Last week I jumped into the Irish Festival 5k in Bergen County (just near the George Washington Bridge). My husband and I were traveling to Connecticut to pick up car parts, and it seemed like a fun race. It was a different location, and somewhere we had never raced. In fact, just a couple of miles near the George Washington Bridge is a beautiful part that you can get plenty of miles in.
Anyway, we arrived around 8 am, and it was already scorching hot. As we looked around, we noticed there was absolutely no shade around. The park was made up of open fields, water, and multiple soccer fields. I knew immediately it was going to be very hot.
We warmed up about 3 miles, and I had already sweat through my entire outfit. Luckily, I packed 5 running outfits for 2 days. The race started a little late, and we stood in the sun for another few minutes. Once we started, I found myself in third overall. I could see the first two women ahead, and I thought I might be able to catch one.
The first mile headed out, and there was a small downhill. I caught the second place women around mile 1, and we both hit the mile around 6:20.
During the second mile, another woman sailed by me as if I was standing still. She cruised by me so quickly, I honestly didn’t know if she was in the race and it took the better part of the next mile to figure it out. I only wondered because at the pace she passed me, she must have either missed the start or started very far in the back, and this wasn’t a big race.
I hit the second mile in 6:40. I grabbed water which was hot. I just wanted the race to be done.
The third mile loops around a large open meadow. You can see the finish from about 2.1, so it doesn’t make the final mile feel any more comfortable. I was going back and forth with a couple of men. One passed me, and one did not. Finally, I hit the last mile in 6:45 and just powered to the finish in 20:25.
It’s my slowest time since last summer, but I’m not disappointed. It was a hot day on a harder course. I’m not in the fitness I was 6 months ago, and that is okay! My husband finished in 18:57 which is good for the training as well. It was fun and I’m glad we still ran.
Questions for you:
What is the hottest race you’ve done?
This one was one of the hotter, a 10k in Texas, as well as a half marathon in Texas, were both up there.
How do you adjust to the heat?
I once ran a 5k put on by skirt sports in Colorado where the temp was over 100. that was nuts and I felt like I might melt! Nice work running a 5K in the hot temps!
Oh gosh. I don’t think I’ve ever run a 5k in 100 degrees. That sounds tough!
The hottest was the half marathon Army Run in 2016 in Ottawa. It was hotter (or at least more humid) than the half marathon I had run in New Orleans that same year.
I try to get up way before the sun does to fit in my long runs and aim for shadier routes, and because I sweat really easily I have to take in a LOT of water.
Funny you say that! I ran a half marathon in Birmingham, Al in February which was both hotter and more humid than any race I’ve run in the Philadelphia area in the summer.