Overcast skies, cool, mid 60s, breeze from the north…it was almost perfect running weather. Only the breeze from the north, a good 20 mph for almost 3/4 of a mile probably kept me and Steph from PRing. And here is a picture of me in my glory!

I actually felt good after not having raced in 2 weeks, since the Fleet Feet 15K which for reasons I rather not reveal, was NOT a good race. The only clue I will give you…I beat the #1 finisher for the male 75-79 age group by 1 second. The Lebros course is the same one used for the Freedom Run that was held June 3rd. Its one of my favorite. Its basically flat, with very gentle up and down slopes on the twisting roadway that makes up the residential area of Audubon Park before it heads out to the openness of J J Audubon Parkway. This is the part of the course that can be very deceiving.

In the June race, it was humid and in the mid 80s. Audubon Parkway is wide open; there is no shade anywhere on that roughly 0.60 mile part of the course. Since its somewhat downslope, it challenges you to run faster but in the midst of all that, it will tire you out quickly especially in the heat and humidity.

Today, this part of the course had a very strong 20 mph headwind. One would be tempt to fight the wind by maintaining the pace especially with the overcast sky and cool temperatures but that turns out to be an exercise in futility. The more one tries to fight the wind, the more tiring it becomes. And, if you try to back off just so that it doesn’t become a battle, you’ll still be fighting! This part of the course could be a good breather for the little more than a half mile final kick down Dodge Rd. Instead, it turns out to be a “give it all you can” effort where men (and women) are separated from the boys (and girls).

A good post race party was enjoyed by everyone. And, accolades go out to Linda G. who by everyone’s definition (and not some stupid piece of crap called the “official scoring machine”) broke the 25 minute mark!

More later this week…