Running in the wind

It's official, I'm now truly an Oklahoman. Last Tuesday I was entering my run info into my training log (it's online through Runner's World magazine, there's a link on the right to my log) and was wondering whether or not I should check the box labeled "windy". I couldn't remember so I went to NOAA's website to see the weather history. Apparently, there was a 30 MPH southern wind, with gusts close to 40 MPH. Really? I hadn't even noticed.

Here's a few tips I've picked up for running in the Oklahoma winds:

Plan your runs so that the wind is at your back for the second half. Although if you do this in Norman you end up running south, headed straight for the waste water treatment plant. Raw sewage and a stiff headwind don't go well together.

Run early in the morning when the wind is not as strong. Translate: only a 20 MPH wind, not 25 MPH.

Try running through wooded neighborhoods. However running through an older neighborhood with large trees when there's 40 MPH gusts isn't exactly relaxing when you see 5 inch diameter limbs littering the sides of the roads.

Which brings us to the best advice about running in the wind:

Suck it up and enjoy it anyway. You're not going to be able to change the fact that it is windy, so just tuck your head down and keep putting one foot in front of the other. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger.

I apologize to all my usual readers (which I was informed by a friend this last week is now up to 3) about not keeping up with my weekly posts. Hopefully you'll give me some slack, I got married, summer school started up, and all the other little things that make up a week. My running should get back into rhythm this week and with a little luck, so should the weekly entries.



Running moment of the week: Thursday afternoon I slipped in an unplanned run around the Sutton Wilderness Area. It was hot, humid and I was pretty slow but it felt cleansing, like a good sweat in a steam room.

5/26 - 6/1
total miles: 51.0
time: 7:02

May miles: 206.0
YTD miles: 1151.7

Running moment of the week: After a real hard demoralizing run yesterday, Maia and I had a easy recovery run up at Lake Stanley-Draper up in OKC. We ran along the dirt road on the east side of the lake. It's closed in spots to vehicles so I let Maia off leash and just let her trot next to me. She'd push me on the downhills and I'd have to be a cheerleader for her on the uphills.

6/2 - 6/8
total miles: 45.1
time: 6:01

YTD miles: 1196.8