Twenty-five degrees, give or take, and a much higher dew point sure makes a world of difference when you are running. 

Particularly when racing. 

So when I was able to run Rip It Events’ Donut Worry. Be Happy. Virtual 5K within a minute of my finish time for the Cinco De Mayo Virtual 5K, I was pretty happy. On the morning of the Cinco De Mayo 5K, the weather was cool enough for me to wear arm warmers with my race outfit. On the morning of Donut Worry (held on National Donut Day on June 5!), the temperature was in the 70s and it was muggy as all hell. But that’s Maryland — summer comes in hot and heavy, literally, every year and sticks around for months. 

As I did with the other virtual races I have done this spring, I treated this like a real race, waking up early (shortly after 5, as I wanted to knock this out before work) and eating my peanut butter and banana on naan bread (sometimes it’s bagels, other times it’s English muffins, but I need that peanut butter and banana on race morning!) for breakfast. Given the weather forecast, that was for the best. I did a quick warm-up around 6:30, then set off following the same course I ran a month earlier on Cinco De Mayo.

At first, there was a nice breeze coming off the water and I thought, “OK, this isn’t going to be so bad!” That lasted approximately a half mile before I started to feel the humidity. Not only that, but my legs were still feeling pretty beat up from three days before, when we ran sprints in the parking lot in kickboxing. The duration of that workout wasn’t very long at all (each of my sprints took me six seconds, and we did that 10 times, so that was a minute), but the next day, I felt really sore! And I was still feeling sore on Friday! Particularly when running over the rolling hills in my neighborhood. 

I ran the first mile in 6:42, which was too fast. Last month, I was proud of my negative splits in the Cinco De Mayo 5K, because I can never manage them in this distance. Sure enough, I did what I always do and went out way too fast. I ended up taking two (short) walk breaks in mile 2. Between the weather, my already-sore legs and that fast first mile, I already was feeling spent and ready to be done. But I ran that second mile in 7:39, when I was sure it was going to be in the 8s, so that wasn’t too bad. 

Right after I finished the second mile, I saw my friend Shannon, who was outside walking her dog. I gasped out hello and she snapped my picture. At this point, I knew I was in the home stretch and that the rest of the way was flat (and that I might get a nice breeze off the water again.) 

I ran mile 3 in 7:16 and after my watch beeped, I pictured seeing a finish line ahead and gunned it as best I could. Of course, since there wasn’t actually a finish line because it was a virtual race, I was running while staring at my watch and waiting to see 3.1 on it. The second I did, I stopped my Garmin and saw my time — 22:18. Pretty solid, especially given the humidity! It’s always a struggle for me to break 22 minutes, and I didn’t think I’d be able to run another 21:35 as I did in the Cinco De Mayo race. But I wasn’t too far off, and honestly, if I hadn’t taken those walk breaks, I might have pulled out a sub-22. Oh well. I ran the best I could that morning. 

And since it was National Donut Day, obviously I had to pick up Sandy Pony Donuts that afternoon! Best donuts in the Mid-Atlantic, in my opinion. 

With races still canceled for the next few months, virtual races are all we have. The next one on my calendar is Rip It’s 5 on the 4th, another 5K that I will run on the 4th of July. This year’s July 4 celebrations will definitely look a lot different than they have in past years, so this will give me something to look forward to. Even though it is sure to be sweltering again! 

As a Rip It Events ambassador, I receive free entries to all of their races, including their virtual races.