Training for 6/15/15

Well, I somehow managed to run an even worse 5K this weekend than I did two weeks ago! Boy do I suck at running right now.

Saturday morning, TK picked me up at 6, and we were parked at the race site at Rehoboth Elementary School an hour later. Her car’s digital thermometer showed it was already 79 degrees at 7 a.m., the sun was out and the humidity was in full force.

It was such a gross morning for running, the race director decided to run both the men and the women at the same time; usually, we run this race separately, and the men’s race starts a half-hour later than the women’s.

Since the race director had just made the announcement about the change the day before on Facebook, he held off on the race start in case a few men, still thinking their race didn’t start until 8, showed up a little late for a 7:30 start.

I was really glad the men were running with us. Usually, while they’re waiting for their race to start, the guys will come out to the water stop just after the 1-mile mark and cheer for all the women running by. I knew I was going to suck, so the fewer people to witness the carnage, the better!

I think I ran about three-10ths of a mile as a “warm up,” and then got in the starting pack, nowhere near the front. Honestly, if I wasn’t going to be in Rehoboth that day anyway, for the Dogfish Head tasting later, I probably would’ve skipped this race. I’d run a total of 7.5 miles in two terrible runs all week, it was hot as balls and I was still a little messed up from the time zone changes.

Too late to back out at that point though. We got the starting commands and we were off.

I felt like crap from the start, which wasn’t a shock. It was so hot and humid! I could already feel my breathing getting heavy before we’d even left the school grounds.

We ran into a neighborhood. Right around the 1-mile marker, I could feel all my fingers start to tingle. The hell is that? I shook out my arms and it went away. I passed the mile marker in 7:12. Faster than my first mile two weeks ago, but I could feel the next two miles were not going to go well.

Around the halfway point, we hit a U-turn, and I counted all the women in front of me, to see if I still had a shot at finishing in the top 10 and getting one of those New Balance gift certificates. According to my eyes, I was woman No. 9.

I think my second mile was just over 8:00? I don’t know. I didn’t care anymore. Somewhere past the second mile marker, it happened — I had to stop to walk in a freaking 5K! My legs felt like lead, my heart felt like it was going to explode and my head felt like a popcorn kernel about to burst.

One woman passed me. OK, I’m 10th, still inside the gift certificates. That last mile was awful. I ran as much as I could, but I had to stop to walk twice more. I don’t know what my third mile time was, but I crossed the line in 24:32, a 7:53/mile average.

Coming to the finish.

I was so damn happy to be done with that crap! They had some misting fans set up near the finish. I lingered in front of one for quite a while.

After a bit, I decided to do a little cool down jog, but when I saw TK’s car a 10th of a mile later, I said screw it and stopped to exchange my shoes for my flip flops instead. When I got back to the finish area, a guy who also runs a lot of these races asked me if I was OK, because he’d seen me walking near the end of the race. I told him the heat had gotten to me, but I felt fine again. I didn’t feel like explaining I just suck at running now!

When they announced the awards later, they called up the fourth overall woman, and I realized I’d forgotten to count her at the turnaround. Which meant I’d been in 10th at the halfway mark, not ninth, which meant that woman who passed me in the third mile had put me back to 11th, and thus out of the gift certificates. Oh well. She deserved it more than I did! Who walks in a freaking 5K anyway?

Somehow though, I still won my age group. I don’t know what’s up with the F 30-34 age group at these summer series races this year, but there is no one else running faster than a 27-minute 5K. Good for me, I guess. I can walk all I want and still win my age group.

TK and I got iced coffees from Dunkin’ Donuts, as usual, and then she dropped me off at the beach house in Fenwick. Clark, Chad and my cousin Corey were getting back from surfing just as I was finishing up with my shower. After they’d all gotten cleaned up, we drove to Dogfish Head’s brewery in Milton for the Analog-a-Go-Go tasting.

There were “only” 10 samples on the list this year, but it was more than enough. I’d volunteered to drive, so I spaced mine out and then didn’t drink any extra pints. I also guzzled plenty of water. All but one sample was being served outside, in the sun. It was hot!

At some point, they unveiled a new piece of art right outside the tasting room entrance. I don’t know who made it or why. All I know is it looks like a winged robot woman straddling a keg, and beer comes out of the nipples. They were serving Theobroma.

I like how Corey paused to pose with it, but Clark was all “GIMME THAT BOOBY BEER!” haha.

Anyway, after we left Dogfish Head, we stopped for dinner at the Pickled Pig Pub in Rehoboth, straightened up the beach house and went home.

Sunday, I didn’t run. It was 9:30 a.m. before I got out of bed, and thus way too hot again to run. So we cleaned our disgusting pig sty of a house instead. It was definitely needed!

The NASCAR race was in Michigan, where it kept getting delayed for rain. Then we got our own very heavy rainstorm at home, that kept knocking out the satellite signal. Around 5:30, the power went out. Yay! A half-hour later, Pepper was panting and Clark and I were sure the temperature had already gone up 10 degrees in the house. When he checked the thermostat, it hadn’t gone up at all yet haha.

The power came back less than two hours later. We also got to see a rainbow over the back yard, while the sun was out and it was still raining.

Today, I went out early for an easy 3-miler. I hoped the storms last night had blown away some of the humidity, but when I stepped outside, it actually felt even worse somehow. Dammit!! It was another sucktastic run. At least I got it done though. I did some strength training with the adjustable dumbbells downstairs too.