8.6 miles total in 64:48 on the beach in Manzanita, OR. Ran at 6pm, later than I usually do, because we didn't arrive till mid-afternoon and then I took a nap. This was a memorable run. The plan was to do 10x400 reps with equal-distance recovery as per Jack Daniels, so I programmed the Garmin for that. I took off south down the beach, which I had read was 7 miles long, and was moving fast. I knew there was a tailwind and that there would be punishment for my sins on the way back, but it was hard to judge pace accurately not being used to running on the beach or in wind. I did a 2.5M warm-up at 7:00 pace with minimal effort and was feeling studly. Then I started the quarters. I did the first 4 reps with the tailwind in 75, 69, 68, and 70 and felt like I was flying before I came to a rock jetty and ran out of beach. I turned around and was in for a nasty surprise: the wind was WAY stronger than I had thought. It was so strong you had to turn your head to the side to breathe properly so you weren't directly facing into the wind. I knew the remaining 6 quarters were going to be ugly, but decided to plow through them. Well, I wasn't feeling so studly anymore: I ran the last 6 400s in 87-97 seconds, and the recoveries were at 10-11 minute pace. Even so, my HR was up above 170 and I was really working hard against the wind. I finally finished the last one and limped home the last 1.1M at 8:45 pace, then basically collapsed in the hotel room.
I estimate the wind was at least 30mph, and it was bloody cold, too. My hands and ears were killing me on the way back and I was certain I was going to get sick. I guess the fact that it is August doesn't mean much on the Oregon coast. Calves were pretty sore after the run too.
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