As I sat in the house and listened to the wind, I realized my 12 mile plans were a little ambitious. I decided to just make sure to get 2 miles in, to get to 50 for the week. It was hard getting out the door.
Of course, it wasn't quite as bad as I expected. I wore a facemask, which I hate and that was probably the biggest issue. I had a pair of sweatpants over my tights. I also wore a fleece vest and a jacket. I added big winter gloves. If anything, it was too much and I was too sweaty.
I started off running around the school, thinking the wind and temperatures were overrated. Within the first mile, I readjusted my goal for the day and shot for 7 miles. That would get me to 55 for the week. After the school, I decided I'd go over to the other neighborhood across the street.
I had to break this run into pieces. Thinking about 7 miles in this cold was overwhelming. Plus, my lower legs were a little sore again. It seemed kind of better today though, maybe because I was focused on other things.
Rather than the big loop, I shot for doing the smaller loop farther out. I ended up running into a strong headwind and that was a bit cold for sure. It was quite the battle. It wasn't long though and I was turning.
I decided to do this smaller loop the opposite direction of normal. That would break the headwind part into segments. It worked well. A few cars drove by and probably thought I was crazy. With the wind at my back, it was awesome running. I was even sweating too much. My beard seemed a little icy and the facemask was soaked.
I went past the halfway point. I then neared the mile 2 marker in the old Blue Eagle 5K course. I was heading toward home, with the wind at my back.
I realized that if I did the short loop near the start, I'd get back to the school around mile 6. Going into the headwind half of this loop was brutal. My cheeks were starting to get cold. I battled though, as I was around 5.5 miles now. I went through the older neighborhood too.
Finally after some more wind, I was back at the school. When I got up the black path, I had about 1.1 miles left to go. I decided I'd loop around my neighborhood.
The start of the neighborhood was brutal. That half was into the wind. I couldn't wait to get through the circle at the end of it and turn around. All my clothes were cold and went. Their heaviness made me tired too. I realized I couldn't run much more in these conditions, if I had wanted to.
I was surprised to see my pace well under 9 minutes. I didn't feel like I was pushing any harder into the headwind, but I guess I must've been. I was glad to be heading around the rest my neighborhood with the wind at my back.
I got back to my house, but still had about .15 miles to go. I went to the end of the block. I turned around and headed home. The 7 miles were done.
I wouldn't say the run was easy. It was a challenge, especially going into the wind. It was overhyped though and I probably hurt myself by having on too much. You can't sweat too much in the cold. I couldn't deal with this weather every day, but I like the difficulty it brings a few times a year.
Tomorrow, I should be out there again. I'm planning 12-15 miles. It all depends, as the weather will be challenging again. I'm hoping I can have my parents drop me off somewhere, so I can run a point to point route. With the wind at my back, that would be helpful.
7.04 miles - 1:01:34 (8:45 pace) 96 feet of elevation gain
No comments:
Post a Comment