Tuesday I was feeling a bit better and decided to head out to conquer Fairmount Trail. I wanted to see what was at the end of it so Argos and I geared up and headed out. One step out the door and I noticed that between now and an hour ago it had cooled down significantly. I changed from shorts into my CW-X capris, swapped my nylon/spandex arm warmers for my fleece ones, and added my windbreaker to my pack. I also threw on my buff as a headband in case the smoke (due to a recent and still smoldering wild fire nearby) was thick in the air around North Table.
The parking lot at Tony Grampsas complex was windy and cool. I immediately was glad I had put on warmer gear (as I zipped up my windbreaker) and double checked that I had a stash of hat and gloves in my pack. We set off through the short distance of trees and I felt myself really enjoying being out.
And then it hit....
As soon as we stepped out of the trees and into the flat, barren trail of Fairmount we were blasted in the face with a headwind so strong it nearly knocked me back a few steps. Hard headed, I continued the run determined to see Fairmount to the very end. I couldn't tell if it was smoke in the foothills or a snowy storm brewing but it looked kind of ugly:
The wind didn't let down but seemed to pick up in speed and force. At some points I had to stop and just walk with my head down and leaning forward, pushing ahead. It was wild. Argos kept running ahead then looking back at me, fur rippling in the wind. Often he would be running on the left side of the trail only to be pushed forcefully (mid run) across the trail to the right side. He would dig deep and head back to the left side only for the wind to knock him back. It was kind of funny.
Stubbornly I pushed on and finally made it to the end. The dirt trail/road ended and a nice slab (ouch) of cement started, wound down and through a tunnel under the road, and continued up and around the reservoir. I wasn't too interested in continuing along the cement, especially with the wind still whipping me around so I snapped some pictures and turned around.
water treatment plant
back through.
As soon as we had the wind to our backs, it felt as if the wind wasn't blowing at all. I even shucked my windbreaker. 7.5 miles in a bit over an hour and I was exhausted. My eyes burned from the wind and my body felt as if I had done double the mileage. I'll chalk that up to resistance training.
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