Damn Wind.

I got out the door a little later than normal for a Saturday long run and followed a route that took me through a portion of the Wissahickon Park - East Falls - Fairmount Park and ended on Kelly Drive.

Things started well and the time and distance flew by. I ran up Ridge Avenue into Fairmount Park and couldn't believe I was already 40 minutes in. I took the long way behind the playing fields through the park and then detoured onto Lemon Hill for a couple hills.

Got to the Art Museum and at this point I was feeling a little tired but not to bad. The hard run from the night before had taken a little out of me but I only had 4 miles to go. I caught a few gusts of wind on the way out but for the most part it was behind me. I knew it was going to be a tough run up Kelly Drive with the wind directly in my face.

It sucked! Boat House row sucked, the stretch from Girard Bridge was utterly horrible. The wind was strong and relentless, whipping up white caps in normally placid river. My hands, which are always a bit of a problem in the cold, were getting numb depite two pairs of gloves and other areas that I won't mention weren't fairing to well either. I couldn't wait to be done.

Things subsided a bit on the stretch before Falls Bridge but after I crossed for the last mile home it smacked into me again. The wind aggravates me when it gets like this, I actually start to get angry that it is ruining my run and making things miserable.

I knew there were going to be a few runs like this over the winter so you just have to deal with it and put in the miles. I was happy when I got to stop. 15 miles in 1 hour and 53 minutes. The 7:30 pace was a little surprising, I thought I was a good 15 sec/mile slower.

Despite missing my swim on Thursday night because I didn't realize until I got into the pool area that they had an aerobics class starting in 2 minutes that was somehow going to take up the entire pool, the week is going well.