The Wind

What can I say? Runners have a love hate relationship with the wind. I know that I do.

Take this scenario for example. I am running during the month of January. There is snow, sleet, and rain pouring from the sky. I have a 20 mile run to complete. My hope is that the wind will be at my back because if I am running face first, then I will most likely be chilled to the bone and pleading for warmer days. These are the kind of days where I want the sun to be shining down me. I don't think twice about the skipping or even avoiding a shadowed area. All this is in the name of staying warm during the winter. A head wind makes miserable winter time experience.

Forward the DVR settings 6 months later and the thermometer is pushing toward the very top with the Mercury threatening to burst out the top. These are the days where even with SPF 50, one can still feel the sun's burn on his or her shoulders. These are days where shade is not only heavily sought after but actively searched for to help avoid the rays of the sun. But the shade is only part of it. All runs really become tough when the air being breathed in is so hot that all one really wants to-do is stop. Unlike the winter days when one wants a tail wind, the summer tail wind makes one feel like they are standing still. The only really change the constant drip, drip, drip of sweat off the forehead. But let the wind hit one's face and suddenly the world feels 10 to 20 degrees cooler. Everything about the run feels so much better.

Like I said, every runner has a love hate relationship with the wind.

This summer, I will take a head wind any day but 6 months from now, I will be looking for that tail wind again. I guess it is one of those circle of life things.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner