October 30, Saturday

Despite dire weather forecasts for this morning, the running conditions were excellent at Holmdel Park for today’s final 5k of the Fall Cross Country Series.  My race performance was not as good as I expected.  I ran 30:34.  I am disappointed because during the race I felt like I was running very well.   I broke well and covered the first hills in a relaxed manner.  I approached the first mile mark with confidence and ran the bowl under control. I skirted the large hill without burning legs for the first time and recovered quickly for a  surge to the teannis courts.  The final  1200m seemed quick with a solid finishing kick.  Reading  the clock at the end was  an unpleasant surprise.  So, I finished 2nd in my age group for the series.   😏

My summary of the series.  I ran very well in race one and beat the guy who ultimately won the age group.  Ran the  next four race with basically no training  and sore calf muscles. Even skipped one because of night time calf cramps.  My hunch is that the lack of  training for a whole month caught up with me today.  My legs felt fine at last, but I had no aerobic strength to sustain pace.   The good news is that my legs are sound and I am ready to move forward and get back into shape.  That begins with a month of aerobic work. I see a turkey race somewhere in the near future!  🦃

Stats are all back on track!