For those of us who live in Boston, we know that every once in a while it can get a little breezy....our hair might get caught in our lip gloss or our umbrella might get turned inside out. But have you every been blown off of a running path or been blurred by your own tears? Because that was my experience this past Saturday (see picture to the right).
I woke up around 8:30am Saturday morning and immediately checked my weather application....44 degrees and sunny, not bad! But before I closed my phone, I noticed a small red "warning" symbol. It was for severe wind and I giggled to myself since one of the warnings was to actually avoid trash cans being blown over. Not thinking much of it, I got ready, ate 1/2 a banana and a GOO (no more gummies for me!) and headed out in my Asics running tights and new Asics 1/2 zip. It was a little breezy heading down to the esplanade, but nothing to blog about. However, as soon as I began crossing the Storrow bridge, I saw white caps on the Charles river and noticed waves crashing onto the shore line....that's right, white caps and crashing waves. From that point on, it was an epic battle for 2 hours and 44 minutes....Val vs. Mother Nature.
This is basically how my run went: Val runs 3 steps forward, runs in place as the wind pushes her backwards (put this on repeat)....Val wipes the tears from her face while attempting to open her eyes against the wind... Val HEAVILY debates turning around and going to the gym to run (or back to bed)...Val has a mental battle, telling herself she is being a baby and she needs to suck it up...Val gets pushed off the running path every 5 minutes...it starts snowing (???)....after 12 miles Val FINALLY has the wind at her back for the last 6 miles...Val is still being pushed off the path but is no longer crying...Val feels like she is floating back to the MGH bridge...Val smiles...Val laughs at how miserable the runners look going the opposite direction only to realize that's how she looked for 2/3 of her run (sad)...Val finishes 18 miles as her ipod dies, a sign from Mother Nature to go home and get out of this crazy weather.
So there you have it. On days like last Saturday, I truly believe the saying that running is 10% athleticism and 90% mental strength. What kept me going through the wind, tears and snow (???) was looking around me to see my fellow Charles runners...if they can do it, so could I.
The purpose of this blog? Well, aside from venting about my windy run, I want to reinforce my belief that you can truly do ANYTHING you set your mind to. Just remember that the pain and frustration you're feeling is temporary....for me it was for 2 hours and 44 minutes, and in the grand scheme of life, in comparison to the real battles that people face every day and all day, running in the wind isn't all that bad :) So stop complaining, embrace the elements and be thankful that you have the ability to enjoy a little Saturday morning jog!
Peace, Love and RUNNING!!!!
PS: For those of you who actually want strategy against running in the wind, please see below for an excerpt taken from a fellow running blog (http://marksvo2.wordpress.com/)
"The basic strategy is to run behind someone when running against the wind. The person ahead of you would do all the work cutting through the wind leaving you fresher as the race goes on. This is called drafting and is a well known fact with cyclists and race car drivers. In many big meets, the top runners would take it easy and wait till the last lap or even the last 100 meters to make a move. This commonly happens in big meets like the world championships or the Olympics. A 10,000 meter race ends up being two events a 9,600 meter jog and a 400 meter sprint. The biggest downside in drafting is you rely on the person in front to set the pace. If he/she is too fast than you risk some lactic acid build-up since you have to change your cadence and stride rate to match the pace of the other runner. If the runner is too slow then you are running sub optimal pace.
On the other hand, running with the wind behind you is a big plus. You can actually wear a loose tank top and use it like a sail to gather as much help from the wind. But most of our races are out and back so on a windy day you will be running against the wind as much as running with the wind. It actually evens out."
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