Run with Heart 5K

Blogging Marathon: Day22

Ug.

It was 80° and 80% humidity at 5:30 AM when I woke up this morning.

I ran the dogs a mile trying to loosen up a little, and I was already so hot that I jumped in the shower after. I turned the water all the way to cold to cool off, but the water coming out was still warm. Even the water supply is getting hot.

Then I headed over to the Run with Heart 5K.

I had looked at the course and it was a simple out and back. Flat, straight and fast.
So I was hoping to run a PR, which would be under a 18:28. I came within 6 seconds last week, so it seemed possible.

Experience
I have run a lot of races, and have learned a few things:

• To PR, rest 2 days before a race
• If you're going to warm up, do it a half hour before
• Make it a priority to empty the bladder before the start
• When it's really hot, don't pour a whole cup of water on your head. It just ends up in your shoes
• Don't bother trying to PR when it's really hot out

Actually, I have learned these things multiple times, and keep forgetting them. Maybe I need to get tattoos like the guy in Memento.

Warm up
I felt really sluggish and my asthma was bugging me so I tried to warm up some more.
After a few minutes, I looked at my watch and it was 7:50 AM. The race started 8:00 AM, and I was almost a mile away and I had to pee really bad. Wow, was that dumb. I ran back to the start and I was already worn out and over heated.

Mile 1
The horn blew and people took off like it was a sprint. My legs felt pretty dead, and a bunch of runners passed me. Why did I run 13 miles on Thursday? Again, not too bright.

To run a PR, I had to average a 5:55 mile. There was a pack of about 13 people in front of me, led by a preteen kid. They were pulling away from me, so I kept checking my Garmin for reassurance. It guided me to an exact 5:55 for the first mile.

Mile 2
At the water station I dumped a full cup of water on my head which went straight into my shoes. I passed a few people who I guess had started out too fast.

After the first turn around, I noticed a slight incline. My pace dropped to a 6:10, and I was struggling.

Mile 3
At the next water stop, I poured another cup of water on my head, which again went directly into my shoes.
It's odd that when I'm trying to run fast, I don't notice the heat. But it obviously got to me. I wasn't really tired, but I kept getting slower.
And my shoes kept getting heavier.

Finish
The heat must have affected a lot of other runners, because many of them slowed down and I ended up in a 4th place with a 19:10.
That's 34 seconds slower than last week, even though it was a flatter course, and I felt pretty good yesterday. I guess the IDIH was right once again.

I hung out and talked with Doug Hensel about the Blue Ridge Relay coming up.
Then I came home and put a few more miles on those damn power cranks, trying to get my moneys worth out of them.

I might not run another 5K for a while, but I need to remember what I learned. Does anyone know of a good tattoo parlor?