Windy Tempo

I ran my 4 mile tempo this afternoon because I couldn't drag my butt out of bed this morning. It was 69 with winds 9mph out of the WNW and 29% humidity. I warmed up with a mile in 8:20 and after some stretching started my run. I ran into the wind for the first 1200 of my tempo and it felt a little stronger than 9 mph. I also got chased by a dog. I hit mile one in 6:57.06 which felt okay despite already being parched from the wind drying my mouth out. I got chased by two more dogs and actually had to stop twice to slap the little ankle-biters and get them to leave me alone. Instead of easing back into my pace I surged hard for a block or two out of anger until I made myself slow down. I hit mile two in 6:54.02 (13:51.08). Mile three was thankfully mostly with the wind or in a cross wind and I crossed three in 6:55.98 (20:47.06). Mile 4 was with the wind for the first 800 or so and then I turned west again and ran the last 800 into the teeth of the wind. I started to strain a little there and finished up in 7:00.92 (27:47.98). I ran into the house to check weather.com and discovered that the wind had actually picked up to 13mph with 17mph gusts. That explained why it felt hard the last half mile. I cooled down with an easy mile in 8:24, stretched out and ate turkey tacos for dinner. Turkey tacos are good.

I am reasonably pleased with my workout today. I was a little sluggish but not too bad. I ran a fairly even pace for the tempo and didn't deviate too much off pace. The 7:00 mile hurt but was into some pretty stiff winds and the 6:54 was irritation fueled. I think today was a good character building run. I was forced to concentrate on my form, my pace and my motivation. I hit three and was already beginning to dread the last four blocks of my run and I just made myself run from light post to light post to stop sign. I just kept telling myself, 5 minutes to go, 4 minutes to go and by the time I hit the 3 minute mark I felt better.

Tomorrow is an off day. I will probably do my circuit training routine, which may have contributed to some of the sluggishness I felt today, and then I'm going to watch "My Name Is Earl," "The Office," and "Scrubs."