Too Hot Too Handle

On Sunday, July 18 I ran my toughest and best race yet.  It was the Too Hot Too Handle 5K here in Dallas.  The race was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m.  7:30 a.m. in July in Texas = 90 degrees (at least).  I'm an early morning runner so the heat was a big factor for me.  I ran with my awesome sister in law. 

I'll be perfectly honest, I signed up for the race for 2 reasons:
1. I hadn't done a race in a while. 
2. You got a cool hat and a technical/dri fit style sleeveless shirt (I'm a sucker for swag).  My sister in law is wearing the shirt and hat in this picture.

I wasn't worried about the distance since I've been doing my Bridge to 10K running program.  I was concerned about the heat.  I gave up Diet Cokes (a huge feat for me) on July 13th so I had been drinking water like nobody's business.  So, I feel I was well hydrated. 

The race went VERY well.  I attribute it to 4 new things:

1. My training runs were longer than the actual race.
2. My new Phiten necklace - when I wear it my legs don't ache as soon
3. Gatorade pre-workout drink
4. Gatorade post-workout drink

I didn't break my personal best of about 31 minutes but I came close.  I finished in about 32 minutes.  The big thing for me was that I felt GREAT after the race.  After all my other races, I felt like I was going to die.  Not so after this one.  So now I have a routine and I'm sticking to it.

What about you? What are your running/race day routines?

PS - I paid for all the items mentioned in this blog.  No one asked me to try them out.  I just did.  But, if Phiten or Gatorade want to send me so stuff, I'm TOTALLY open to that ;)