I can’t believe I already ran the third race of the four race Watermelon 5K series by the Lakeland Runners Club. It seems like it was months ago that I started training for a sub-30 minute 5K. (Links to the Lakeland Runners Club Watermelon 5K Race One and Two if you are interested.)

This race, like the others in the series, took place at Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland. It is a beautiful place to run and if you are in Central Florida, I highly recommend making a stop.

The packet pick-up and parking went very smoothly. I am really getting the hang of navigating the area which may be a benefit from racing a series. (This race I even remembered the street I parked on and did not need to wander around searching for my car.)

The weather was more pleasant than race number two, which was rainy and humid. It was still pretty hot but typical for Central Florida summer weather. Almost all of my recent training has been running on a treadmill at the gym, I know that not being acclimated to running in the heat and humidity is hampering my performance. I do not know how much of an effect it has but I know running feels harder than it did last summer. I will freely admit to being a huge baby and  preferring to run in the a/c. Until I start base building for my fall half, most of my runs will continue to be inside.

The race started smoothly, I felt rested and had plenty of time to warm-up. Everything was fine until just over the two-mile mark where I got another monster cramp (ala race number one.) I do not know why this keeps happening, if it is my pace is too fast or the humidity is making it more difficult to breathe? I was forced to take a few walk breaks and I knew a sub-30 was out of my reach.

The splits are not completely awful, if each mile was a little bit faster I could have come much closer to my goal.

Clock Time: 33:04

Chip Time: 32:46

The first race had a clock time of 31:21 and race number two of 33:01. At least this race my time is going in the right direction.

I do kind of love the finish line photo courtesy of the Lakeland Runners Club.

So with one race left I have still not made my goal of a sub-30 minute 5K but the races have kept me running despite the sweltering summer heat.