Race Report: The Al Goldstein 5k Summer Speed Series

Yesterday was the first official day of summer and the 3rd 5k race in the summer speed series in Prospect Park. It was too darn hot to try to break any personal records. The last I checked before the race, it was 97 degrees with 77 per cent humidity. Walking to Prospect Park was like walking through a bowl of hot oatmeal. I thought about what I'd learned recently reading Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run, heat acclimatized runners sweat earlier, longer and with less sodium in their sweat.

Fun fact: I'm a very salty sweater.

Running in the heat is a common runners' forum topic. I don't enjoy running in hot weather or running fast so it's natural for me to slow it down and be smart about it. Drink lots of water, wear lots of sunscreen, don't do anything stupid.

So with this in mind I decided before the 5k that I would just have fun and not run so fast that I was having trouble breathing. The first two miles actually felt really good and I ran a comfortable 8:30 pace. During the last mile I slowed down involuntarily and started to feel the effects of the heat. I passed a really fit-looking guy who had started to walk and tried to offer some words of encouragement, "You're almost there!" After this I got a little burst of power and passed about 5 people on the way to the finish line. I still finished in my worst time, 26:20. But I was first place in my division! Was there anyone else even running in my division?

Another fun fact: I dropped the F-bomb at the finish line. 

I compared peoples' times from the 2nd summer speed series to the 3rd and everyone seems to have been slowed down by the heat, and this week's winner finished in 17:28 while last week's winner finished in 16:11!

RUNNERS AT THE FINISH LINE