20 Miles – Take 2

2/19/11

20 miles

3:05

9:15 avg pace (damn you wind)

Lesson learned:  don’t run 20 miles when there is a wind advisory.  When I checked weather.com last night, it said 25 mph winds with gusts up to 40 mph.  Hmmm.  I really wanted to get this done on Saturday and not push the run to Sunday so I figured it would be a training in mental toughness.  Oh it was.  I threw all hopes of maintaining a consistent pace out the window and just tried to run along with and against the wind.  At certain points I must have looked like the biggest jackass because the gusts were so severe my running slowed to a crawl (I seriously thought I was going to levitate).

(source)

Two things made this run bearable:  (1) it’s not that cold so the wind wasn’t that biting, straight-to-your-bones feeling and (2) my neighbor, “Maximus“, joined me for the first 8 miles!

I won’t bore you with splits.  To be honest, I’m exhausted and don’t feel like retrieving them.  Let’s just say that eastbound was great (wind at my back) and westbound was a nightmare.

I’m looking forward to hanging in tonight with Matt and Hawk and watching Friday Night Lights.  A beer or two may be consumed.  And lots of carbs.

Have a great weekend everyone!

PS:  Wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Anne who just completed her first race this morning, the Frostbite 5 Miler.  She did awesome, despite all the wind.  Apparently power lines were down and they had to re-route the course.  She ran a great race…I’m very proud of her!