I'm retired from racing. Really.

Beach run today.  By far the most windy run of my life- thanks to a tropical storm there are sustained wins of 30 mph and gusts up to 40.

Started my run into the wind, running 2 miles.  Thanks to the blowing sand and rain that can only be described as "stinging", it was rather painful.  And slow- the gusts would almost grind me to a halt.  I had to keep my head down at times since the rain and sand were blowing so hard in my face.  Turned around at the port entrance and ran 3.5 miles with the wind at my back.  Nice.  Made farmer blows real easy if you aimed right.

Final 1.5 miles were into the wind again.  It picked up even more with very painful rain.  It is a good thing no one else was on the beach because I started yelling at Mother Nature, challenging her to bring more at me.  I yelled things like, "Is this all you got?", "You can do better than this", and "Bring it on".  I constantly growled and roared at the wind.  Spit flew out of my mouth.  I sang "Home on the Range" and repeatedly yelled "I am Sparticus" (I don't know why I said that).  The wind shoved the air and rain down my mouth, and pelted my skin with sand.  I would not be stopped.  I loved every minute of it.  I challenged mother nature and would not back down.  Good run today.

Omni- 417