Thanks everyone! These times are inspiring me!! I do carry my inhaler, it's just this weird fear that I need to get over.
I understand that fear--I have exercise induced asthma too, but I have never had a problem if I use my inhaler before a race. I bring it with me too, just in case.
Running a 5K for a PR is tough, man. It is "short" but you are uncomfortable that whole time; your legs may hurt, your lungs most certainly will. You just have to grit through it.** My first 5K was 31 minutes I think. One year later I did the same 5K (during that year I did a couple more 5Ks and a half marathon) and I was 26:40. Nothing crazy fast to most people on here, but to me, it was incredibly tough. I have never run that fast since then.
**this is harder said than done. I can barely get through a 5K without walking right now because I hate the feeling of being uncomfortable. Sad trombone.
Thanks everyone! These times are inspiring me!! I do carry my inhaler, it's just this weird fear that I need to get over.
I understand that fear--I have exercise induced asthma too, but I have never had a problem if I use my inhaler before a race. I bring it with me too, just in case.
Running a 5K for a PR is tough, man. It is "short" but you are uncomfortable that whole time; your legs may hurt, your lungs most certainly will. You just have to grit through it.** My first 5K was 31 minutes I think. One year later I did the same 5K (during that year I did a couple more 5Ks and a half marathon) and I was 26:40. Nothing crazy fast to most people on here, but to me, it was incredibly tough. I have never run that fast since then.
**this is harder said than done. I can barely get through a 5K without walking right now because I hate the feeling of being uncomfortable. Sad trombone.
The phrase I like to use is you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I imagine pushing to that point is especially difficult with asthma, so my non doctor advice would be to push a little harder each time but try not to crash and burn.
My slowest was almost 39 minutes in 2013 and I got it down to 30:30 this year. My times improved once I started training for a half. I would love to break 30.
I don't really have a good answer for this re: 5k as my first one was years ago and I have no idea what my time was, and my most recent one that was not in the middle of a Houston summer was .3 miles short.
However, my half time has gone from 2:16 in 2011 to 1:37 4 years later. Even 2 years ago I would never have believed I could run the paces I'm running now.
pre kids my PR was 21 minutes, but I had an injury that lasted forever, then I had two kids etc.
I ran a 5k last year my first in a long time, in 29:30 and recently ran one in 23:38 so I have taken 6 minutes off in a little over a year.
I definitely am very uncomfortable during the 5k race, not a talking pace at all. very high HR etc. I usually run 10 minute miles when I'm just running and that is a comfortable pace for me.
same! I went from mid-40's while failing at C25k repeatedly, finally succeeded and logged a 31:30 at a turkey trot last year after training for a 10k. Now post kid i'm getting back to that pace, but what I'd REALLY like to do is break 30. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
getting comfortable being uncomfortable is what I need to learn I think. I can push myself to just keep moving for long enough to cover the distance, but I'm not good at pushing myself to move FAST.
same! I went from mid-40's while failing at C25k repeatedly, finally succeeded and logged a 31:30 at a turkey trot last year after training for a 10k. Now post kid i'm getting back to that pace, but what I'd REALLY like to do is break 30. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
getting comfortable being uncomfortable is what I need to learn I think. I can push myself to just keep moving for long enough to cover the distance, but I'm not good at pushing myself to move FAST.
I agree that this whole "comfortable being uncomfortable" thing is absolutely key. For any race, from a 5k to a marathon. My experience has been that the faster I get, the easier it is to become even faster. Obviously there's going to be a plateau there somewhere where my combo of training and physical capacity maxes out, but all that to say that the more you work on pushing yourself, the easier it gets.
My first 5K was in the 34's. My PR is in the 22's.
It was speedwork and repeats that got me faster. All done with a group I ran with at a local running store.
I don't know anything about asthma but would you feel more comfortable pushing the pace on a track close to support if anything went wrong with asthma?
My very first was 28:09 and my fastest is 23:46. I have lots of slower ones on there though, mostly due to injury or running/walking with someone slower.