Turtle Trot 10K and 5K (Heat+humidity+hills+humility=HELL)

This was the worst race of my life, no doubt about it. But wow, did I suck! Let me start from the beginning of this awful morning. I had to wake up at 5:50 AM as usual to leave at 6:00 for our 70 mile drive to Amelia Island for the Turtle Trot 10K and 5K (I did the 10K and my dad did the 5K). We arrived and you could already feel the heat and 100% humidity. The reason I wanted to do this race was because I hadn't raced a 10K since April. I wanted to run a decent race if possible and see where I was in terms of speed and endurance. The race started at 8:00 and I took it out in the first mile at the pace I wanted to hold. I went through it in 7:45, but was struggling already because most of the first mile was a series of gradual inclines. and it went all downhill from there. The next miles were plagued with hills and the omnipresent humidity. By mile 3 we were in Fort Clinch Park where the hills were less frequent but the humidity was still present. And man was I going slow. It seemed that you could walk faster than I was running. I had to stop and walk for the first time ever in a race and not just once or twice but three times. My training has suffered a decline since my vacationing started and I have to get my act together so I can get better. I vowed to myself not to do no more than 2 races a month so I can focus on my training. But back to my final minutes in hell. I stopped a few more times but then the sacred "mile 6" sign popped up in the distance and I reached into my body to muster a few minutes of hard running to the end. And once I saw that clock, I wanted to cry. Humility overtook me as I crossed the finish line in 1:00:43. All I wanted to do was crawl under a rock. I didn't even feel I deserved my first place in my age group award. The only positive thing I can say about the race is that it humbled me and has motivated me even more to train harder so this can never happen again, even when these types of conditions come upon me. On the other hand, my dad had a decent race but the factors that affected me also affected him, giving him a time more than a minute slower than what he usually gets, a 22:37. He did perform well in his age group, though, placing 2nd and getting a plaque that he has been longing for. All in all, this race under these conditions was a frustrating waste of our time, even though the Amelia Island Runners did a great job organizing the race. The next race I'm doing is the rescheduled Carrabba's Beach Run next week which I don't even want to think about how bad the conditions may be with the impending tropical storms. And after that race I will go through with my vow and only do the Children's Way 5K in late September and then a race in late October. So long and keep staying away from this horrendous humidity!