UPS 5K: A Year in Review and A Decision To Make

RR Portion:

Today I ran the UPS 5K race, benefiting the United Way of Miami.  It was hot and humid, and I was nauseous and short of breath.  No PR and a 27:3X, which is my worst in the last 9 months.

The weather today was yucky.  80F feels like 86F with 75 dewpoint.  Not our worst dewpoint (like last week) but not nice either.  My shoelace came loose at Mile 0.25; I had nausea at Mile 2-3 and had to walk the water stations (which I never do).  Still, I had fun and my dad was cheering me for the first time in his life (he's here for a visit), so I finished smiling and having fun.  I also cheered on Chiqui74 on the 5K and on her DH on his first race!

Some pics:

New racing flats:



The Three Amigos Post Race:



The Three Amigos Pre-Race



Floating Pic:



One final one:



Long and Whiny Part:

This RR is more than an RR; to me it's a please let me know whether I'm doing this wrong thread.  Sorry for the whiny and long post.

As I've mentioned before, I've been suffering from breathing problems for a while (basically all my life) but the problem was exacerbated by the extremely humid conditions that we've been having this Summer.  We've had hot weather since February and 75-78 dewpoint of humidity for the last two months.  It's really making me cranky.

I was diagnosed with asthma around two weeks ago and the inhalers helped initially, but during the past few days, I have not felt they've helped me at all.  Every time I have run outside this week I've had to use the extra inhaler and do not feel any better.  So I think I'm going back to the drawing board with the pulmonologist because whatever he gave me sure ain't helping.

And this is all happening during marathon training.  I'm running 20+mpw more than last year's training and I feel stronger and healthier than then (average during the last two months has been 65mpw).  However, the weather and the breathing issues are seriously making be doubt that I can run, least of all, race any distance, at goal pace, this season.

So, the whiny part is this.  I've improved a lot compared to last year, I know that (I ran this race in 30:42 last year).  I am stronger and running longer and faster; my training (with the exception of the breathing issues) has been going well.  But I still worry that I'm doing this wrong for some reason.  Is it the weather or is it me?

As to training, last year I was running easy runs at close 11:30mm, now my normal pace is 10:15-10:20mm in this weather (9:40-10mm before that).  My LRs last year were at 12-13mm and now are 10-11mm, depending on the weather.  I see it, and I just think I need to survive until the end of October and I'll be fine, but my first marathon is NYCM and by then it may be too late to fix something if needed.

So my question is: Should I got back to the drawing board and make changes to my marathon training, or should I just keep going and hang on til the weather gets better?  Thanks for the input.

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