Hot, hot, hot.
Lisa got sick this morning so I drove up solo, stole a semi-legal (I'd say 75%) parking spot, and sat in the car until 15 min before the start. Downed a gu, went to the line.
The race lined up in the hot sun on Montrose, and then they called a delay. We stood there baking for 10 min. I was cranky. The gun went off and traffic problems ensued, but I was feeling good and thought that I may as well use the crowd to bank some time on my pace. I felt strong, it was in the shade, and I put my first mile in under my 9:38 goal pace.
Then the course turned to the concrete lakefront and things went south fast. It was hot in the sun, there was no breeze to speak of, the humidity just hung there, and my heart rate was creeping. I was on pace still, but started slipping. The gizmo beeped when my heart rate topped 185, and I backed off. It would keep beeping through the rest of the race. (I need to figure out how to turn that off.) It wasn't till I backed all the way off to a 11:00 minute mile that I was out of the 180's, and I decided that just wasn't going to do. So, I settled in in the mid- 180's, running just over 10:15 miles. It's all I could do. I considered dropping down to the 5k but instead just let myself run the 10k reaaaally slow.
When we were in the shade, I was rockin' fast. In the sun though, I couldn't do anything but plod along. I never need water on runs less than 10 mi, but I took it every chance I got on this race. I only walked a few steps at one water stop, but ran the rest, slow and steady.
Gizmo time: 1:03:15, a 10:11 average: 9:36, 9:50, 10:17, 10:27, 10:34, 10:22, average heart rate 182 (yikes). The calculator says this is my slowest equivalent pace ever, with the exception of the marathon. Official time is 1:03:45, 19th of 33 in agegroup and 127 of 197 women. What a disappointment. But no DFL.
Ridden and Reviewed Kona Libre CR
8 months ago
6 replies:
Julie - you did great! You just need to train in the heat more. Your body wasn't used to it. Your body is used to those early AM runs. Leave Molly home (too hot for her) and run during 10am on the weekends. In the sun.
How do you know what your pace is while you're running?
julie, my heartrate is always way higher during a race than during my rides. that's one of the reasons i quit using a hr monitor years ago. i paid too much attention to it. use it to run daily, don't wear the strap racing. i wouldn't be disappointed, i think you are doing awesome.
steven- Garmin Forerunner. it tells me my pace. it's a motivator and a buzzkill.
rachael- sounds like an attractive option, but is it safe to run at 185+? that's really, really, really high for a 30 yr old...
i think you'll listen to your body.
I wouldn't worry about what your HR monitor says during the race. If you want to leave it on, go ahead but don't look at it. You'll know if you're going too hard and need to back off. At the short track race at Mt. Morris my heart rate actually hit 201 during the last lap. I didn't think I could get it that high anymore.
And, I wouldn't be disappointed. Racing in the heat in the sun is always taxing. You can't expect a personal best in those conditions. Be happy you started out so well and try to work on getting used to the heat, if possible.
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