Finding Color In The Gray

Vermont always seems to deliver the extremes. It’s either 85 degrees, sunny and humid, or 55 and raining, also humid. Lately, we’ve had a lot of the latter. I’m typically all for sunshine and recognize that the Vitamin D boosts my spirit which, in turn makes me a happy trainer. When we train as hard as we do in the summer and then have stretches of weather with lots of rain, I often find myself getting tired-cranky. My boots are never dry despite using boot dryers overnight, my towel always seems damp from my previous shower, and I have to do laundry every other day to keep up with the smelly mud that splatters during training. With all the hours of training, it’s easy to get irritable and let these factors build up. Rolling over in the morning to see you’ll be living in another cloud for the 9th day in a row starts to get old.

Just a typical day running in Vermont.

However, the cooler weather definitely makes training a little easier! Rather than waking up at the crack of dawn to get workouts done before it gets too hot, we’ve been able to sleep a little longer. We can have a casual breakfast, then get to training feeling well rested and wide awake. Likewise, sleeping is a lot easier when your room isn’t stifling with heat and you aren’t sticking to the bed sheets throughout the night. In the sun and heat I sweat a lot, more than most of the athletes I train with, which always leaves me feeling bonked and depleted despite chugging electrolyte mix. I can never seem to keep up and am always craving salt. When it’s cloudy though, this isn’t as big of a deal

Seems as though the pavement is always damp, but maybe that's good agility practice? Similar to skiing on ice?

I often find that the perks of training in the gray outweigh the challenges presented from heat and sun. I think it’s easier to have higher quality sessions, recovery faster and get after it again. In addition, I’m grateful that all the rain prevents obstacles such as smoke and haze due to forest fires. I know there are plenty of people out west struggling with drought and poor air quality, so I do feel fortunate to be in such clean air. That being said, I do miss the sun and I’m feeling ready to take matters into my own hands. Excited to be heading out to a blue-sky, mountain town for a little altitude training block and to refill my Vitamin D stores!

Lina Julia and I enjoying one of the few 'clear' days.