The Adventures of GeekGirl

As we all know, I’m not really a fan of the 5k. It hurts, makes me want to vomit, and I just don’t feel like I have any leg speed whatsoever. To keep me interested and racing, Coach and I decided that I should do some races through the summer just to give me something to reach for. South Florida is UBER hot, so all I have to choose from is an occasional 5k. (Note: I don’t think there are any for August and could only find one nearby for July.)

Due to this, I found myself lining up for one of the hottest races of the year. (Fireman’s 5k in September is MISERABLY hot too as well as Dunn’s run depending on the year.)

I was hungover all day Sunday, then couldn’t sleep that night due to assholes firing fireworks at 1 -2 in the morning. (My hatred of the 4th of July is a whole other post). When I got up I contemplated not running. To make matters worse, this is what I woke up to:

I seriously thought this was wrong. How can there be 100% humidity? When I checked other sites, it seemed to be the truth. Some reported 98% humidity. Whatever. Keep in mind this was at 5. My race didn’t start until 7.

I decided to suck it up and head out there. 30 minutes later and I was in Weston (the suburbs…aka where mediocrity lives) and ready to run. On a side note, I ran into one of my fellow coworkers. He wasn’t running and made fun of me. When I asked him what 100% humidity means he brilliantly said:

If we lived anywhere except South Florida, they’d call this race off.

He’s right because what happened after that was not pretty.

I wanted to run around 8:45-8:59 per mile. I know I’m capable and that wouldn’t even be a PR. With that said, I was worried about the amount of sweat pouring off my body before the race. Just standing there and I was sweating. Sigh…

I’m not one to detail the streets and every step that I ran, so here’s how it went down.

Mile 1: 8:50 (I was happy with this.)

Mile 2: 10:12 (Couldn’t breath, sweating profusely. Had to slow down or vomit.)

Mile 3: 9:33 (Rallied the troops and tried not to be a pussy. Sigh…)

Final Time: 29:50 One of my slowest 5k’s since I got serious. I REALLY wanted to run 27:30 or under. If the wind was at my back, I thought I would go under 27:00.

I obviously whined to Coach about this. I also told her I don’t know how my half in 6 weeks will go and threatened to pull out of the race. She smacked me back into reality. First of all, for someone that runs regularly, 6 weeks is plenty of time to get ready for a half.  Further, she reminded me that I’m running in some severe temps for training. While it will be hot in Chicago, it’s highly doubtful that it will be as hot as it is in South Floria. I should be able to fly. Same thing with New York. (NY is in November. It will be COLD for me. Yes!)

So, with that I just continue grinding. I have a lot of work over the next few weeks and coach told me to get the runs done no matter what. Even if that means hitting the treadmill because I will be walking into far better weather on race day. No doubt.  (If it’s hot in Chicago, I’m not that worried.)

I would post pics of the race, but even in the first mile I look like shit. Dark circles under my eyes. “Red” face. (I say red in quotes, because my face just looks dark. That is really me flushing. I hate when people think that i don’t flush because I have dark skin. Sigh. It does, but just looks different due to my dark skin.)

Also…off topic I checked the time of all of the people finishing around me and they’re ALL about 2 minutes behind me. Some are 5. Does this mean I should move up in the starting line? Please help speedier people than me. I felt like I ran around people for the first mile or so. How do I know where to line up in these smaller races? In my mind I still belong in the middle. Should I be going upper middle?

Off to get some sleep since I have to get back on my grind tomorrow.

Did you race over the weekend? How’d you do? Did the weather suck?