Why am I Doing this Again?

This was one of those training weeks where I frequently asked myself, why am I doing this again?  There is always one in every cycle.  And it usually happens in the middle of some of the highest mileage.  I really had trouble recovering from the 24 miler last Sunday and never had any spring in my legs all week.  I was hoping they would come back to life on Saturday at the New Prague Half Marathon, but the big miles and the 25 mph wind gusts had something else in mind.  It was a nice cool morning, but when I left the house the wind chimes were chiming away and I knew it was going to be a challenge.  I got to New Prague, ran my warm up miles and toed the line for what I thought was going to be a shiny new PR.  We head out of town and had the winds to our backs, so everything was going well.  I went out with a 6:41, 6:50 (hill) then a nice series of effortless 6:30 miles.  Then we headed west and I knew it was all over.  The wind was crazy and keep in mind this is southern Minnesota farm country, so there is little shelter from cold wind gusts.  My effortless sub 6:30 miles now turned into work your ass off 6:48 miles.  At one point, I thought the wind would rip the bib off my singlet!  A few miles west, then the turn north and holy crap, it was like running in a wind tunnel!  I continued to scratch and claw every mile, but continued on in the 6:48 range and I was getting pretty tired and pretty frustrated.  We got closer to town and the wind died down a bit and really subsided for the last mile, which also has some nice downhill.  Without the wind, I was able to crank out a 6:07 mile and finish with a respectable 1:26:11.  This was only a fitness test and not a goal race, so I will take, but have to admit to some disappointment.  Tired legs and strong wind are not my friends.  Went out today to get my long run in and the legs felt amazingly fresh for the first 7, then just okay for the next 6 and like like petrified tree trunks for the final 6!  Called it a day at 19.1 and will get back on the saddle again next week.  Next race is the Brian Kraft 5k on Memorial Day.  Can you say 17:59?  We shall see.

Happy Running!

Rick