Uphill and into a wind

Sounds like the start of a story my parents would tell me about back in the day. You know, the "back when we walked to school uphill, in a blizzard". Well, thats what I was thinking today when my need to run beat out my need to stay in the house and peel the rest of the chicken wallpaper off the wall (new kitchen tomorrow...yeah!!!).

I debated because of the 25-35mph winds that were blowing today, out of the Southwest. My concern was that my runs on the way home, are going Southwest. Heace, a headwind on the way home. Not exactly the best time to have a 25mph winds in your face, the last half of a run.

Upon voicing my concern to my husband, he gave me a look. The one that a wife knows her husband is thinking "you moron" but he will never say it out loud. Thinking it is ok though.

"What?"
"Why dont you go the other direction?"
Ahhhh....Now why didnt I think of that!! Cause he is the brains of the family and Im the...well.....anyhoo.....

So I went West, straight into the headwind. I pushed much harder then I have in any other run....and still was at a measly 4.5mph!! UHHHH....crazy slow, I typically stay between 5.4-5.6mph. Then came the hill. A big hill and that was my focus. I was going to make it up that darn hill and I was going to do it into a headwind!! And I did. One step after another, right down the middle of the one lane road, praying no traffic came because I was concentrating way to much to get out of the way. All the while I kept thinking "mother nature wont get the best of me. You may been throwing a headwind at me now but I will turn around and I will use your wind to my advantage. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" The thought of the tailwind blowing me back home was wonderful...Im not gonna lie!

So I get to the top, turn around and start the run back down.

And the wind stops. For the first time in 14 hours the freakin' wind stops. Of course it did.

This was a moment of clarity for me. A moment when I got it, that I can fight and curse Mother Nature as much as I want, but I am still at her mercy. She is in charge of the elements I must face to prove to myself that I can accomplish my goals. She may give me a headwind and then take away the tailwind, just because she can.

Lesson learned....dont curse Mother Nature, she will have the last word.

Eventually, near the bottom of the hill, the wind did kick back up again and I was very appreciative of the tailwind. I paced much better on the way back home and my overall pace was 12m/mile.

I throughly enjoyed running the other direction and plan on adding that in to more then a few runs each week. Not only changing the scenary but also challenging my body in different ways, courtesy of different terrain.

Always remembering that Mother Nature may have the final say with the weather, but I have the final say in how I perform. She can never take that from me.