Last night I ran the Crystal City Twilighter 5k. It was a hellishly hot 100 degrees when I left my house to volunteer at the race. I spent two hours at the bag drop before the race, slowly sipping nuun out of my handheld. This, of course, necessitated two stops at the potties before I ran, but at least it meant I was hydrated. ;o)
For an incredibly hot day, there were a ton of people there…
Right before the race, I had a friend snap a picture of me. Notice how I was not dripping in sweat. Don’t worry, that changed the minute I started running. Hopefully the photographers got some pictures of that.
On my way to the start line, I ran into Katie from Run This Amazing Day! Her boyfriend snapped a picture of us, so hopefully she’ll post that. I lost her in the crowd and couldn’t find her at the end, so we didn’t get much of a chance to talk.
Mile 1: 9:09 – Oops. That was way faster than I meant to go. Remember, it was still close to 100 out there. I did get misted a bit and that helped, but I forgot to dump a water over my head at the water stop.
Mile 2: 8:53 – Really? I didn’t think I was going that fast. At the halfway point, we passed by the finish line and the first man had just finished. Color me jealous.
Mile 3: 9:35 – Yep, knew that was going to happen. I was dying. I was dripping sweat as I ran and barely able to keep my handheld on my hand. I wanted to walk desperately, but made myself keep going.
Mile .1: Garmin says I was going a 4:54 pace. I was flat out sprinting as I attempted to chic a guy and pass a fast looking girl (succeeded, by the way), but I doubt I was going that fast LOL.
I forgot to stop my watch, but Garmin says my overall pace was 9:09, but it also says I ran 3.22. Whatever.
I count this race as a success. I met all of my goals: I didn’t walk, I finished in under 30 minutes, and I didn’t puke. Yay!
I did, however, have a minor failure. I did not really like the Nathan handheld. I thought I had the strap tight, but my hand kept slipping out and I nearly dropped it a couple of times. I ended up putting my whole hand through it and wearing it on my wrist, which did work. I do like the bottle and I’ll definitely try it again with the strap tighter and when I’m not absolutely drenched in sweat and see if it works better.
I got home and hit the shower and then put Jones to bed. He told me “Eww, you smell like soap.” I think that was better than the alternative LOL.
Great race. No post race brew?
Wow, awesome time in crazy hot conditions! Congratulations!
I can't believe you raced in that heat! Give the handheld another try. It took a few runs for me to love my nathan handheld.
my sister and her friends were there running for her 40th birthday this weekend! I heard the heat was brutal!!
I run with a nathan handheld,not sure if it's the same model. but i've never had it so loose that i would slip over my hand. you were either wayyyyy too sweaty or the strap wasn't tight enough (or both!)
Great job in such heat!
Great race pushing through tough conditions!
An evening race in 100 degree heat after volunteering for two hours! You are hard core!
Congrats! You did great…I can't believe you ran in 100 degree heat!
Great job in absurd conditions! I was sitting in the shade on my deck at that point and it was hot even doing that…can't imagine putting out a race effort in it.
Wow! What an awesome perfomance in ridiculous conditions! I didn't want to go outside to get the mail, much less run in that! Way to go, FANTASTIC!
Great job! This heat has to let up soon, right? That race had to have been brutal.
I saw you finish! And it's too bad you never found Katie at the end because I was with her 🙂 Oh well, someday. Are you carrying your water bottle with your hand between the bottle and the carrier or with it between the strap and the carrier? Mine was always too lose at first too, but then I started holding the bottle itself and it works perfectly now. Except my arms get tired when I go really far.
Congrats on a great run in the heat, give the hand held another try, I have never had problem using mine even thou I sweat a lot and have used it in trail runs as long as 4 hours.
Nice job!!The heat is brutal!
Holy heat! Awesome job!!
So hot! You did great in the heat! I'm not a big fan of the handheld when trying to go fast (for me) but I do like it a lot. It does take some getting used to though.
Great time in some brutal condition! Congrats!
What sort of soap do you use that smells 'ewwe'? Awful conditions to be racing in but you did great.
wow – great race! I slumped in much slower than that – mostly because I was stretching on the side of the road. Grr!!! I looked for you after the race through my over-heated fog, but figured you scrammed outta there. good to see you though!
Way to rock it in the heat!!
Definitely a tough time for a race! Way to push it!
Great race – tough with the heat! Congrats!
I have similar goals when I run. I have the Nathan but haven't tried it yet. I'm not sure I'd like to run holding anything. When are you coming to
Finally catching up on some posts!! Great job on the race, the weather and humidity have been brutal lately! I will have to try running with a handheld again I think…
Congrats on a race in that heat! I've found with my Nathan handheld that it says on my hand better when I put my thumb up through the elastic band at the top of the holder. It's not as it's meant to be used, but feels natural and now it's strange to run without it.
Good job in that heat!I've loved my handheld, but I do always have to tighten it when I start a run because it would be too loose otherwise.