July 27, 2021 heat wave warning across the states. What a day to run a half marathon when you don’t acclimate well to heat. Did I mention the humidity? This race did not go well.
Savannah, New York is about an hour and forty five minutes from our home and the official start time for the half marathon was 8:15 am. I registered late for this race because I didn’t want to drive out there alone and lucky for me, Shirley sent me a note saying she signed up. Great! I immediately logged on and got an entry. We planned for me to drive to her home and we would leave together from there, at that time in the morning it would be about an hour twenty five minute drive.
Race Morning:
The alarm went off earlier than expected at 3:30 am. I got up because the plan was to run a two mile warm up to wake myself up. I was out the door at 3:45 am. I ran on streets well lit. The heat and humidity were already uncomfortable at that hour of the day. Once home, I had a piece of toasted raisin bread with a peanut butter smear. Took a Five Hour Energy and sipped on a NUUN infused water. Packed up a bag with my visor, paper towels, banana, Clif bar, bottled water, and a regular towel to put on the seat of the car after the race. I left for Shirley’s at 4:50 am.
We had a nice ride out to Savannah. The roads were fairly quiet and GPS made it easy to find the race venue which was at a fire station set up for both packet pick up and the finish line.
Description from the website: “Nestled in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, the tiny town of Savannah — home to a population of just over 1,700 year-round residents — is set to play host to the Montezuma Festival of Races. This series of races will take 5K, 10K and half marathon runners along country roads in low population density areas full of scenic views of rural Central New York. The race will benefit the important work and efforts of the Savannah Fire Department, the host of this year’s Montezuma Festival of Races as well as the Friends of Montezuma, working to help preserve and improve the Montezuma Wetland Refuge. “
It should have been over cast but the sun shined through which made matters worse. Shirley and I warmed up for a mile (another mile for me, 3 so far) and felt the heat.
Early runners left at 7:45 am but the official half marathon started promptly at 8:15. Shirley set the pace. We planned on about a 9 min mile until the half or maybe even the last 5K. The course was tough. It was rolling hills and the trails were narrow in spots, uneven footing, rocky, and not enough shade. I felt my face heat right up at about 3 miles. We were starting faster than originally planned. Shirley was strong but wanted us to walk a couple of hills heading back. At around the 8 mile point, I knew I was in trouble. I couldn’t quench my thirst and my stomach began flip flopping. I walked and ran from that point, watching Shirley pull strong ahead.
Not a good day for me, finishing 2nd out of 4 in our age group with a 9:04 pace. Shirley won the age group with a strong 8:48 pace for a day that was unbearable heat and humidity. We both agreed, due to the course footing, we would not be coming back to run this one again. I asked coach JG about my crash, wondering if I had started at my own pace which would have been faster, did he think I would have run better. To my surprise he said he thinks it would have been worse. Live and learn.
Organization, support, everything else about the event was spot on but just not the course for me and certainly not the heat.
Joanne
