Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5k ... and then some

I had heard the weather forecast before I went to bed last night, but it was still a bit of a shock when I woke up to SNOW SHOWERS at 9am! I guess the snow hit us around 2am, and normally I would have noticed, but I was out cold by 1. The weather guys had said it would be over by 9am-ish, but they were off by a little more than an hour ... which isn't too bad in the scheme of things.

My training plan called for 5 miles and I knew (probably the last) 3.1 miles of it were going towards The Boring Runner's Freeze Your Thorns Off 5k. Just like the Twitter Road Race last weekend, I wasn't planning on being competitive, it just fit into my training plan and I enjoy dedicating miles of my run to certain things. It keeps my head on straight and gives me a reason to NOT stop early, no matter the conditions. My biggest decision ended up being what to wear. The snow showers ended right around the time I decided I REALLY needed to get out of bed and get moving, but I could tell there was still a decent breeze outside (the pine trees were shaking). I asked dad how windy it was outside since he went out to the back garage for something and he said it wasn't bad. *Snort*. Ok, dad. I ignored him and threw on my light windbreaker just in case. So I didn't get too warm, I wore my vented long-sleeve shirt under. I knew it was going to start warming up as soon as the storm passed, and I was right.

BOY am I glad I wore that windbreaker. As soon as I got out of the protection of the trees in downtown, I got SLAMMED. Almost the entire second mile of my run, I was getting blasted by gusts that were almost making me come to a stand-still. I heard later today we were getting gusts around 40mph in my neck of the woods, which I can TOTALLY believe. I hadn't PLANNED on resistance training today, but I guess Mother Nature decided it couldn't hurt.

I was trying to pace myself, even with the wind, without looking at my Garmin. It was a little more difficult this time around and I think I would have had a negative-split run if it weren't for the insane gusts of headwind during the second mile. Taking the times for the last 3.1 miles, my submitted time for the FYTO5k is 0:34:38. Sounds reasonable for my not actually RACING. lol. It was fun, though. I appreciate any day where I can get out on the trail, the sun is shining (at the end), blast my music, and enjoy running.

I guess we're ALL #1?