Looking at the forecast this morning, I had expected to be running in the rain today. Instead, we were treated to abundant sunshine, slightly softer earth, and our dear friends, heat and humidity. Current series leader on the men’s side, Alex Benway, ran a full two minutes slower, while last year’s champion, Kevin Emblidge, won his first race of this series by two seconds. Kevin will have to run almost a full 3 minutes faster than Alex in the final race, though, if he wants the title this year. Alex is currently at 51:18 minutes total, and Kevin is at 54:01 total. Currently in third place is Max Selleck, at 60:18, and behind him is Matthew Haley at 61:27.

In the women’s field, Tyra Wynn is solidly in first place, having won each race, with a 62:32 cumulative time so far. Behind her appears to be Susan Thompson, at 67:59, and Justine Trybendis with 68:51. In fourth appears to be Angie Thomas, with 71:23. Interestingly, each of the top three women have shaved off significant time each week. Tyra ran 21:20, 20:51, and 20:21; Susan ran 22:58, 22:39, and 22:22; and Justine ran 23:29, 22:55, and 22:27. By comparison, Alex ran 17:03, 16:09, and 18:06; Kevin posted a very consistent 17:58, 17:59, and 18:04; and Max ran a 20:14, 19:59, and 20:05.

Personally, I was once again gearing for a PR. I tried to give myself a bit of an edge with Vega’s Pre-Workout Energizer, and it seemed to help, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of training I mentioned in previous posts. It did give me the sensation of adequate (moderate?) power throughout the race. It also seemed to leave me even more scatterbrained than usual at the end of the race; I left mid-conversation with my friend Tisha to talk to another person I knew. (Sorry, Tisha.) I’m thinking it might be better to try out before long runs or long races.

I also tried out my FiveFinger Spyridon LSs this time around; once again I felt like I didn’t have enough traction on the slippery parts. My heel started to slip out as I was turning near the wet spot in the back of the course. I was able to get my weight off of it without falling, but it wasn’t encouraging. I like FiveFingers for building strength in my feet, and they’re fine for slower runs, but I think I’m done with trying to race in them.

Well, that’s it for now. Be excellent to each other…

This was originally posted on my Ghost blog.