RnR Philly Half Week 9 Recap: Philly 10K and Tough Long Run

I hope you had a great weekend!  It looks like summer is definitely alive and well in my neck of the woods, and we felt every single degree and every percent of humidity.  I’ve got no complaints though!

[bctt tweet=”Volunteering at the Philly 10K”]

The Philly 10K Recap

As I mentioned in my fall plans, Bret and I signed up to volunteer at the inaugural Philly 10K, which took place bright and early on Saturday morning!  Somewhere around 3,000 to 4,000 runners participated.

We worked at the first water stop, about 2 miles along the course, and located just a few blocks away from my neighborhood.  We had to arrive at 6 am to set everything up before the 7:30 start.  There were about 15-20 volunteers to set up the tables and pour the gallons of water into the teeny Solo cups.

It may sound silly, but providing water to runners in a race is a serious responsibility.  I know that I have had times where I felt “let down” because of a poor hand-off, or a cup that’s too empty or too full.  So I was really nervous about doing a bad job!

There was so much anticipation as we waited for the first runner to come around the bend.  The guy was flying!  He didn’t take my cup (which honestly made me sad haha!) but there were plenty more opportunities to come along.  Since we were towards the front, we ended up getting the most action from some very thirsty runners.

While I honestly didn’t think too many people would even come to the water station 2 miles into a 6-mile race, it just so happened to be one of the most humid days we’ve had in several weeks.  Just about EVERYONE needed water, and many needed 2 cups!  Everyone looked absolutely miserable in the heat and humidity.

We had a couple of waves that were very busy, and the cups kept disappearing…it all went by so fast and I actually really had a good time doing it!  It was also nice to hear so many “thank you’s” from the runners.  I was especially happy to see 4 of my fellow City Fit Girls and “serve” a couple of them!

There were some really cool people helping out as volunteers.  It seemed like a lot of people knew each other.  We made friends with a really cool girl who has a friend that lives 2 doors down from us.  We also met another girl who actually lives on our block!

Takeaways:

I really recommend taking an opportunity to volunteer at a race.  The tasks usually are very simple, and the work you do ensures that the runners have the best experience possible.  I could see how grateful everyone was to receive the water.  It’s also a great way to network and meet people in your area that share your interests.  We had a fun time!  And if that isn’t reason enough, you’ll at least get a cool T-shirt and maybe some other perks for helping out!

Hopefully next year I’ll be recapping the event as an actual runner!

Week 9 Workouts:

Monday 9/1:  Labor Day!  I did do a couple of short hip exercises so that I wasn’t completely unproductive!

Tuesday 9/2:  I think I did some more strengthening work.

Wednesday 9/3:  Ended up being very busy with studying so I didn’t go out to run.

Thursday 9/4:  Finally, speedwork!  A 5-mile run, ended up with 10:29 average pace.  I had a slow 1 mile warmup with 12:09, then had splits of 9:45, 10:13, 9:45 and 10:38.  I was supposed to have a 10 minute pace.  I was SO happy to finish this one.  It was an evening solo run and SO humid out!

Friday 9/5:  My hamstrings felt a bit sore after the speedwork.  I let my body recover.

Saturday 9/6:  This was the big one:  12-mile run.  Definitely the hardest run I’ve had, which was completed in 2:52.  Even though we started after 9 am, it was complete TORTURE with the heat and humidity, so I knew it would be slow.  I didn’t have much to eat that morning, which didn’t help.  Fortunately, I kept myself hydrated and fueled, but  It eventually got to the point that running was too difficult as the sun kept getting brighter.

Sunday 9/7:  The easiest easy run I’ve had so far, 4.31 miles with 11:09 average pace.  I felt fantastic!  It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect!

Week 9 Report Card:

It’s almost starting to feel like training is slowing down.  I am now officially in taper mode, and my next post will tell you all about it!  I got all 3 of my runs in, so that is definitely a success with the summer resurgent we’ve had.

It took much of Saturday to recover from my long run, even though I did do a lot of walking.  My feet were aching and tired for several hours, so I know that my shoes are getting close to their end of life.

I did everything Coach Kristy asked me to, so I’m definitely going to give this past week an A-.  I wish I had a better run on Saturday, but I know it all makes me stronger and prepares me for the big race, now less than 2 weeks away!

Did you have any races this weekend?  How do you pace yourself when running in extreme heat and humidity?