Stowe Botanical Gardens Summer Night 5k

 I headed back to the Gardens for another evening 5k. This would be my 2nd year running this race. It presents one of the most challenging courses. The course includes grass, gravel, pavement, brick, concrete, trail and more twist and turns that I could count. Of course, the summer heat makes it tough. When I was running in the open, I could feel the heat, but it was tolerable. Once we went into the woods, breathing in the super-hot air was terrible. I just felt terrible and while in the woods, there is just no relief from it. The signs of the stress showed in my final mile. I just couldn't muster the same speed that I had over the first two miles. 

Of course, everyone was experiencing the same effects. I remember at one point dumping a cup of water over my head. The feeling was so good that I wished that I had grabbed two or three cups. 

Last year, the did the awards outside. This year, they did the awards inside. I don't know what they had temperature inside of the building, but I actually felt cold.

I'll close by saying that I believe that they learned a lot from last year's race. They experienced some miscues. Based on what I saw, those were corrected. 

I hope to be back next year. 

The Cool Down Runner