That Blows

Of course I am referring to the wind and, of course, the last two times I have decided to run it has been very windy.  I'm sure it's good for me and builds strength but I'd much rather run on a calm day.  We were in the mountains all weekend so I didn't get my long run done until Monday.  And what a long run it was!

The kiddos enjoying the mountain air

I was undecided whether I wanted to do 11 or 12 miles and the cold, windy weather made me want to turn around after 2 miles but I ended up going 12!  That run was the longest (time and distance) I have ever run.  For the most part the first half was uphill and into the wind so most of the second half felt pretty good.  The last three miles, however, I hit a bit of a wall.  I've done 10 a couple times and felt pretty good at the end.  I'm sure the weather (30 degrees and 14 mph winds) didn't help but I'm guessing the fact that I ran 12 miles had something to do with it!  You'll probably notice from the picture below that I stuck with the run 4 minutes/walk 1 minute intervals the entire way and I think it was pretty successful.  I'm hoping that on race day I'll be able to up the running to 4:30 or 5 minutes.  I ended up going 12.05 miles in 1:55:51 for an average pace of 9:37 min/mile.  My splits were: 8:47, 9:08, 9:23, 9:45, 9:53, 9:43, 10:00, 9:29, 9:32, 9:53, 10:03, 9:55.  A couple of those longer splits were due to bathroom breaks.  Guess I drank too much water before the run.

Longest run of my life...and it felt like it!

I wanted to run yesterday but ended up being really busy at work and didn't fit it in so I went today.  Yesterday was in the mid 60s with no wind and of course today was windy.  I felt pretty tired the entire time and don't think I could have gone 13.  Good thing the half marathon wasn't today.
 You want to know what scares me?

CSU blew and early lead at home against Boise St. and ended up losing 42-30.  I didn't get to watch the game but from watching updates on my phone it doesn't sound like the game was that close.  Still no Connor Smith sighting.  This week the Rams host Nevada.  I don't know much about the Wolfpack but I think CSU gets back up to .500 by winning 38-28.

The Broncos had an eventful bye week as coach John Fox had to have a valve in his heart replaced and may miss up to 6 weeks.  Obviously the top concern is for his health and I hope he makes a full recovery.  It is probably a good thing that we have another former head coach on the team as Jack Del Rio will take over in Fox's absence.  Denver travels out to SD for a game against the Chargers.  This would have all the makings of a trap game since the Broncos play KC next week but I don't see Denver looking past San Diego.  I do think it will be a close game and I'm interested to see how the defense plays.  If you'll remember back to last season (maybe it's just me) Denver came back from 24 down at halftime to stun the Chargers 35-24.  Denver really needs to hold on to the ball this week if they want to win.  I think it will be a close game but I see Denver coming out on top 38-31.

Have a great weekend!