Running Against the Wind

I meant to run about 7 miles last Sunday. I thought I'd be at just 7 miles or a smidge over or under. I ended up at 7.31 miles. Sure, that's not a whole lot over 7 miles, but my legs, feet and ankles all felt like it was a whole lot more running than the prior week's 6.5 miles. I might be pulling back a bit for my next long, slow, distance run. 

The nice thing about that run though was that even though it was windy, it was windy in the right direction. The week before, the distance I ran away from home was with the wind. I felt like I was going so fast, and I wondered why my husband thought it was so cold when he ran that day. But the moment I turned back towards home, the wind was in my face, chilling me to the bone and doing its best to turn me back from my goal. Sunday's run was the opposite. I ran into the wind on my way out and got the wind at my back most of the way home (the last stretch was in a cross-wind). 

I'd much rather run out into the wind and have it at my back for the way home. Though I discovered that the route I took put nearly 4 miles on the way out, leaving 3.3 for the way back. I should have run the reverse route to really benefit from the wind direction. 

My right ankle is feeling a bit wonky after that run, but I'm taking care of it. And, due to snow, I only ran a mile or so yesterday. But also to give the ankle a bit of a break. I'm glad I know I can run 7.31 miles at a stretch, but I definitely need to spend some time in the 6.75 to 7.25 range to get used to that longer distance before bumping up again. 

I'm currently working on a route that has four pinch points that I can use to extend it from a loop to a figure 8, and then keep splitting the circles. After that I'm going to need to organize a new route. And I'm  considering trying to figure out a route going in the opposite direction so I can choose to always run into the wind as I move away from home and with the wind as I head back. 

I'm liking getting back into running; even when it kind of sucks, I know I'm banking this activity so I can do the backpacking trips I have planned for the summer without putting too much stress on my body. And the more I run, the easier it gets. Go figure :)