RunningAHEAD - Topic: Can Running in Very Cold Weather Affect Your Lungs?

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:35 PM

Ok, here's the story. A couple of weeks ago, I was finishing up a run (it was about 20 F) and my neighbor cautioned me that I shouldn't run when it's that cold. He said it was dangerous to my lungs. I wrote this off until a few days later I realized that he is a retired physician and maybe he knows something. Anyway, he spends winters in Scottsdale and was just visiting so I can't follow up. So, yesterday I finished a 90 minute run and the temperature was about 2 F. Both my running partner and I noticed pain in our lungs similar to having inhaled too much smoke Wink

Does anyone have any information on this subject. It's not supposed to get much warmer here in the near future and I have a race in 5 weeks, so I need the miles. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jarrod

obiebyke

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:37 PM

I'd appreciate the info, too. One of the reasons I don't run outside is that chilly air HURTS to huff and puff on, and I get a coughing jag once I'm home that last for hours.

Call me Ray (not Ishmael)

jdmcgregor

All business

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:39 PM
modified: 1/18/2008 at 4:40 PM

Jeff posted this NYTimes article yesterday that i found really interesting (and helped motivate me to do 8 miles in 19* last night) and has some info on this. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/health/nutrition/17BEST.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=31ca0e4126c4395f&ex=1200718800 "...lungs are not damaged by cold, said Kenneth W. Rundell, the director of respiratory research and the human physiology...by the time it reaches your lungs, it is body temperature, he explained."

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason." J. Handy

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:46 PM

I'm asthmatic and sometimes the extreme cold will bother me, but not all the time. High heat and humidity actually causes me more problems, most of the time. The same docs who tell you that the cold is bad for your lungs probably also believe that running is bad for your knees (read the 3rd question and response). k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Lank

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:46 PM

This is the thread where Jeff posted the NY Times link. Also has some useful discussion. http://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/7a57ffae69314c82a6df9cf41adf45b9

"Good-looking people have no spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we're smarter." - Lester Bangs

raiderridgerunnr

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:48 PM

Thanks, Sorry for the repeat topic, didn't even think to look and see if it was already posted. Jarrod

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:51 PM
modified: 1/18/2008 at 4:59 PM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 1/18/2008 at 4:46 PM:

I'm asthmatic and sometimes the extreme cold will bother me, but not all the time.

I used to have exercise-induced asthma that always kicked in worse when running in the cold. I was useless unless I took a puff on my Proventil inhaler before the run. Somehow, I outgrew this problem. Maybe it was the alcohol. Cool

MTA, in really cold weather in Michigan, I used to wear a face mask. It had the effect of humidifying the incoming air, which made things better.

This is also fantastic if you decide to make armed robbery a part of your training regimen.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

AKTrail

posted: 1/18/2008 at 4:54 PM

How do you think people in the far north exist - including running, xc skiing, etc.? Wink

Seriously, +20F shouldn't be an issue, although possibly for someone with bronchial issues. When you get close to 0F and below, sometimes the drier air can have a short-term effect. Some folks are more comfortable using a scarf or face mask over their mouth/nose, and that pocket of air gets moistened on its way down. The low humidity is one reason why you need to pay as much attention to hydration in winter as in summer. The lower the temperatures and the longer you're out, the greater the chance that they'll be some short-term effect - like more coughing. Also if you have any bronchial issues, doing something to moisten the air (like face mask) helps immensely. FWIW, I've run for several hours in subzero F temps, and most of my winter runs (Dec-Feb) will be at +20F and colder as well as many in Nov and March. There's a 100-mi running race coming up in 4 wks and a 350-/1100-mi one the week after (about 20+ days for the long version) - no, I'm not doing any of them.

"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 1/18/2008 at 5:01 PM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 1/18/2008 at 4:51 PM:

This is also fantastic if you decide to make armed robbery a part of your training regimen.

That's hot.

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

modal

posted: 1/18/2008 at 5:03 PM
modified: 1/18/2008 at 5:21 PM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 1/18/2008 at 4:51 PM:

If I saw some wearing that, I'd probably start running. She took off a glove to touch her ears so she could find out just how cold they were. To her shock, one of her ears cracked. “It was sort of like semi-frozen meat,” she recalled. Now that's cold.

Vim

RunB

posted: 1/18/2008 at 6:08 PM

If running in cold weather is bad for you, then maybe we should ban cross country skiing! Angry

- R

RunB

posted: 1/18/2008 at 6:19 PM

Maybe we should ban it: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20000804223050data_trunc_sys.shtml - R

JakeKnight

posted: 1/18/2008 at 6:52 PM

Quote from modal on 1/18/2008 at 5:03 PM:

If I saw some wearing that, I'd probably start running.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I saw that movie. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Rosie O'Donnell. Er something. Scary stuff. Then again, if you wanted to rob a bank ... and it was really cold ...

Quote from modal on 1/18/2008 at 5:03 PM:

She took off a glove to touch her ears so she could find out just how cold they were. To her shock, one of her ears cracked. “It was sort of like semi-frozen meat,” she recalled. Now that's cold.

I thought it was actually pretty hot. She, definitely, does not need to HTFU. Bonus points if she pulled off a piece and nibbled on it.

E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
-----------------------------

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 1/18/2008 at 7:05 PM

Quote from RunB on 1/18/2008 at 6:19 PM:

Maybe we should ban it: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20000804223050data_trunc_sys.shtml - R

This is very true: "But prevention still remains the best answer, and the lung experts warned especially against undertaking endurance training and competition while subject to respiratory infections." I'm on Singulair year-round and also use Albuterol inhaler before EVERY run and take it with me on longer runs and during races. And when I'm sick with anything that affects my lungs I take it easy. If I have a hard time breathing just sitting still, then I know that running is not in the cards for the day. k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

xetark

posted: 1/18/2008 at 8:06 PM
modified: 1/18/2008 at 8:11 PM

ok, here's a related question - i get exercise induced asthma pretty much anytime its cooler than 40 out - coughing and wheezing, but its not terrible. how long it lasts when i'm done running depends on how fast i run and how cold it is. usually, i just deal with it - it goes away in 15-20 mins, if its bad maybe 45mins-1 hour, but that's only happened a time or two. is there any reason for me to get medicine from my doc for this, if i'm able to tolerate it? the asthma doesn't ever get worse, in fact, as my body adjusts, it ends up getting a little better the further into winter we get. its not impairing my ability to do whatever i need to get done after i run. i've never been able to find anything online, one way or the other, about the effects of not treating exercise induced asthma. anyone?

Can Running in Very Cold Weather Affect Your Lungs? (Read 7160 times)