headwinds blow!

And suck! Seriously! Today was Half Marathon day - 13.1 miles of nonstop jogging. My plan was to do just under three laps of my 4.5 mile loop, half of which heads northwest on the bike path across Santa Monica beach. It was a beautiful day, with clear views from Point Dume to Catalina Island to Palos Verdes. This extreme clarity was due, unfortunately, to the Santa Ana winds blowing at a steady 15-20mph clip directly into my face. I felt like I was pulling a fully-loaded dogsled but without the benefit of a whip cracking to keep me motivated. The wind was relentless; drowning out my iPod with its roar, whipping the stinging sand into my legs, and quickly filling me with loathing for all the smiling people jogging and biking in the other direction. "Sure", I thought. "Laugh it up. Life's great when the wind's at your back, isn't it you assholes." Perhaps I was a bit harsh, but that's what this demon wind will do to you.

My route choice meant that not only did I have to endure the wind three times, but I also had to climb the 4th street stairs twice. The first climb was pretty easy. The second, after running for 9 miles, not so much. I got to the top sounding like I was doing a caricature of someone out of breath.

At about 11 miles my legs really started to hurt and later, as my desired completion time of 1:58:00 came and went, I threw yet another obscenity-laden curse out at the wind. I staggered over the finish line at 2:05:26 which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think that without the stairs and the wind I would have easily kept to a 9 minute pace. But that wasn't the real revelation today. What this run made me realize is just how incredibly hard a marathon is. There's a reason the first definition of the word marathon is "any long and arduous undertaking". I only did half of one. I now have a new respect for the race and for everyone who's run one.

Interesting Sight o' the Day: Sand being blown over the beach like so much snow across the tundra.

Runs for the week:

Thursday - 5.34 miles, 47:38 (including the 4th st. steps)
Saturday - 13.1 miles, 2:05:26

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