I actually have slowed my pace way down from where I was 1.5 months ago, I was really pounding the heck outta myself. I'm going at a snails pace jog right now.

I agree that my breathing probably needs help. I'll try the 3 - 2 cadence.

The chest tightening is the part that worried me. Last night it got so bad that it was actually painful, and it aches for a short time afterward. I'm just so baffled..

Last night I ran a 13 min 22 sec mile, which was me jogging - walking at approximately 1 minute intervals. I meant to run 1.5 miles but my chest ached too much.

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll try to fix my breathing issues, and think about going to the doctor about the asthma thing.

(I was actually doing the Couch to 5K program earlier, but I reached a certain point and couldn't move on to the next week - again because of the running out of breath/tightening chest problem.)