Forums >Running 101>any asthmatic runners out there?
Just wondering how running is for you all? I just feel like I could be a better/faster, etc. runner than I am without it...or am I using that as an excuse?
I've been an on/off runner since high school and now at 33 have been running pretty consistently for about 1 year, mainly average 15-20 miles per week (schedule is tough to allow more), I'm symptomatically quite dependent on a long-acting controlling inhaler (advair) and rarely need a rescue albuterol (never on or after a run, thankfully).
I'm also a physician by trade and have a good handle on how to approach myself medically and am otherwise under excellent control - so not soliciting medical advice, just looking for personal experiences and whether anyone with asthma feels limited? Maybe compared to your running "peers?" I sometimes wonder if I could do/feel better...and maybe the asthma makes me a little cautious and afraid to really push myself.
Also, I mainly run just to clear my mind and de-stress. I've done the occasional 5k, 10k, half-marathon. But mainly a solo runner looking to maintain sanity I'll run 3-5 miles/run during the week and about an hour long run per weekend.
just soliciting some personal anecdotes, advice, experience, etc!
rectumdamnnearkilledem
I'm on Qvar and it mostly works very well...some days I am surprised by how great my lungs feel, but other days (like when it's really humid or really cold) I feel like I'm working with just 1 lung). Respiratory bugs really linger, too. Like you I don't tend to need my rescue inhaler very often.
I can tell the difference when I run with people who run less than I do (which isn't common, nowadays, but was when I was running much higher mileage) and I'm not able to converse much, while they are. My lungs just feel very inefficient. It doesn't seem to matter much how fit I am. Breathing was no less an issue when I was running a lot more and doing speed work. After a hard workout or race I tend to bring up phlegm and cough for hours, too.
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
Just wondering how running is for you all? I just feel like I could be a better/faster, etc. runner than I am without it...or am I using that as an excuse? just soliciting some personal anecdotes, advice, experience, etc!
Chronic asthmatic here!
I feel like I am always a call away from the emergency room for an extra help from the respiratory specialist, but I have learned to listen to my body, run when the asthma-thingie will allow me to run extra long, extra hard, or extra fast. By doing this I was able to qualify to run Boston this year.
My advice? Listen to your body everyday and run the hard workout when the asthma will allow you to do so. Yes, we are handicapped, but we must learn to live with our disability.
Today I enjoyed running 5x1mile @ 8:20pace, this is ultra fast for me and I could not have done it if my asthma was acting up.
My experience? don't let your asthma be barrier....you learn to work with the asthma...
and Boston may just be your next race1
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
I have exercise induced asthma which I never knew until I started running 12 years ago when I was 47. I treat it with Pulmacort daily, and take a puff of proventil before running. I am mostly a distance runner, this year will be my 10th Boston, and 20th marathon. Don't worry about pushing yourself, I honestly feel the running has made my lungs stronger. Like Zoomie, I will still have trouble on really cold, windy, or humid days. But, I will carry my inhalor with me. On my longer runs I will usually take another puff after 10 miles. I try to take it at the first sign of any discomfort. It's not to say you won't have problems, twice I have ended up in a medical tent at the finish line on oxygen, once at the Niagara Falls Marathon due to the wind, and again at a local 14 miler on a very hot and humid day. Occasionally I'll have an off day with the breathing, but I really don't see much difference between my running and the others in our running club. Try using a rescue inhalor before your runs and see if that helps, with me it stopped the relentless coughing when I would stop. Don't let asthma hold you back, I found the more I ran, the easier it got.
I have asthma, as well as Cystic Fibrosis and have been able to run fairly consistently. I will tell you that you absolutely need to listen to your body. I've found that I can run without doing my inhaler before hand, but I usually feel tighter.
I've found I run much better in the cold, but that could be more the CF than the asthma. I have found that being well hydrated, not over however, seems to keep my lung working better. As I've heard about a million times, we are all an experiment of one. Play around with changing things up, but make sure you have your rescue inhaler ready, just in case.
As for feeling limited, I used to, but I think that was self imposed. Over the past couple of months, I've found myself doing much more and running much faster than I ever thought possible. Don't let the asthma hold you back, but don't be stupid either.
Mark
SMART Approach
I have environmental and exercise induced asthma. I get along fine with Singulair and Albuterol before runs. I feel like my performance is not really effected. I do wonder if I suffered some lung damage years ago. I am on a trial now without Singulair as there is snow on the ground. I am taking Quercetin/Bromelain and Tumeric (extract) and am doing just fine. I have mild asthma even though I have had some doozy attacks in past while working on farm.
Do you have mild, moderate or severe asthma? Without the Advair would you need to take your Albuterol inhaler regularly throughout week. If mild, Singulair does have positive effects toward exercise induced asthma. I personally think unless moderate to severe asthma, one should focus more on the corticosteroid component of the inhaler vs. the long acting bronchodilator as this is an inflammatory disease. I use to sell Singulair and have found that Advair was always a simple script because it works but may be too much medicine for many asthmatics. Certainly, it has it place though for the more difficult asthma patient.
Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery
Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training
Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique
www.smartapproachtraining.com
use to sell Singulair and have found that Advair was always a simple script because it works but may be too much medicine for many asthmatics. Certainly, it has it place though for the more difficult asthma patient.
I always wished Singulair would have worked for me. It was like taking a sugar pill. And Advair was absolute hell for me. I was on it for about a year and a half and was constantly sick...back-to-back thrush outbreaks, colds, and just generally feeling like I was constantly on the verge of coming down with something--like my immune system had been severely compromised. Switched to Qvar with a spacer device and it's been like night and day. Sometimes I think Advair worked better to control my ashma...BUT the side-effects were not worth it. And the black box warning from the long-acting bronchodilator is a little scary, anyhow.