Wind gusts over 40 mph and I'm getting out there

Have you ever heard of a major city airport canceling 150 flights because of WIND?  Well, that was the case Monday night into Tuesday morning in Dallas.

Coincidentally, it was when a huge cold front blew in AND I had my first morning working with my speed coach. 

Ugh.  Talk about not wanting to get out of bed!  I could hear the wind going over our roof and pounding our windows and porch. 

But my lactate threshold test on Sunday reminded me that I have A LOT of work to do before Sept. 29 if I really want to achieve my dream marathon PR in Berlin.  A LOT.  As in my current 30 minute mile pace at an all-out effort isn't significantly faster than what I want/need to be my marathon pace.  I mentioned to a friend after the LT test that I'm worried my goal is a bit unrealistic, and he wisely said, give it 6 weeks of speed training and then reevaluate. 

So I need to be giving it my all right now. 

I got out of bed and went to meet my coach to run hills in weather that was 40 degrees, but sustained wind speeds of 25-35 mph, gusting over 40. 

Dear god, why? 

I did it though.  Ran my hills, felt like death, finished the scheduled workout.  Our coach sent an email later in the day -- "I haven’t received any thank you emails for this morning’s workout and weather combination."  Hahahaha!

Got home, ate breakfast and had to head back out in it to go to work. 

I was so tempted to drive instead of running to work.  There have been a few mornings I've wanted to drive lately, but my car had been at the office, so it wasn't an option.  But yesterday my car was right there, sitting in our garage, keys on the hook.  So tempting!  But that's not going to help me reach my goal, so I sucked it up and ran to work. 

It was one of my slowest commutes ever, but that's per coach's orders -- trying to keep my heart rate in the bottom zone the whole time, not worrying about pacing. 

Fortunately, when I set back out in the great outdoors to go to work, it was a few degrees warmer and the wind advisory had expired, but it was still windy and cold.

One of the things I like about being an outdoor runner is that I feel so much more connected with the seasons, the outdoors, and the weather, but this commuting thing is taking that to a whole new level.  I'm spending a lot of time obsessing about the weather. 

Trying to make sure I make the right clothing decisions for a 5:15 group run, an 8:00 solo commute, a 6:00 pm indoor treadmill walk, and a 6:45 solo commute home.  That was my Tuesday. 

Let the record reflect that in the last week of February 2013, "Carina" appears to have finally mastered how to dress for winter running in Dallas. 

Of course, I master this lesson every single year at some point, only to apparently have to relearn it every single year.