Wind Tunnel

It was a beautiful day for a run today... sunny, warmer than it's been, and no rain! (it's been raining for what seems like a week straight) I'm on vacation from work this week, so I had a nice relaxing morning, then got ready for what I wanted to be a pretty easy 6 miles. I put on my new Team In Training tech shirt, my Garmin watch, and my ipod shuffle and off I went.

The sun felt great! My first 3 miles were clipping right along, at a near 10 minute/mile pace. 
I was nearing 3 miles, and my mind started to play tricks on me, telling me I was tired. (I guess I may have been, because that was my best 3 mile time yet!) I rested on a bench for a bit and soaked in the sun before heading back the remaining 3 miles to get home.  I don't know what it is about this path I took along the river in downtown St Paul, but the last time I ran this path in 2009 I also had a problem.  It was like running into a wind tunnel again. Head on, with what seemed like 30 mph winds right at me. (lesson learned, stay away from this path next time).
I ran mile 4 at an 11 minute pace, then walked the remaining 2 miles home - jogging, walking, jogging, walking etc, into the wind. 
My total time was 1:07.47, which included the walking.  Here's the link to today's run. I felt pretty crappy about this, but when I looked back to the time I ran my first 6.2 miles - my time there was 1:12:14 and I ran that full distance!  That helps put things in perspective.

 

So, today I wasn't at my best. What if I wake up in Dublin on race day and I'm having a bad day there too? I just have to hope I can overcome it!


Another positive thing about today... this is the BEST STUFF EVER! Not kidding! :)