So Much for Sleeping In

So, Saturday night I really didn't get much sleep. But I STILL got up for my 12 miler at 7:30 so that Bill and I could go see the Chinese New Year Parade. Unfortunately, my legs were killing me. I really really debated whether or not to go and then realized that I shouldn't risk it, so I put my pajamas back on and went back to sleep.

So when I woke up again, my legs didn't hurt at all. I was puzzled until I realized that Benvy (our dog) was sleeping where my legs usually are. I guess my awkward position was what was making my legs hurt.

So I promised myself that I would do the 12 miles when I got back from the parade. I even wore my running shirt to the parade to make me more likely to do that when I got back.

But it was soooooooo windy and cold. I really did NOT feel like going back out. I even debated cutting it down to 6 miles and slacking.

But I ended up doing two full loops around Central Park, which comes out to 12.4 miles. It was crazy too. There was a torrential downpour of snow (can there be "torrential snow"?) and so much wind. It was really really crazy. And it was really hard to do the second loop when I really wanted to go home. The kicker was that it was sunny and just a little breezy this morning. Now, (9:50ish) I can hear the wind outside of my apartment because it is so crazy. I was wearing a tech shirt and a fleece AND a coat, two pairs of pants, gloves and my headband and as soon as I stopped I was FREEZING. That was unfortunate too, because I still had about a half mile to walk home.

Luckily, since Bill is so nice he met me at the taco truck (that parks up a block from us and makes tacos every night) and gave me his keys while he got tacos, once he saw how cold I was.

I am also really really sore. I feel like I ran 20 miles instead of 12.4. But despite all the wind and everything, I still logged a 2:08 run! That is a 10:19 pace for those windy miles!!! And that even counts all the times I had to wait at stop lights to cross. I have been logging about 11 minute miles on my long runs. Maybe now I know why my legs hurt so much!

The Wind Is Mean

I don't know what the weather is like in Cincinnati, but here in New York it is CRAZY WINDY. I guess I should have known this when I asked Bill this morning what the temperature was and he said it was '21, but feels like 8'. How do you dress to that?
I decided that I would be okay in my tights, a short sleeve, a long sleeve and a jacket (gloves and headband too of course).

It actually was pretty pleasant. And a 6.2 mile loop around Central Park beats a 5 mile loop around Lunken any day. By the time I actually got down to Columbus Circle I was actually feeling kind of warm and looking forward to the east side of the park where I would be running in the shade.

HA! HA! That's when the wind kicked in. And since Central Park is a big, open space in the middle of the city with no buildings to break the wind it was COLD. Not only that, it was difficult to run. At some places I was actually running but not moving anywhere because the wind was so strong. At other places I had to run sideways. I just kept thinking, 'just a few more blocks and then I get to head west again'.

By the time I got to the top of the park the wind had changed directions so that I was running into it again. It was crazy.

I was very happy to see 81st street again (where I cut across to Riverside Park to end my run). I was tired of being blown all over the sidewalk.

I couldn't feel my legs at the end of my run because they were THAT COLD!

I clocked a 1:39.18 for 9.03 miles which I thought was actually pretty good because I was A) battling the wind B) stopping at almost every cross street by the park (sometimes for up to 45 seconds) and EVERY street going crosstown once I was out of the park...and C)running the most mileage I've run since October. So I was happy.