One Bad Ass Runner

"You ran a marathon with a cold, on prednisone, coughing the whole way, and you came close to your best marathon time when your breathing is currently at 49%?  I do not know how to do it."
Those were the words of my asthma doctor this morning.  And it summarizes the race in one paragraph.  I went, I ran, I conquered, I didn't PR.  But considering all of that, I think a 4:47 was great and that I did a'right.
Long: Yesterday, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in DC.  What an awesome race!  It's another big marathon and the Marines knows how to put on a great race.
After Berlin, I was looking forward to see what I could do when not having asthma issues during a race.  Unfortunately, after I got back from vacation, my dad came for a visit sick as a dog.  Having just ran a HM in the rain the day I saw him, I caught his cold.  That was two weeks post marathon so I don't think the marathon and the subsequent reduction on my defenses had anything to do with it, but the…

Today, I ran the Livelong Livestrong Half Marathon in Hallandale, FL.  This was to be a training run with some speedwork between HMP and MP pace.  Forecast was very nice: 76-80F and 69 dewpoint.  That is Fall weather down here.  Except the forecast didn't say it would rain...hard...and that the wind would be 20mph...or more.  Oh, well.  I found out when I got there when one downpour started and it never abated much until after I had finished.

I got back from Europe on Wednesday afternoon and my run that day sucked.  It was 90F and 74 dewpoint and after running while on vacation in 49F and 39 dewpoint, this sucked too much.  A lot.  The run on Thursday sucked less but my HR was still too high and the pace too slow.  Then, on Friday, as the same thing was happening, I had an epiphany, I am dehydrated from the 11 hour flight.  Doh, I'm a genius!  Not.
Anyway, I knew the pace might suffer a bit because of how the runs have gone.  But I wanted to try to still do some HMP and MP mil…

Yesterday, I ran the Berlin Marathon. This marathon idea started when I saw that registration was open and I knew I liked Germany and wanted to go back, so I had an "accident" and signed up. Then, I told my husband we had to go and he, after much huffing and puffing that he does not like to travel in September, agreed. :-)

This was to be my 8th marathon and my goal marathon for the season. I still have 4 more marathons and an ultra in the next five months (I am searching for my second star on the Marathon Maniacs), so I knew a PR would be harder to achieve later in the season, when my legs are tired.

As you remember, I was having bouts of severe asthma in April and May, 2012. My breathing capacity went down from 84% to 74% to 62%! I was taking 5 medications to keep my breathing afloat. I had many races with asthma attacks (mostly 5Ks and 10Ks). Because I needed to try something new to try to improve the asthma while training, I asked a friend of mine who is a coach, for his he…