Ka-Chow! That's what I say when I'm excited. I finished this run feeling good, but totally beaten down and devastated by the vicious 20 mph winds out of the north west. I felt devastated because I thought there was no way I made my pace goal.
I should start at the beginning. The goal of this workout was to warm up for 4 miles, and then to run 14 at marathon goal pace. The weather turned sour in a real bad way last night. The forecast called for a 90% chance of precip. by 5:00 AM, my usual start time, and 20 mph winds throughout the morning and into the day. I stepped out into the street and took off feeling like the winds were not as bad as the forecast suggested. And fortunately there was absolutely now rain or snow. Once I headed into the north for the first time I received blast of 'kick in the butt' old man winter's wrath. I thought this was Spring. What happened? Miles 1-4: 7:42, 7:44, 7:38, 7:16. The first mile was run mostly against the west wind. The second, third and fourth were run with the north wind at my back. The scary thing about this wind was that I could actually feel it whipping around and pushing me onward. This was scary because usually you are not aware of the wind when it is at your back. You only become aware of it once you turn around and are now running into it. I knew a majority of the back end of this run would be heading back into the northwest, which worried me. Miles 5-9: 6:54, 6:50, 6:53, 6:54, 6:46. These were all run with the wind. Thus my pace was working nicely. I knew that after mile 9 I would be running into the wind, which was why I ran a faster pace so that I would have some time in the bank for the return trip. Miles 10-15: 7:01, 7:05, 7:12, 7:01, 7:26, 7:21. These sucked royally! This whole way I was running directly into the wind as I was running either west, north, or northwest. The wind gusts were really beating me into submission. I felt exhausted after a couple of these miles. I forgot to mention that the rolling hills out in this area are enough to kill your energy, with wind not needed. There were however a few glimmering moments when I hit certain remote areas that either trees or land blocked the wind just enough that I could tell I still had enough gas in the tank continue running at my goal pace. I went through several areas where I was able to recover before suffering a wind set back again and again. This was a real growing moment for me as a runner. I know now that I possess the ability to overcome adversity on a long tough run and finish strong. Miles 16-18: 7:17, 7:04, 6:58. Miles 16 and 17 were run into the north. The wind was either coming right at me, or occasionally it would change to the west and I would get a small break. This area is also a slow and steady uphill for both miles. The last mile I finally got the wind at my back and I was able to really crank the pace back to where I would have run for this entire workout had I not had the wind. Conclusion: I felt good about the strong finish, but I thought there was no way that I made my goal pace. And maybe I thought this because I've been shooting for just a few seconds below 7:00 on my pace workouts. When I got home and analyzed the data it turned out that I averaged exactly 7:03 on the 14 miles I set out to run at marathon goal pace! I am really happy because I know now that I'm capable of averaging this pace even on a wicked 20 mph windy day like today. This happened even running a majority of the workout (about 8 miles) directly into the wind.
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