Still no Garmin web stuff, not a big deal in the overall scheme of things, just a minor annoyance where people like me don’t get to brag to other people similar to me about how great my run was and actually have proof that I did run. You know that if it ain’t on a GPS graph or file someplace, you are only telling stories.

Oh well, getting back to running…I planned on something between 4.0 and 6.2 miles. I wasn’t quite sure about how the heat/humidity was going to affect me.

In this weather I am doing more of the slower stuff and not attempting too much in the way of harder runs. Yes, it is a nod to being damn near 63 and is part of the deal as you get older. The heat does effect your ability to run harder, so slowing down is smart. Which is usually something I am not that great at being – smart.

I trundled off towards the Town Office, figuring that I could turn there and get in 4.0 or so. Actually, there was a nice breeze out of the north, so I turned left on the Middle Road and headed for the Ridges. Usually I take the hill first and leave the flat Sunset Ridge section for last, but I baked there last time (no shade), so I figured that it would be best to get it out of the way first and fight the hill in the shade.

That plan worked out pretty well, I was slower than molasses going up the hill, but made it around. Coming back up the Middle Road through to the dirt road, again was just slow. I wasn’t feeling all that bad, but I wasn’t picking up the pace either.

Finally, coming off Blake, there was a guy on a mountain about 50 yards ahead of me. I knew that Stevens Hill was coming up and that people going up it on their bikes were usually slowed down more than they expected. So I kept plugging along behind him. On the flat he crawled away from me by quite a bit.

However, when he got past the little clearing, I could see the front tire starting to weave a bit. Usually I stop at the 10K mark which is the little clearing. I got this wild idea of seeing if I could get close to the bike before he got to the tar. He was peddling like mad and not really getting anywhere (he was in to high a gear for the hill), so I was gaining on him pretty good.

He got to the tar about 30 yards ahead of me and I smiled. Coming up Stevens Hill had been slow, but I had suffered a little to almost catch him, so that was a good thing. I did have to chuckle at the driveway he turned to look back to see where I was and the front tire caught some dirt and down he went.

I asked if he was okay and he just said. “Nothing hurt but my pride!” and we both chuckled. He said. “You did great powering up that hill, you damn near caught me.” I just said “Thank you.” I smiled and said “It is too hot to be out here doing this shit.” He laughed “Yeah!”

I finished the run at the top of Philbrick. I was pretty happy doing the 7.0 miles total in that kind of heat. It did help that the bike came along when it did, otherwise I am pretty sure that I would have shut it down at the bottom of Stevens Hill as usual.

The Beacon v1s did their usual great job and I really didn’t have any issues with the run other than I was slower than a pounded pud. However, I finished a 7.0 miler and felt good after I was done, so it was a good run.