Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Not quite the run I had hoped for, but given the cold (34 degrees with a real feel of 25), the wind (20 mph), the snow (really should have taken sunglasses), and the hills (four, two pretty good ones), I'm happy with the 30:10 I finished with. That's a 9:44 pace, much faster than this time last year, and much better than the 5k from four months ago. I finished 9th out of 21 in my age group, and though I wanted sub-30, I'm not disappointed. Actually, I'm kind of eager to see what I can do with better conditions. The first mile I heard the young lady call out 9:13 when I passed. I really just wanted to maintain that, and I think I did pretty good through mile 2. It was mile 3 that got me. The wind was in my face for much of that mile, and one of the tougher hills was during that mile, too. I know I slowed considerably. For not running outside for four months, I am very happy with how I handled the conditions and the course. I'm even happier with my mindset. My leg...

The ten miles out were brutal. Winds holding steady at 14 mph made the going tough, and since I haven't ridden since last Saturday's metric century, I was feeling it the first five miles or so. The legs, back, and arms settled in, so I slogged on, eyeing the grain bins I knew were the turn-around point. When I checked my stats, I wasn't surprised to see an 11.7 mph average. Turning around and heading back couldn't be done fast enough. The ride back was pure fun. Without the roar of the wind in my ears, the wind pushing against my every pedal, I put some effort into the return trip. I'd forgotten to put my bike computer on the bike before we left, but I did have my phone and was able to use the app I'd downloaded quite awhile back. Every mile I heard the voice from my phone tell me what mile I was at and how long each mile took to cover. On the trip out, I averaged right at 5 minute miles. On the way back, the average was just past three or just below three minut...