As soon as I got outside I discovered an element to the day that I didn't realize I had to factor in - the wind. I was dressed warmer than yesterday but I was unsure if I would be warm enough considering the large, powerful gusts of wind that kept blowing. But with my capris and longsleeved shirt under my shortsleeved one I stayed outside and started my run.
The wind whipped at me from the side, and that was generally chilly and unpleasant but not horrible. But then I turned and hit the wind face on - that was rather unpleasant and comparatively and intrinsically horrible. I thought about turning around and going back, I told myself "You did not dress appropriately for this" but rather than be called a quitter and have to pass a few neighbors again just a few moments after originally passing them I kept out on my run. I figured if I got to the end of the half mile road and couldn't take it anymore I could take the other way home -- the way where those few people wouldn't have to see my again and thus the way I wouldn't have to see them again and acknowledge that I gave up. But by the end of that half mile I was able to talk the quitter out of me and I kept on course for my 3.0 mile loop.
The wind was fierce and was a challenge to run through. I felt that at every turn the wind was either on my side or on my face but never at my back where it would help me along. As I made a turn towards the wind I could hear it coming; I watched a tree lose the last of its leaves as that gust moved through it. The side was intriguing to just watch each leaf get plucked off en masse and then violently thrown and carried. Right after seeing that I put my arms in front of my face to brace for the impact of the gust and I assume it helped as my face wasn't punished but it was hard to tell as my body just kept being beaten backwards as I tried to stride forwards. I finally made it out of that stretched of road and back to the wind at my side and was relieved.
It was at this point I realized I no longer felt cold and felt decently warm enough - so that was a pleasant surprise. My longsleeved half marathon shirt really did the trick of keeping the cold air from chilling me. And so I ran on and felt like I had a good pace when the wind cooperated and felt like I was being significantly hindered when the wind was not cooperating. I completed my run and stood on the porch a few minutes to even out my breathing and cool down a bit before heading to the warm indoors. Once I got inside and saw myself in a mirror I laughed - my face was like a cherry, but only the bottom half of it for some reason, and my arms were also pretty red -- yes that wind had punished my face (well, half of it) and also had found a way to get through my clothes and punish my arms. I then thought that perhaps it wasn't that I was warm during my run, but that the wind had numbed me in such a way that I didn't realize I was cold.
Total Workout: 3.0 in 24:13.
New Miles: 3.0
Total Miles: 1194.5
Miles Remaining: 305.5
Weight: 129.0
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