My 4th of July Race

I ran the Go Fourth 8k race this 4th of July, for the third year in a row. I was running it as part of my long run. I left a little later in the morning than I wanted, but I still arrived with ample time before the race. I ran the course to warm up and was drenched. It was very humid this year. The race itself went pretty well. Only the first (and last, the course is out and back) mile is marked, and I went out in 6:11, with two women right next to me. Over the next 1.5 miles to the turnaround I pulled away from the women and hit halfway in 15:37. The second half of the race is slightly easier than the first, because all the small uphills are now downhills. I ran a slight negative split on the way back, also running the last mile in 6:11 to finish in 31:09. Overall I'm pleased with the outcome even though I ran 20 seconds slower this year than I did last year. I know I didn't run my highest mileage of the year the week before the race last year, and this year's race was more of a workout. I was pretty tired after the race, but managed a four mile cool down to give me 14 miles for the day.