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A few weeks ago Melissa and I signed up for “The Ripple Effect” 4 miler in Broadripple. The race was supposed to start at 7, but I figured it wouldn’t be too hot since we’ve had below average temperatures this summer. That was all before the heat wave hit last week. All day yesterday we were watching the weather, as it was supposed to be thundering at 7, but as the day went on, the more that the start of the storm was pushed off.
Another thing to note- I had done speed work on Thursday, went on a bike ride on Friday, and then ran a 5k and did a 17 mile bike ride on Saturday. My legs were pretty tired. I also ran, including this race, a total number of miles this past week that is normally my peak week of training for a half marathon, and this was just week one of training. Melissa ran a solid 15 mile training run on Saturday as well. Needless to say, we both had pretty tired legs, and were not so much looking forward to the race.
We got to the race a little over an hour before it started, as we had no idea what the packet pick up situation would be. We didn’t have to wait in line at all, and it was all really smooth. Then we sat and people watched for about 45 minutes in Melissa’s car, and it was fascinating. Almost no one looked happy to be there, which was interesting. I’m not sure what it was, because normally before races people are excited and smiling. Not this race though- so strange.
We headed to the port-a-potties before the race, which I really really dislike using, but at least the line went quickly. Because it was a small race, we lined up right before the race start, and we were off. Suddenly it seemed like every single person was sprinting past us, which I’ve never really experienced at a race before. I couldn’t help but laughing really hard, because it was pretty clear that people were going out far too quickly.
This race can be quickly summarized as the “3 H’s”- heat, humidity, and hills.
I should mention the weather- it was 85 with humidity in the 60’s percent. It was HOT, even just standing in the shade before the race. I knew the race wasn’t going to be fantastic just because of my tired legs and the heat. Yikes.
It was clear pretty quickly that I was going to have a hard time breathing most of the race. The air was really thick, and people around us were breathing really deeply- more like gasping at times. The course also had a few bigger hills in it. I’ve mentioned before that I run on fairly flat ground, so any time I run hills in races it intimidates me a little bit. I think both Melissa and I are doing much better at running hills though, and we only walked during our designated walk breaks (we did the 2:1 run:walk method throughout the race), which I was happy about. Running up the hills doesn’t seem nearly as tough as it did when we met during the Carmel Half Marathon.
I was thankful for the moments of shade along the way, but most of the course was on the open road with sun shining down. Like I said, it was hot and we were sweating like crazy. There were two water stops along the way, but they both had pretty warm water, which was just not good since it was hot. Melissa and I had both brought hand held water bottles (I put nuun in mine), and we were happy to have them.
There were a few people out on the course cheering, and overall the race seemed to go by pretty quickly.
We came in at 48 minutes with a 12 minute per mile pace. Definitely slower than most of our runs this summer, but in light of the heat and the tired legs we were both running on due to our training, we were pretty pleased.
We crossed the finish line and immediately went to get the gatorade they had sitting out. It was cold and was exactly what both of us wanted. They also had bananas, granola bars, and cookies sitting out. We quickly grabbed stuff and immediately went back to the car to try to get into the air conditioning.
Running in the heat is difficult because of my POTS, and I have to slow down on days like this to keep myself safe. Overall, though, I’m proud of both of us and the effort we put forth in our training this week. Melissa and I have done lots of races together now (I think this is our 5th official race in 4 months, although you can sort of count her half marathon last weekend, as I ran the last few miles with her there too!).
I’m now icing my shins as they were a bit sore while I was running, and am planning a bit of a cut back week (yes, I know- it’s funny to “cut back” during week 2 of training, but given my last few weeks, it’s definitely necessary). I would certainly do the race again, although I wish that the race either started a bit later to avoid the heat of the day, or it would be moved to early on Labor Day morning. The $20 fee for the race was ideal, so I hope they do it again next year!
Now it’s your turn to share! How are you spending your Labor Day?
Well, considering I didn’t read this until after I wrote my own recap, I actually love how similar our recaps are, hahaha. I’m so proud of what we accomplished this weekend – we really did kill it! 🙂 So excited for many more races together!!
Congrats to you and your friend for finishing that hot, humid, hilly race! An air-conditioned car sounds like a great place to recover after a race in those conditions.