One Bad Ass Runner

Today, I ran the inaugural Key Biscayne Half Marathon in (doh!) Key Biscayne, Florida.  Key Biscayne is one of the areas runners and triathletes train most, so I knew the course and I knew it was going to be a tough one with its mixture of no shade, hills, and wind.  Plus nobody has ever held a HM in April down here but these people did, so I signed in. I heard I was the first person to register for this HM (how cool is that) but unfortunately, they did not give Bib # 1.  A girl can only hope, right?  Pffttttt, the nerve. As I just raced a 5K yesterday and because this is not a goal race, I decided to take it easy but not too easy.  Last HM I did was in March and I treated it as a LR coming in at 2:21.  This time around I wanted to run easy but faster than that.  So, my goal was to finish between 2:10 - 2:15. As the week went by, the weather turned nastier and nastier.  Today it's supposed to rain all day and so far, it has.  Humidity is one of my worst asthma triggers

Today, I ran the Doral 5K, a race that is conducted near my house.  It is part of my running route more times that I can count.  It is a small race that is getting more and more notoriety because of the organization and the chance to place in the AGs. I have back to back races this weekend and, although I knew none would be PR attemps due to the weather and the asthma, I wanted to test my asthma to see how well it was doing after a few weeks of new medications for the asthma. Asthma Update :  As you remember, my asthma had not been doing well.  The doctor added one more medication (Singulair) about a month ago and I was still struggling.  I finished my last 5K race in 27:33.  My last doctor appointment was two Mondays ago and my number showed that my breathing capacity is at 67% with medication on a good day and she estimates that I am at 35-50% while running.  So, now you know why running has been a struggle for me in the last few months.  I am barely running with half of my b

Today, I had the follow up visit with my asthma and allergy doctor.  I was afraid this time around because the asthma has been bad in the last five weeks or so and because I found my previous spirometry test and it said I had an obstruction that could possibly be caused by early stages of emphysema.  Talk about having a bad day! Since my last doctor visit, I've been doing my allergy shots religiously and training like a horse.  Then, around five weeks ago, I had my first asthma attack during a speedwork session; then another attack; then an attack during one of my races.  Come on!  I'm trying to get faster, asthma, you're making it pretty hard. So, my times have slipped from what they were, they have even slipped from what I ran in January.  I did a 5K two weeks ago and came in at 27:33 (RR posted).  I ran one in January and finished 25:59, which is in itself slow compared to what I was able to do last July.  Ugh, asthma, you are crimping my style. Anyway, I called th

Today, I ran the Pillbox Pharmacies 5K Pursuit.  Last year, I ran this race and placed 1st in my AG.  This year, with the asthma out of control for the past 3.5 weeks and with last week's race's asthma attack, I knew I would be lucky if I placed at all.  It's a hot and humid race every year and I know my chest is not even close to the 25:41 time I had last year on the same course. This was not a PR race (let's start there), but only a measure of how the asthma is today after 3.5 weeks of attacks and whether my new racing strategy works.  I gotta say that, although my time was the worst post-asthma time of all my post-asthma 5Ks, my goals of trying my new strategy and not having an asthma attack were both accomplished.  This is important, as I asthma attacks on Sunday and Tuesday, while I ran, so not having one during another race was a plus. As you remember, I ran a race last week and started close to 8:50mm.  By Mile 3 I was having an asthma attack.  Today, I r