Chilly Seventeen in the Wind

I awoke at my usual 4:30am and spent the next three hours performing my usual routine of alternating between reading and writing along while sipping coffee. I'm currently reading Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Kate has been trying to get me to read his work for years and I finally relented. I wish I would have listened sooner. Incredible imagination and talent and the surrealism in his writing is like reading a dream. As for my own book, this one is in its infantile stages but it's coming along really well so far.

So, when the sun was up and it was time to run a lot of my thinking was about Murakami's book and my own (two very different leagues). Great thoughts to have in my head for a longer run where the pace was slow and easy.

Run went really well with steady pacing throughout. Very windy out there. When it was a tailwind for the first half, it reminded me of the supportive hand of a mother on her toddler's back, gently urging her child to continue walking forward. On the way back, it was quite different. I felt like a warrior battling an ice dragon, the roar of its frozen breath an attempt to keep me at bay. Funny how the wind speed can be the same, but it's not really noticed when it's at our backs but it's a much different story when it's in our faces. I was layered just right for it though. Good run.

Ran 17.1 miles @ 8:03/mile pace.
Paved roads, some stretches of pebbled ice and slush.
Moderately hilly.
Upper 20s, partly sunny, windy (wind chill in the mid-teens).
Saucony Kinvara 2, long tights, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.