The Wind Breaker

I apologize for the lag in posting. It has been a crazy week. Tuesday I had a 10 mile run which was pretty good. Wednesday I did a really good bike ride. I did 3 x 10 minutes while averaging 300 watts. I could feel my legs burn during the 10 minutes hard, which felt good as its been awhile since I went for it.

Thursday was a brutal 10 mile run. It was a very windy day with 10-20 mph winds from the north to NE. I didn't really notice it as I left my house because I ran toward the west and then south. As I headed into mile 5 I thought " I am going to let loose and see how this mile goes". I went 5:40 for the mile. I had planned on doing one more hard mile, but this was the turn around point. As soon as I turned around I felt the wind. It sucked! I was still pushing pretty hard and I ran a 6:35. That is the difference the wind made, and the hill I was going up. I tell you, the difference in temperature the wind makes as well is amazing. I was sweating going out and a little chilled coming back. I ended up coming home 2 minutes slower than I went out.

This got me to thinking about the apparel I was wearing. I usually wear a black Brooks Infiniti Jacket (a simple windbreaker) that I have had since college. I love this jacket. It may be 5 years old or so, but it still works just as good as the day I got it. I would argue that the windbreaker jacket is one of the most important cold weather articles of clothing. When you live in Kansas the wind is always blowing and it just cuts right though you. However, with the windbreaker, it stops this chill. The other great thing is that since it is a jacket, you can wear it basically everyday and it doesn't smell. If you get a convertible version (the sleeves zip off) it turns into a vest and you can wear it even longer through the season. What could be better?

I would like to give an Honorable Mention nod to the wind brief. The guys will understand me on this one. Same concept as the jacket, but to protect those parts that you care so dearly about. Unless you want to shell out the big bucks on a pair of windproof tights, which I have a pair of CW-X ones that I promise are worth every penny, then the wind brief is just the ticket to save the family jewels. You and your wife can thank me later..

Friday I did a 40 mile bike ride on the trainer. It was a good session, averaged 220 watts and 23mph.

Today, Saturday, Ben and I went out to Fancy Creek to finish marking the course for tomorrow's race. We did the first loop and stopped and put up flagging so that people don't get lost or hit limbs. Then we ran a second loop to get a good feel of the course. There is a little snow on the course, but it is not bad. I had on the yak-traks and the footing was good. We averaged around 9 minutes per mile for the loop. It should be a great race tomorrow.