Day 17 – Nice Run, Frozen Face

It is Sunday. I have no plans today other than flying to Dallas in the afternoon. Now that I have my tights, I decided to brave the 28 degree temperature and 20mph wind, and leisurely explore the off-street trail network around Fort Collins. I enjoyed the first miles, comfortably cruising around CSU and downtown. My gear adequately insulated me as I started out, except for  the occasional icy gust that would chill my face and fingers. I headed north on the “Mason Trail” along the railroad, then east on the really pretty “Spring Creek Trail”.

I found the signs at various points instructing dog owners to clean up after their animals ironic, as I found very little dog litter, but here and there in the middle of a concrete trail I would jog around a great big pile of horse manure.

As I headed east, I felt the wind picking up even more at my back, which didn’t bother me at that moment as it pushed me along at about a 7:50 pace without me trying very hard. But I didn’t like the thought of coming back. When I turned south on the “Poudre River Trail”, the crosswind gusts nearly knocked me off the trail a couple of times. I was hoping it would warm up by the time I turned into the wind for the last leg home, but it didn’t, and the wind was most definitely increasing.

When I came around to the west, a gust hit me full force, nearly bringing me to a dead stop. Within a minute, though my legs were fine, my face and hands were numb with the icy cold, and I was pumping my arms and legs hard just to keep up an 11:00 pace. I also had to go uphill. With nothing but open field between the wind and me, my gear proved insufficient. It felt like swimming upstream in a snow-fed river. Within a half mile, my face was so cold my teeth hurt.

After the longest mile I’ve run in a long time, I finally reached a turn south onto the “Power Trail”, a slightly more sheltered trail with the wind at my side and a little behind me, instead of in my face. I had ¾ of a mile to warm back up a little, then I turned west again for the last 1.25 miles to the hotel. I made my final turn into the wind preparing for the worst, but fortunately I was now in a residential area rather than open fields, and was now going slightly downhill. Though not as bad as the first westward mile, I battled for another 14 or 15 minutes to get back, and have rarely been so happy to walk into a hotel lobby.

I covered 10.7 miles total, probably my longest run in five or six years. With the exception of the couple of frozen miles near the end, I had a pretty good morning on some scenic trails. My body is holding up well, and other than the usual little aches and pains that come and go and a little soreness near the end, I didn’t have trouble with the distance. Feeling good!

After landing in Dallas this evening, however, I found that my new hotel is in the middle of an industrial/commercial area near the Dallas airport, with no sidewalks or bike lanes, so I might be back on treadmills again for a few days. Bummer.