They all can't be "easy" runs.

7 am start. It was very hot, and I wilted on the second half. Badly. At race start - 60 degrees, 100% humidity, 55 degree dew point.  At race finish - 76 degrees, 61% humidity, 62 degree dew point. 0% cloud cover (and tree shade for maybe 3 miles total) for the entire race, but also 0 mph wind. There are no hills. The course has a couple of odd U-turns, but no hills. Also, the race goes around "Gordon's Pond" early in the race, which is a marshy area, that kind of stinks like dead fish for about 2 miles. 

I'm a guy that trains in @ 80 degrees, 90% humidity, 70+ dew point, and spent a month running in red tide stink. I thought I would have an edge. I can't imagine anyone else out there training in the exact race conditions. It doesn't matter. I started running 7:30s, and finished with running 10:20s in the last 5 miles. 7:52 pace overall on the first half. 9:22 pace overall on the second half. I got knee deep in the Atlantic Ocean after the race, and I think it did me some good. The water temperature was really low. Spouse and I met some nice folks at the Grotto’s pizza post-race party. I don’t know what’s next for me. I am happy about knocking off another state. I am mostly happy with my training leading up to the race. But a 19:45 positive split is giving me some pause about getting super-stoked! for my next race, whatever that is.

The weather the rest of the time we were in Rehoboth Beach was spectacular. I found myself getting irritated about the fact that the weather conditions in the town were better for running everyday we were there, than they were on race day. Easily 10 degrees cooler everyday, with some breezes. Neither Spouse or I have ever been to Delaware before. We spent the next 2 days riding around the area on rented bikes. The race course is beautiful. The whole town is beautiful. I mean, really amazing. Also, Rehoboth Beach has an intense tourist season that goes from May to September. So in mid-April, there are not many folks around, and room rentals are cheap. We could ride bikes without worrying too much about traffic. Everything was in bloom. There were cherry blossoms blowing across the street, when we were riding bikes. We rode bikes through the president’s neighborhood, where we saw 4 deer just poking around. Crazy right? I mean, just amazing.

3 on the trails. Everything still works.