Doral 5K RR

So, a week ago I ran a 50K and ran for 8 hours on a tough trail.  I knew I had this local race planned for today but never in my life was I expecting to be in any shape or form ready to race this or even attempt the 5K as a speedwork session.

Then, on Monday, I ran a 5 mile recovery run and surprisingly, my pace was faster than recovery pace.  Same on Tuesday and Wednesday, and on and on.  By last night, I seriously starting thinking about doing this as a good speedwork session.  Remember, I did a 5K two weeks ago and came in at 27:22 with my first no albuterol 5K, phlegming and coughing the whole way.  I didn't want that to happen today, but I was going to give my best efforts without albuterol.

Albuterol helps my fast running. If I take it, my short and fast paces get faster and I don't get asthma attacks.  But getting off albuterol was one of my goals for 2013 and so far (knock on wood), I have felt no need to use the med while running.  I might be a tad slower than running with it but I don't like living life taking 5-6 medications a day, so I am now down to 2.  Also, all these inhalers have made me gain some weight but ever since dropping albuterol, my weight has been melting.  I almost couldn't wear my shorts today because they were falling down.  

So, repeating a good strong performance similar or better than my last 5K was more important than my time.  It was hot and humid again and the race started at 8am, way late so that ball of fire in the sky was super high and bright.  Typical Summer in Miami.  I mean, it is Summer, right?

I woke up at 6:20, drank my coffee and ran to the packet pickup area, 1.25 miles away from my doorstep.  I picked my packet and bag and dropped it at the Runner's Co., tent, our LRS.  I was wearing the LRS shirt, especially since my sunburn had turned into a peeling festival of my back and arms and I didn't want to get sunburn again (and down here, even a 30 minute run can leave you super tanned).  So, not only was I hot from the weather, but also from wearing a shirt instead of a bra.  Oops.  I did a 3 mile warmup with 4 strides at the end and my pace on the strides indicated that today was going to be a good day.

We start a little before 8am (we were early, WTF?) and off we go.  I had put the Garmin on HR only, so I didn't worry about pace.  As usual, I settled at 175 and held on for dear life.  The first mile went really easy for me and because we had the fiery ball of hell on our backs, it was not that bad.  Mile 2 is where I usually start having asthma issues but I reached the mile marker without any and was like say what?  If you remember by Mile 3 of my last 5K I was phlegming and coughing and congested.  It didn't happen today.  The only limit today was how tired my legs were after the ultra last weekend.  I finished the race without any substantial kick but after giving all my chest and legs had in me today.  Finished in 26:10.

Last year, I finished in 26:36 on the same course in better weather but with an asthma attack.  Today, I ran pretty even splits and felt strong throughout and without asthma issues nor albuterol.  I am very happy with my performance today.

The only negative of today's race was that I have always placed in my AG in the last 4 years even with worse times.  However, this race has gathered a following and is famous for being an easy race to place so today there were faster runners.  My time today would have won the AG last year, but today I finished 4th of 24 in my AG.  But I came out of this feeling that if I had not run the 50K last week, I would've PRd for sure today.  Not bad for somebody training for ultras.

Overall, I am very happy with my performance today.

Some pics:

And on to my next marathon....