Thursday, February 19, 2009

Holy Windstorm Batman!

For any of you in Charleston yesterday, you may have noticed that it was quite windy. It had been drizzling on and off all day, and I think overnight it actually finally rained. But prior to rainstorms, we down south and on the coast get SERIOUS windstorms.

So yesterday afternoon when I was debating via txt with my bf if I should run or not, he said, "Don't go. This wind will cut you in half." So I was weighing my options, and thinking about how we are going out of town tonight for a wedding and I most likely will not be able to run again until Monday, and came to the conclusion that I had to go.

Although it was Wednesday, and usually my track workout day, I wanted to skip ahead to Thursday's workout which is an 80 minute run with 6-8 mins of uphill running. I always do my hill runs over the Ravenel Bridge, since its more like 30 minutes total uphill running, and since it's right here near my work. Plus, it's a nice view.

So I geared up and set out at about 5:40 PM, the weather was actually kind of sunny and warmish, and it didn't seem to be all that windy initially.

But once I actually started up the bridge, I realized that this was going to be quite a challenge. The bridge was considerably empty for the time of day, and I quickly realized why. As soon as I started climbing, the wind started whipping my ponytail around and basically pushing any way against me that would make the run harder. I passed another female runner who was coming down the bridge just as that nasty wind decided to blow my shirt almost over my head...I just smiled and laughed at her hoping she wouldn't be thinking how gross my abs looked in motion (actually, they probably don't look that bad, but nothing in motion is ever good). Definitely tucked the shirt in after that.


So to make a long and boring story short, it was basically a walk/run up the hill both times, and I cut it short quite a bit. My legs were killing me and I just wanted to get out of the wind and get home. It was even impossible to keep my ear buds in my ears, so eventually just shoved all of that into my sports bra and gave up on music. I couldn't really hear it anyway over the scream of the wind.

All in all it was a decent 5 mile run, with about an avg pace of 10:20 I think, don't have my split times right here. I do know I picked it up for the last mile and ran at about 9:30. Is it me or is this marathon training making me considerably slower??

I also think that it takes me longer than a day to recover from my long runs on Sunday. Maybe I should start doing those on Saturday so I have longer to recover? Both runs so far this week since the 15 haven't been great, my legs have just been so sore and heavy as soon as I set out.

So I have a few days to recover my legs as I travel to the great state of Kentucky for my bf's sister's wedding on Saturday, in which I am a bridesmaid (with a really horribly fitting dress). I am hoping to possibly get one run in while I'm there, but I'm not counting on anything.

This weekend's long run should be another 15 to catch up for being behind, so hopefully I can get that in Monday after work....eeek.

I really need a gym membership.

On another note, I tried out the Clif Kid Z Bar in Blueberry yesterday, it was pretty good but too sweet for my taste. I don't really understand why everyone is so gung-ho about all these bars, I mean yeah they're good, but I would much rather eat a piece of fresh fruit as a snack vs. something processed and pacakged. I have a thing about eating too much packaged foods. Maybe I will get into this further on another day...but the bar was decent, and I have another one with me today to try out later while we're on the road.


So I probably won't be posting anything until Monday (unless I get bored on the 10 hour drive...which is likely) but I will be Twittering!! All hail the iPhone.

Have a great weekend y'all!

4 comments:

  1. I'd say your speed was good for that kind of wind! I agree with you about the Z bars (and any kind of bar-- even Lunas-- I'd rather just have a handful of nuts or fresh fruit, which is cheaper, too). Have fun this weekend at the wedding and a safe trip.

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  2. You best get that wind out of there before I get down there, girlie!

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  3. Have a great time in Kentucky! Safe travels. Tweet ya later ;)

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  4. Thanks for your note! I have to agree with you on the z-bars. They're a little bit too much for me.

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