't really know. Whenever I went to check on her she didn't seem to be in pain, didn't want any milk or snuggles or a diaper change, she just wanted to play. Nice timing, kiddo. I was so frustrated with her, I felt like throwing my face through the window. Not that something like that would solve any of my problems, but it would sure make a statement, wouldn't it??

On the way to school this morning I tried a new variation on my route, proceeding straight through an intersection where I usually turn right, making the right turn a few blocks further down. This didn't work in my favour, as it meant slightly more uphill riding and a longer wait at the lights. I'll stick with my tried and true route for now, thank you very much.

On the way home I was definitely battling some intense wind, and I was very happy to get home and check the weather report and find out that it was indeed hard wind pushing directly into me and not just me being kind of wimpy like I (apparently) was yesterday. Especially on the unprotected stretches the wind hit me head-on and both sounded and felt like I imagine it would be like to put my face inside the mouth of a giant roaring lion. Assuming the lion had icy cold breath. The wind rushing past my ears made it more difficult to listen out for cars coming up behind me, so I was sure to be extra vigilant with my eyes. Despite the strong arctic lion breath, I made it home in decent time, so I'm happy about that.

What I'm not happy about is that I can't seem to break that 25-minute mark for my ride to school. It seems like my ride time home is getting faster, even on windy days, but my ride time to school is hovering in the same place and maybe even stretching a minute longer on average. What the nut? My supervisor told me he figured I'd break the 20-minute mark in a month, and as much as I'd like to believe him I'm definitely not heading in that direction. Then again, I have to keep reminding myself - it's about getting there. The fact that I'm riding at all, and sticking to it despite the colder weather, is something to be proud of. Timing shmiming! I need to remember that the important thing is just sticking to it, and also ensuring that I take care of my knees as best I can to make sure I can continue sticking to it.