Yes, it is still Winter, although I did get lucky and get most of my run in before the squalls and winds got here. The temps were around freezing with a ten or so mph breeze, pretty typical for January or early February, but it is mid-March, so I am ready for this stuff to be done.

It isn’t, and March is known for Mother Nature’s moodiness. I deal with them the best that I can. Tomorrow is forecast to be a LOT worse with sub-zero wind chills, so today sounded like a great day to get a few more miles in than I usually do on Sundays.

I seem to be over the worst of the COVID-19 first shot side effects, which is nice. They were a pain, but not as bad as I thought they were going to be. Even the injection site isn’t giving me too many problems, so all-in-all, things are going better than I hoped.

Down-back was a little too muddy, and I didn’t feel like running up Philbrick Hill. My left Achilles tendon has been barking a little for the past couple of days, and I know running up bigger hills tends to aggravate it. Plus, I stepped awkwardly yesterday in the deeper snow, so I didn’t want to do any of the hills around the house. I just did Waterville, so I decided to do my Cony-Piggery 10K route in Augusta.

When I got to Cony, another Central Maine Strider was running by with her dog, but I didn’t recognize who it was. We waved and said a quick pleasantry, as she kept on going as I warmed up.

The breeze was moving right along, but luckily it wasn’t directly in my face most of the run. I wasn’t planning on running fast and was more interested in how the 1080 v10s would be on a longer run.

I felt awkward for some reason starting and didn’t feel fluid until I got down on Eastern Ave. Then I began to relax more and opened up my stride a little. I was doing a little harder effort than easy, but nothing all that tough. At least, that is what I thought.

Somehow I must have picked up the effort a little more than I thought, or I am in a bit better shape than I have been when I have run the segments on this course in the past. I picked up two Strava segment PRs and a 2nd and 3rd on two others without attempting to. Not that they were all that fast anyway-they are still pretty soft times for those segments.

It must have been the 1080’s. 😁

The Piggery segment happened because the road was clear all the way through. Well, except for the wet/sloppy spots on the dirt section.

The left Achilles didn’t get in the way during the run, but I would notice that there was some discomfort every so often. Nothing serious, and I feel that I will need to back off on the faster running uphill that has come with that slight change to my form. I am probably doing a bit too much too quickly.

The 1080s felt decent but still are a bit snug in the forefoot. After about 3.0 miles, I could feel the met heads beginning to bother a little more due to that snugness. It didn’t stop me from running and went away almost immediately after I stopped running. However, it is a distraction while running, something that I hope as I run more in the shoes does go away.

Overall, a pretty good 10K. Surprisingly I felt pretty good and managed to cut almost 2:00 minutes off my previous time. The clearer road conditions helped a lot, even though the temps and winds were similar.

Now to get past tomorrow’s bitter cold and the storms that might be coming our way later in the week. I know that I am ready for better weather.

Although that near white-out conditions on the way home, did remind me that it is still Winter for a bit longer.