Windy long run and the rabbit

If I were following the marathon recovery program, I'd be doing 9 miles today. Nope, I'm trying to boost my fitness to get ready for the 70 mile program. Today was freaking windy, with gusts between 50km/h and 60km/h. Decided to forgo the singlet for my Adidas Scotiabank waterfront shirt, which is pretty good for cool temps because it's slightly thicker than other running shirts.

Wanted to run to the Beaches because I enjoy the solitary nature of the trail between my condo and the beach. Not many long-distance runners use it compared with western Martin Goodman Trail. Good, I guess, was that the wind was at my back for the first half. I settled into a moderate pace, about 5:00 to 5:10 kilometres for the first five kilometres, letting the wind push me out.

I'm trying to eat my way into my surplus of fuel -- Clif Shot Bloks and GUs -- so I brought my fuel belt with water and chewed on the Bloks. A nice refreshing change to sometimes too sweet Gatorade I take.

By the 8th kilometre, right on cue, I was feeling really good, my mind and body settling in for long run. It's at this point that I turned my hat around so I could get a view of the big blue sky and also be a little more aerodynamic. Hit the 10K mark in 50:16, just a bit faster than 5 minute kilometres.

One thing that annoyed me was that three of four water fountains at the Beaches were defective. Note to city staff: Please fix.

The entire last half was run right into the headwind. Very annoying but I was a little surprised to see strong set of 4:42s. So like a few days ago, I just kept on battling the winds and it felt great.

Ahead of me, a runner was pulling off strong 4:45s to 5 and looked great, but I was gaining ground on her. It took me a good two kilometres to catch up to her and it gave me good impetus to keep my pace high. As I pulled alongside her with 4K to go, I decided to just go with a great feeling of acceleration and then turned the gear a little higher.

Last five kilometres: 4:35, 4:26, 4:28, 4:31, 4:27. Yikes, right into the wind.

Feeling good, I've done 35 miles for the week and 147 miles for the month.

Year to date mileage: 762 miles