Recently I posted about how nice it was to be in Western Montana and out of the incessent wind in the Billings area. Well, this afternoon I had a stark reminded of how bad the wind could be.
I had the occassion to be in Billings for work this week. I went out for a run during the lunch hour. To start with, our company's office is located in the far southwest corner of Billings. About 1 mile to the west you are quickly into the wide open field. No trees, no buildings, dead flat terrain - just agricultural fields that have no crops left after the fall harvest. In other words, nothiong between you and some serious tubulance.
Going out (to the west, into the wind) sort of reminded me of the Beartooth Run. I was running normal training effort; but, all I had to show for it was 9:00 miles. May as well have been running up the pass. Hell, I think that I've actually run faster going up the mountain. There were a few times wher the wind actually stood me up straight and almost brought me to a stand still.
The only silver lining is that once I got to halfway, I got to turn around and have the wind at my back. But, even with that, it was blowing so hard that it really though off the normal stride patter. Of course, I got to run 6:30 pace with very, very little effort; but, man, it just didn't feel worth it after getting sandblasted for 3 miles.
I thought that after being away for a few months maybe I had just gotten soft. So, I double checked the weather service web site. Steady winds in the mid-30's with gusts to 47 mph. And all I could think was ............................
This Blows
See you on the roads, tracks and trails
TB
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