It was a tough run

After teaching Body Step on Saturday, I was tempted to call it a day.  It was a tough class and I was tired.  However, I needed to get a long(er) run in.  I am afraid that if I deviate too far from my plan that it will all implode and I will be lucky to even finish a half marathon.  At 2:30, I dragged myself upstairs and got dressed to run.  It is still very cold here (it was just under 20 degrees F at 2:00) but I tend to over heat very easily.  Judging by the race in Cedar Rapids the week before, I dressed in a long sleeved tech shirt, my North Face winter pullover, a pair of running skins and my running pants.  Instead of a hat like I wore at Freeze Fest, I decided to wear an ear band.  With my wool mittens, I felt pretty good.
Since I was a bit tired from teaching, I decided to run a completely flat course.  My goal was to run for one hour or about 6 miles.  I drove down the the Terry Trueblood recreation area and started my run south on Sand Rd.  The air temp wasn't too bad.  I could feel a bit of wind at my back which I knew might be a problem when I turned around.  By the time I was about 1.5 miles into the run, I actually felt pretty good.  For the first time in years, I was running with music.  It did a great job taking my mind off the run.  My heel was hurting but as long as I kept a good mid-foot strike, I was okay.  I ran about three miles out and turned around.  I knew within about a minute that I might be in trouble.  The wind was blowing harder than I anticipated.  Sand Road is pretty wide open so there is plenty of room for the wind to pick up a good head of steam.  I felt like the wind was cutting right through both layers of clothing and freezing my sweat to my body.  Within 5 minutes, my upper arms and lower torso were stinging.  I didn't dare stop or slow down.  At times, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to lean into it.  Thankfully, there wasn't much snow or ice on the road.  The pain from the cold became distracting to the point that I was no longer paying attention to the music.  With about a mile left, the stinging sensation started to go away.  That got me worried.  When I returned to the car, I lifted my shirt and my torso was bright red.  I quickly got the car started and the heat going.  Other than being much too cold, it was a good run.  It was slow but I ran the entire way and did not develop any soreness over the weekend.
With that run, my weekly total was 12 miles.  Not much yet but it is a good start.
My goals for this week is to have two short runs (one 3 miler and one 4 miler) as well as a 70-80 minute run.  I am really hoping the weather starts to warm up.  It's hard to believe that it is March 3rd and the high today was 13 degrees.  I don't mind the snow so much but the cold is just so hard to deal with on such a long term basis.