Whatever Direction the Wind is Blowing...

Today's Run: Road: 40 degrees. 4.1 miles; Splits: 9:03; 9:05; 9:00; 8:40; :44; 36:32; 8:54 per mile average pace.

Whatever direction the wind is blowing, my first mile will always be run into it, provided I'm running on the road. That's a fact I've finally recognized and accepted after 3 plus years of running on the roads of Cheshire, Connecticut. During the winter, this sucks since naturally the wind that's blowing certainly doesn't feel like a warm, tropical breeze. No, it tends to suck the wind out of me and leave me feeling like I'm running underwater. I must look really "cool" in more ways than one to those motorists unlucky enough to drive by me during that time. I wonder how many of them have contemplated dialing 911 to report a 53 year old man running with a contorted face having difficulty breathing. Today was one of those days. I was short on time, so I did my start at my house and run westward uphill into the wind for the first mile run. My other option would have been to start by running north, which of course also meant running my first mile into the wind. That being said, mile 1 was UGLY, mostly uphill, and I struggled to a 9:03 time. I actually expected Rachael, my Garmin, to display a slower time. I'm thinking that since she now has a name (See previous post) maybe she took some pity on me and fudged the time...or maybe not. Mile 2 I felt better, and the wind wasn't a factor. So how the heck did I run a slower 9:05 split? I'm blaming it on Rachael. I think I'm going to like this name thing. If I have a bad split time or a bad total time, it's Rachael's fault. OK, not really. But I really don't understand the slower mile 2. Mile 3, running again into the wind, due to me having fun with my run (Hey, that rhymes) and randomly choosing streets to run on. So go figure, a 9 minute split. Heading for home, wind at my back, and feeling warm and cozy (Gay, huh?!) resulted in an 8:40 mile 4 split, and an extra 1/10 of a mile for good luck took just 44 seconds. Total time was 36:32, for an average mile time of 8:54. Much better than I expected, and very satisfying since my running goal this time of year is a 9 minute or better pace per mile average.