As the 2018 version of “summer of humid” continues in New York City, I have not had any relief during the trips I’ve taken out of town. First, we spent a week in Jacksonville, where it was very hot, and although I ran 4 times while there, they were all difficult with dewpoints mostly in the mid-70s, so sticky and steamy.
This past week we spent a few days in Houston, where the humidity was even worse, with dewpoints up around 80 degrees!
Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer 5k
Sometimes when visiting a new place, I check to see if there is a race going on that I might be able to join. Often times it is not possible to run in a race because of travel schedule or some other obligation, but on this trip, everything lined up, and there was a 5k race in downtown Houston on Saturday morning, when I had no other plans.
The Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer 5k, held by the Runner’s High Club, is an out and back course, staged at the Houston Downtown Aquarium. It worked out nicely for me because the race location was only about 1 mile from the hotel we were staying at, perfect for a warm up run beforehand and a cool down walk afterwards.
Number pickup was available on Friday afternoon, which I took advantage of since I would then not have to leave too early in the morning on race morning to pick up my number – I could arrive just before the start. Also, t-shirt sizes were not guaranteed on race day and I wanted to make sure I got my size.
BCycle is useful for getting around downtown Houston!
As a side note, while I had walked over on Friday afternoon to pick up my number, it was pretty hot out (90’s with heat index over 110) and I didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the hotel. Houston has a bike share system called B-Cycle, which costs just $3 to use for 30 minutes. So I found a station with an available bike, quickly had it rented out for $3, and was able to ride the back back to another dock near the hotel. It was very convenient.
Running the race
On race morning, I left my hotel room around 6:50 for the 7:15 start. With just about a 1 mile warm-up to the start, I arrived at 7:05 with 10 minutes to spare. It was so humid that I was already incredibly sweaty, and starting to feel dehydrated. I took some water at the start, but otherwise lined up and waited for the start of the race.
The race course itself was very simple, out and back on the westbound side of a major road out of downtown Houston, Memorial Drive. For a short race like a 5k, an out and back like this is very useful – on the way out you are able to get a good sense of the hills and any other characteristics of the course, and it won’t be a surprise on the way back. And the race is short enough that you don’t have to be worried about the course being too boring.
For the most part the course was flat. The only measurable hill was just past the start, where Memorial Drive passed over I-45. We would hit that same hill again on the way back. Otherwise the course was pretty flat, with just a light downhill and then uphill on the way out and then reversed, downhill then uphill) on the way back. The water stop was located about half way and I did stop for water on the way back.
Generally in a short race I try to start a bit conservatively, and then push hard in the 2nd half and ideally negative split, and in a perfect world, have each mile faster than the prior one. But in the high humidity, this would not be possible, and each mile in my race was slower than the prior one. Mile 3 was slowest because of the overpass hill in the last half mile. My splits were:
- Mile 1 – 8:51
- Mile 2 – 9:21
- Mile 3 – 9:32
- Final .1 – :49
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My finishing time was 28:30, which worked out to a 9:12 pace. Considering the hot weather, I was very happy with my pace and my finishing time. 5k’s tend to bring out the more casual runner, so my finishing stats were definitely higher up the leader board than I am used to, 116 out of 348 overall, and 81 out of 153 male.
I’ll expect better when the weather cools off, but for now I’m satisfied with the race, and happy I was able to join a race in a city other than New York.
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