Soundly Thrashed

Ran a race today, ran poorly. To mix in a boxing metaphor: I got knocked down and dragged out of the ring.

The race was the 2012 St. Pat's Human Race 8k, a road race in St. Paul, MN starting at the campus of the University of St. Thomas (which was very nice).

I'm a runner, so I can list excuses with the best of them. My complaints today:
1. After training in the cold weather all winter long, today's race was run in the burning sun at about 80F. Really, in mid-March? Truly awful.
2. I run at my best in the morning, this race started at 1:25pm. Ugh.
3. I am not doing any speed work of any kind, and I haven't run a race this short in several months.
4. I probably let it get into my head a bit too.

End result: I ran a terrible race, so much so that I feel embarrassed even writing about it. According to the results, I finished in 97th place (it felt more like 970th), and I managed only 9th in the 50-54 age group. Ouch. I ran slower and slower every mile, as the heat overwhelmed me. I know everyone is different, and a lot of folks love the sun and the warm weather. For me, I feel as if I can barely stay focused on the ground just in front of me. I can feel the heat radiating through me and out of me, and I sweat like a broken hose. I cross the finish line and feel woozy and nauseated. It's no fun.

My performance on the day was barely managing 6:08 pace for a 30:36 final chip time. I really stunk out there. Figuratively, and probably literally too!

Ah,well, even in my last post I was acknowledging that I am not really in tip top shape right now. Running today against some real competition, I got creamed. I can't say it wasn't fair. I got what I deserved.

Back to the drawing board.