Exercise-induced asthma makes running much, much more difficult in the wintertime. Whether inside or outside, I encounter the same problem every time. I start out at a good pace, and my body is ready. My legs begin stretching and falling into a steady rhythm, as do my lungs. At first, everything is great. But as I continue, at about an eighth of a mile I start noticing the tightness in my lungs... My asthma is beginning to kick in. At this point my legs are saying, “this is awesome! We can do this all day!” and my lungs are mostly in agreement like, “yeah, maybe not all day, but were still good. Keep going.” So I keep running, keeping careful track of my distance. At a quarter mile my legs are going, “all right, were warmed up, lets keep up this pace!” and now my lungs are like, “well, maybe just a little longer, but this is getting a lot harder now.” Not even two hundred yards farther and my lungs begin to have serious complaints. “This is really difficult. We better stop soon.” My chest is tight and I feel like Im trying to blow air into a balloon that wont inflate. The shortness of breath is exceedingly uncomfortable. And yet my legs right now are protesting, saying, “What? We just started! In the summertime we ran THREE miles at this pace! Dont stop now!” At this point my legs arent even feeling a burn yet. But by half a mile, I can hardly take the strain in my lungs. “Okay, thats it. We cant do this anymore,” my lungs say. I have to quit, I cant breathe. But my brain wants to keep going because my legs arent even tired yet. I want to push myself. I dont want to have to stop so early. This is so frustrating. And yet, I do stop, because I absolutely cant breathe. Im wheezing and sucking in air that doesnt seem to help my struggling lungs. I sound like Im going to have some sort of attack any second. To me, it feels like Im getting about as much oxygen as if I was blowing through a straw. I understand my asthma well and Im not concerned that Ill be fine; the wheeziness will go away – though ten, twenty, thirty times longer than it would in the summertime, even when I was running three miles a day. But in the winter, with asthma, everything is different. Running is not fun. It is uncomfortable. Stressful. It makes my chest ache from exasperation. Running is freaking HARD and honestly I hate it. Yet, I still run. I work through the frustration. I keep pushing myself. I will not stop setting my goal farther than I can often reach. Because on those rare days when I make that goal, knowing what I had to go through to get there makes it all that more rewarding.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 05:33:02 +0000
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