I hate wind

Out of all the elements of weather, wind is my least favorite. I have worked outside for much of the last decade, and have been running and biking for over half that time, so I am exposed to the elements all the time. Living in Washington, it seems to rain year round. Rain I can deal with though. Unless it is a torrential downpour, I can generally tune it out.

But wind is so random. There is no predicting it, bracing against it, or tuning it out. When working, you can't keep any drawings out, sawdust becomes an unpredictable cloud, and a long piece of wood or aluminum on your shoulder becomes a sail. When you are out riding or running, a headwind makes everything twice as hard. No matter how hard you press, it doesn't feel like you are going any faster.

I have gone on a few runs while up in Seattle. It has definitely been colder, and I have been rained on a couple of times. But the wind had been brutal. I went on an 18 mile run on Monday, and the rain and wind made it feel about 15 degrees colder. I am pretty sure that Monday's run lead to a cold I am still battling.

Today I headed out for another long run, and the winds were even worse. I debated even going out since I was still feeling under the weather, but the marathon is less than four weeks away and I have already skipped a few scheduled runs. I was also feeling pretty fat from all the Christmas indulgence, so I wanted to burn some calories.

So I tried. The first half of the out and back it was raining, but the wind was more or less at my back. But it was blowing hard. The trees along the path were being bent over in the wind, and there were whitecaps on the Slew. As soon as I turned around, I wished I had just stayed at home. I was already wet from the rain, and the wind cut right through me. The rain was now being blown straight into my face so it was hard to see. Birds above me were flying in place, and it didn't feel like I was making any better progress.

Within a few steps, I decided to cut my run short. Normally I would press on because you can't wait for good weather here in Washington,but it was clear I was only going to make myself more miserable by trying to stick to the scheduled run. Unfortunately, I was three and a half miles from my car so there wasn't much I could do but lean into it. It was a long slog and in the end I ran only seven of the scheduled fourteen miles.

Usually I'd say it was tough but I'm glad I did it. Today, I should have just stayed home and nursed my cold. Stupid wind.