Alright folks. I’ll start off this post with something obvious if you live in New England like me: THIS PAST WEEKEND FELT LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE SUN. I’m pretty sure it reached 100 degrees (!!!!) in my town, and don’t even think about the feels-like temperature. If you didn’t need to go outside Saturday or Sunday, you shouldn’t have.

But guess who did?

Ya girl.

This past Saturday I participated (yes, I’m saying participated) in a 5K in Newport, RI. I signed up in April, so how was I supposed to know that it was going to happen on the hottest weekend of the summer?

This was the same Craft Brew Race I ran in last year, which was my first 5K race ever. My friend, Kristen, who ran it with me last year did it with me again on Saturday. Leading up to the weekend, we were trying to get a game plan set to deal with the heat. I bought a 24 oz water bottle to carry with me after, and both of us brought sunscreen because these were my goals:

1. SURVIVE
2. Not get sun blisters again

Kristen and I left my house at 8:00 a.m. and got to Newport a little after 10:00 a.m. The race was at 12:00 p.m., and the only pro of getting there early was getting a parking spot in the main lot. It takes place at Fort Adams State Park, and on Saturday, there were other events going on, so parking was limited to begin with.

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After we got our bibs, we sat in the back of Kristen’s SUV until after 11:00 a.m. and ate the Teddy Grahams I brought for road snacks. I also got covered in dog fur from her two pups who had been in the back. (I was still finding fur on me hours later.) We put sunscreen on—something I didn’t do last year—and checked our bags into the mobile locker I had reserved. After a final bathroom stop, we headed over to the starting line at 11:50 a.m. and headed toward the back because we both were going to walk.

I think it was in the low 90s in Newport, but with the humidity and everything else, I definitely wasn’t going to be running the race, especially with my asthma. I used my running belt again and kept my inhaler with me, which I used before the race. I took an extra puff just in case.

I only got a few pictures of the water, so if you want to see better ones (or ones that aren’t so hazy), check out my post from last year.

The race started at 12:02 p.m., and some crazy people actually ran the race. Like ran. The top 15 people finished in under 20 minutes! TWENTY. In that weather?!

Kristen and I walked together for a little bit of the beginning before I broke away. My natural walking speed is faster than hers haha. After a half mile, I ran .25 miles and then went back to walking. There’s a hill after the first mile, which I remembered from last year, and I was a little out of breath from just walking up that. There was a water stop on the other side (yay!) and I jogged down the hill and walked until I got up where we’d be going into the festival. I ran the last ~.30 miles and crossed the finish line in 44:05. I’m totally fine with that.

Once we were inside the festival, we took a quick loop around before getting food. Kristen got a burger and I got a pulled pork sandwich. The can was a sample of some organic sparkling water. The lemon was pretty good.

A seagull was also walking around watching us eat, which was kind of creepy.

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I kept a running list in my phone with my rating so I could check them into Untappd on the way back. I either had anything that was fruity or an IPA. The beer I liked the most was the Monchito from Whalers Brewing. It tasted just like a pina colada.

They had these guys out on the race course and moved them into the festival. The dinosaur sprayed water out of its nose and the unicorn sprayed water out of its horn. Kristen was quite taken by them. There was also a lot of water in either bottles or jugs inside the festival for anyone to take.

We spent most of our time under the big white tent that they had, and there were about fifteen or so vendors inside. It was just way too hot to stand outside.

Around 3:00 p.m., Kristen headed back to her SUV because she was getting a headache and wanted to cool down. I had one more beer sample before heading out. I probably could have had a few more, but:

1. I was already too overwhelmed because there were so many vendors to choose from, and
2. I didn’t want to overdo it even though I felt fine at the time.

It took us a little longer to get home, because we stopped at a Home Depot for a bathroom break and for ice cream.

I was home after 6:00 p.m., and I was so excited to shower. I spent yesterday watching Netflix—I finished Stranger Things 3!—and went in my pool for a little while but couldn’t spend really anymore time outside because my internal body temperature was still really hot.

I think I’m still replacing the water I sweated out, and no major sun blisters! I say “no major” because there are some very, very faint ones on my forehead, which I don’t understand how I got because I wore a hat the entire time. I only have a little bit of sun burn on the back of my neck/upper back because I forgot to put sunscreen there.

So, another Craft Brew Race down. I’m not sure if we’ll do one next year because Kristen’s schedule will be different this time next summer. And I don’t think my body likes that I keep doing the races haha. Maybe we’ll just go down to Newport for a couple of days. We’ll see.

What’s Next

I’m signed up for a 5K at the end of August that I’m excited about. After that, there are three—two I know I’m definitely doing—races before the end of the year. I ran a sub-30 minutes 3 miles last week (!!!) so things are looking up. I have a chance of getting close to a 30 minute 5K in two of the four upcoming races since they’re flat.