Did you feel how warm it was outside today? Man, it was warm. And sunny. Perfect running weather. And so I decided to head out for a nice and easy 14-mile run after work. I realize "nice and easy 14-mile run" can be perceived as a bit of an oxymoron, but it wasn't horrible. I slowed up my half marathon pace by about a minute-and-a-half, and just cruised along.

For about two feet. Until the wind just about knocked the shit out of me. HOLYCOW it was windy. It was one of those headwinds that about stops you dead in your tracks.

But I'm a trooper, clearly, so I kept going. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard, and it kept knocking my iPod earbuds out of my ears, but the optimist (ha) in me convinced me that it was simply making the workout more intense (in tents, like camping).

And who doesn't need a good workout once in a while? Precisely.

Eventually I got used to the wind, the way a person might get used to being held underwater, and I pranced along. Until roughly 4.5 miles into the run. Seems the trusty bike path I love so much had a bit of an accident as of late. A block-long portion was submerged in water. The nearby creek had runneth over.

So, I sat down, took off my socks and shoes, and waded through knee-deep, ice-cold water to get to the other side. 'Twas quite the feat. Also cold. But like I said, I = trooper. And so I reached dry land, put my socks and shoes back on, and kept on going.

Don't worry, it was still windy! WINDY in capital letters! And now my feet were wet! Windy and wet! And I still had nine miles to go. Le sigh.

And because running is neat, upon turnaround, I reached the same point in the trail again at mile 11. So, off came the shoes, off came the socks, and I waded back through the flood. Then socks back on, shoes back on, and another three miles to go.

Fi-nal-ly, I made it back home. Fourteen windy, wet miles later. It felt good, it did. Why run on windless, dry land when you can do what I just did?

I like going about things the hard way.

krittabug