My not so Greatest Race, yet still a Great Race
"In our 40 years of the Pittsburgh Great Race, we're experiencing record high heat, stay hydrated, be safe out there, good luck runners.." Blood sugar, in check. I pat both pockets, 1 chocolate GU, 1 salted caramel GU. Shoes tied. Phone securely locked in place on my waist belt, my tunes at an appropriate level. The countdown to the gun, now under 1 minute. I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes, opened them up, seconds before the gun. I glanced ahead, the gun is fired. The summer heat was brutal here in Pittsburgh. I pushed through every run and told myself, tough training for fast fall racing. The past two years I've raced in end September, especially last year, the cool Autumn air was in full effect. Last year I can recall wearing a beanie because the morning air was quite chilly. Conditions out of a racer's utopia. I checked the weather forecast one week prior to race day, my mouth dropped. "Sunday September 24, High 90, mostly sunny.&qu