The MidSummer’s Night Run provided a unique challenge for me….running in the evening!! Being a morning person the thought of having to wait till 5:30PM to start a 30K run was a bit unnerving. I decided to not forgo my regular training schedule for a Saturday, but scaled it back to include only a 2hr easy ride with team RF member Gary Kennedy.
This course is nice and flat and promised fast times…however the humidity at some points along the course made it felt like we were running through a wall of hot, wet blankets – this combined with running in a tutu and a wreath of silver stars on my head make it a little be more difficult too (see Phaedra Kennedy’s RR for more details on our costume).
I decided to run a pace that was a bit faster than more ultimate goal and see how long I could hang on for…the answer came at about 20K when quite suddenly the wheels came off. I really struggled though the next few Km, and was not mentally prepared to run the full loop around the park at
Woodbine
Beach (even though it was on the course map!).
The final stretch along the Lakeshore bike path was brutal – with the wind at our backs and the high humidity I found it really hard to get a full breath in. One last cup of water in the face helped me to get back on track and start to run a bit faster again.
I managed to pick up the pace a little bit more nearing the finish line and we pretty much spent at the end…a good effort all around. The added bonus of this race is that there is a BBQ and beer garden available post race – too bad it started to rain.
