Doral 5K Freedom Run

Short: I ran the inaugural Doral 5K Freedom Run in my backyard.  It's the first Summer 5K my city has created and we were there in support of the city and the troops.  I came in at 27:15, my worst this year (my PR is 24:57 from July) but I met most of my goals today.

Long:

I wasn't shooting for a PR but then why am I disappointed?  Oh, yes, I'm a perfectionist and I feel like I telephoned this race. 

Training: Training has not been going well during the last 2-4 weeks.  I'm doing Pfitz 18/70 and all my runs have been done well and on pace in this weather, except the LRs.  I've been bonking LRs left and right, mostly because I have not been able to breathe in the high humidity of the morning.  I also twisted my ankle last week and my knee is tender because of it.  So, overall, I've been very disappointed and I'm starting to question my training.  I know this is normal but still....

Weather: It was 80F feels like 87-90F, with 91% humidity and 78 dewpoint.  I'm really sick and tired of running in this weather.  We've been having this weather since February 20.  It's TOO LONG!  And for those that are already running in 50s, 60s, and 70s, BITE ME!

Organization: For a first time race this race was pretty well organized.  There were a lot of vendors providing goodies, music, our Mayor, our running store, medals for the finishers (I think that's TOO much for a 5K, IMO) and trophies and plaques for the winners.  Overall, this was a good race.

Race:  I had two goals today, to try my inhaler while racing and to run strong.  I think I met both.  However, my performance left much to be desired.

Goal 1 - I wanted to treat this like a dress rehearsal since I have another 5K next weekend that is supposed to be a goal 5K (except now I'm not sure because my marathon has not been going well since my breathing issues arose).  So, the goal was to run well and try how I felt with the new inhaler (I was diagnosed with asthma on Thursday for those that do not know).  Goal 1 was MET. Without the new inhaler, I don't think I could've finished without walking, so I did great in that the inhaler let me breathe throughout.  Everybody was complaining left and right about the heat and humidity and for the first time I was able to breathe and not stop to breathe while I ran in that.

Goal 2 - I was not shooting for a PR but I still wanted to run the best I could.  Even though the pace was crappy, I still feel I would not have been able to run faster than I did.  I planned on starting the 5K at close to PR pace and I did my first mile close to that.  However, when I finished Mile 1 I knew I was pushing it too much for this weather so I slowed down.  I slowed down so much I ended up doing two miles @ GMP.  Good strong miles but still way behind tempo pace.

This was not my best 5K performance, by far, and I think it's even my worst of the year except for one, but everybody came in at 1-2 minutes slower than normal.  It was a good strong run though, just not a good race pace.  Of course I start wondering whether this performance is a sign of me not doing well come racing season (next month), but at the same time, I know the weather today was one of our worst.  But as I mentioned, I'm a perfectionist and these types of performances bother me.

Next: UPS 5K next weekend.  My dad is coming to visit and will cheer me up at the finish line.