AM: 77F, 82%. 5 @ 8:11 AP. Looks like a heat index of 102 @ 7pm, should be a fun race.
PM: 100F, 5.5 mi total. 5k race. I'm an idiot. I signed up for this race thinking it was Saturday morning....that was mistake #1. With the late knowledge that it was Friday evening, @ 100 degrees, I figured ok, let's make this a tactical race and try to place well. I did that beautifully until mistake #2...
The race started and I worked my way up to 5th place by mile 1, a 6:04. I got really hot after a quarter mile, sooner than I thought... Slowly through mile 2, I worked my way past a couple dudes and caught up to the 2nd place guy. I sat behind this guy for awhile, trying to get a sense of what he had left. Mile 2 was a 6:23, we were all getting crushed by ridiculous temperatures, obviously. I felt like I had a little in the tank as I sat behind the 2nd place guy, biding my time for an attack. He slowed a little going up a hill with a half mile to go and I made my move, shooting past. I kept the gas pedal down even though my legs felt done after a few seconds of surging. It worked though, I had the guy beat; he didn't even try to come with me. Mile 3 was a 6:11, thanks to my surge. Then I made mistake #2 and missed the turnoff from the main trail. It was a really stupid mistake as the race was pretty much over; the turn was around 3 miles into the race and you'd have to be an idiot to miss it. I ran for awhile and the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked at my watch and it already said 3.1, but it was like a ghost town, no one was around. Wow. Turned around and had no legs left. I saw who I believe was the 4th place guy coming the opposite direction. He saw me coming from the wrong direction and put on a nice surge to stay ahead.
So I think I was 5th, but I was too pissed at myself to stay around for the awards because I'm a sore loser. In the end I ran 3.31 miles, an extra 0.2. It's not like there was a lot on the line, so whatever. Good heat training though!
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