An Active 4th of July
Like most years I ran in the Clarence DeMar road race in South Hero, VT. Most years there had been an option to run either 10K or 5K, and I always ran the 10K, but these past 2 years there has only been a 5K option. Today we had ideal weather for a race, it was overcast and calm, 65F, 18C. I woke up at 5:00 this morning, and decided to bike the 21 miles, 34K to the race. The scenery along my ride was gorgeous, beginning as rolling Vermont countryside, progressing to a tidal marsh and bird sanctuary, then crossing Lake Champlain, and then returning to rolling farmland. It took me 80 minutes to bike to the starting line, and I arrived 90 minutes before the start of the race.
I relaxed, ate, and stretched before the race, but when the race started I had nothing, no explosion in my legs, I was struggling. The course was flat, but I couldn’t harness any speed. I chugged along not making much headway during the first 2 miles, and passing 8-10 runners during the last mile. I finished in 26:06, nearly 2 minutes slower than last year. After the race I rode 1/2 way back, stopped in the town of Colchester to watch their 4th of July parade, before completing the remainder of my ride.
Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend.
