SunSmart 5K RR

Today, I ran the SunSmart 5K, which is a race that benefits Melanoma Awareness, a great cause, especially for us runners.  They had a great section with doctors and other professionals doing melanoma testing and awareness presentations.  I had a 3 X 1600m workout today so I looked for a 5K and found a couple, but this one was both flat, closer to home, and for a good cause.  Score!

The weather was hideous, 84F and 74 dewpoint, which according to the chart posted in the "Does This Appeal to Anyone" thread is equal to 102F , and trust me, you could feel the mugginess in the air; in fact, you sometimes could see it.

I barely slept last night, as the kitties decided to fight with each other all night.  They were fine when I woke up at 6am and apparently made up and went to bed all together.  Thank you very much.

I got there at 7am and picked my packet up.  At 7:20 I went for a run.  Race started at 8am (Da Fuck?) which is too late for Miami, but at least it was cloudy when I started my run.  Of course, you know how this is going to end and it includes the sun.

I warmed up by doing the course route.  The course was single file for the first 1.5 miles and since it had rained last night, there were sections of water for 3 meters or so, so I started strategizing what to do in these sections to not get wet and not slow down.  There were only 400+ runners so the race was pretty small, but the single file section was going to be difficult to maneuver nonetheless.

I have not been able to race a 5K without albuterol.  In fact, my last 5K gave me a huge asthma attack in better conditions than today.  But I really felt better than December (when I used albuterol last) and I decided that, since this was not a PR attempt by any means (I am not stupid, you know!), I wanted to see if I could race a 5K without any medication whatsoever.

I finished my 3 mile warmup and went to the starting line.  We were late.  We started at 8:10am and guess what?  The sun made its appearance.  Thank you, sun, because the shadeless course, the headwind and the heat and humidity were not enough to make it difficult so what's a little bit of sun to add to that?

Off we went!  Mile one was super sunny and going to the single file trail.  At Mile 0.60 there was the first huge puddle but since the winners were not coming in yet, we invaded the return lane and passed it without issue.  The next one was at Mile 1.25 and the third one was this same one upon its return.  I was able to race the whole race without getting my new shoes wet.  Score.

The first water station was at Mile 1 and I took 2 cups and bathe myself in them.  It was so hot!  I saw that I had reached my 175 HR goal (I was not looking at the pace) and all I needed to do what hold on during Mile 2, where I usually have an asthma attack.  Moment of truth.

So, at Mile 2, after I passed the mile marker and doused myself with more water, I coughed,  and I coughed, and I coughed.  By Mile 2.50 I was not only coughing but I had so much phlegm in my chest, I felt I was drowning in it.  This is where I usually stop to use the inhaler to clear the chest, but I said fuck it, I'm slowing a bit but I ain't stopping.  The girl ahead of me pulled forward but kept looking back at me because I kept coughing and running.  She thought I was going to die.  For a moment, so did I, LOL.

We reached the Mile 3 marker and the girl had flown away.  She took the 3rd in my AG but my lungs were on fire and although my legs were like: come on, I could not breathe and I was risking an attack if I pushed.  I finished with an OK kick, but nothing worth writing home about.  I crossed the finish line and realized that my lungs had given me everything they had and I could not ask for more.  It was still slow but for my first no albuterol 5K, I did great at 27:22.  I finished 4th in my AG.  Maybe I should've coughed some more on the girl and scared her back?

So instead of comparing myself to my 24:57 PR, I looked at the last race I did in April 2012, the Pillbox Pharmacies 5K.  Similar weather and sun, and I finished in 27:35.  I had to use albuterol before and during that race to finish in such a time.  Looking at the improvement and the fact that I ran faster without needing any medication, I call my first 5K of 2013 a success.

I took the liberty to look at the winner's prior races.  He won the race in 17:36 and his PR is in the mid 16s, so I was not the only one suffering in this weather, ha.

Now if the cats keep me awake next Friday night and I do my 50K half asleep, I might spray them with water!

Thanks for reading!