They all can't be "easy" runs.

Lovely town.

The halfers, 20 milers and full marathon runners went out at 7 am. The race is 2 laps, mostly on paved trails, around the city. I crossed several bridges over rivers and streams. Very little fan support, or even opportunities for fans.There is a mile long hill at mile 7, and again at 20 on the second lap. knowing that after the first lap kind of filled me with dread for the second lap. On the other hand, I knew I could make it to the finish after the hill. So that's what I did. I decided there would be no walking. I needed to get to the top of the hill, and then coast to the finish. Besides the hill surprise, this was the best I have ever done at executing a race strategy. Even though I didn't really train paces, I ran almost perfect even sub 8 splits until the hill at 20. Gu, water all timed perfect. The last couple were a struggle, as expected. But I can't think of a race I've had that went as close to planned as this.

Oh and there was a guy running the half shirtless. His entire torso was a giant skin graft. So much so that, at first glance, you thought the dude was wearing a shirt. He was also wearing Spiderman shorts and a tu tu. He made a comment before the race about my hat. Okay bro, my hat's too much. He passed me at mile 6. And I yelled "I can't believe I am getting passed by a guy in a tu tu!" And he said that's why I wear it. I passed him back at 10. He said at least you're not going to lose to a guy in a tu tu.

The post race party was pretty lame. Later we found out that I won my age group. Announcer guy said there was a commemorative pin for the age group winners. So I told him I won my age group. Without verifying anything, he handed me a pin with a number 1 on it that is smaller than a penny. Anytime spouse disagreed with me for the rest of the day, I would hold up my pin and shoosh her. It was hilarious.

This town is amazing. We are really impressed.

Spouse and I did some exploring outside of Rochester. We picked up some apples at Sekapp Orchard. Then we ate them while hiking up to chimney rock in Whitewater State Park. Then we dove to Lanesboro, toured the town and had lunch. My mobility after this race is great. I'm just a bit sore in my quads. I think it's because there was not a lot of downtime after the race. We kept moving, so my muscles never really locked up. We'll see how I feel after flights home on Tuesday.

Then we drove home and sat outside of our rental place until sunset. We can't really sit outside like this in Florida without melting.

4 on the trails. 84 deg., 81% hum., 77 d.p. On race day, the dew point was 51. I was more soaked after 2 miles on this run at home than I was at the end of the marathon in Minnesota. Humidity was roughly the same. Dewpoint is the critical thing, though. I could have started running yesterday. There are no dents anywhere, so I guess I should start going again. I had Jane's Addiction's 1% running through my head on this one. 

4 on the trails. 11 am start.