Happy 4th! Firecracker 4 Mile Race Recap

1.5 mile w/u
Target: Win, don't die of heat stroke
Actual: 23:47, 1st place female, 9th overall
Results
1 mile c/d
Total: 6.5 miles

Full disclosure: if Karhu and Craft didn't sponsor the YMCA North Shore Road Race Series, there's no way I would've been able to summon the energy to get up early and race this morning. It's a holiday and, more importantly, it's just way too hot. In fact, when I took my first few steps out the door I was instantly reminded of the oppressive weather from another four-mile race in Charlotte several years ago. As we loaded up the car just before 7am, the temperature was already over 80 with a dew point of around 73. And I thought I left this kind of racing weather behind when I moved to New England?!

Weather aside, another reason this race wouldn't exactly be my A-game performance is because, well, I haven't really been training. After Duluth I flew straight to California for the Fleet Feet Conference, where I was content to log some easy miles each day (including one amazing run with my former Queens teammate/roomie, Tanya!) and not much else. My self-prescribed "summer training season" kicked off just this Monday, with some strides on the Common Tuesday night accounting for the only semblance of speedwork I've done in over a month. So, as stated above, the goal for today was to win and try not to overheat. It was also a checkpoint to confirm that my leg could feel good during (and after) a relatively hard outing.

Overall, I'm happy to report that I achieved all of these goals. I never really pressed beyond a tempo effort and therefore didn't push my body beyond a tolerable temperature, even on the long, grinding hill that comprised half of the fourth mile. Most importantly, the leg felt completely normal and responded just fine to the increased stress. This may have been one of my slowest race times in years, but I couldn't be happier!