It's been so long since I have an asthma attack that I started to forget I even had the stupid disease. I guess it's only been a couple months. That's not that long I suppose. It still irks me every time though. Got up at 5:30 this morning (I'm working on getting up earlier and earlier with the goal of waking at 5:00 a.m. on regular days, and 4:30 a.m. on long run days). I was really excited for this run, hoping I could ease some of my recent life anxieties with a 4 mile run, some tempo runs and drills. My lungs, however, weren't feeling down with that plan.
Within 1/2 mile my breathing became tight. My type of asthma causes me to have trouble getting air out rather than in, so sometimes I don't notice that I'm not breathing properly. So I tried to keep running. Maybe the preventative inhaler puffs I did prior to running haven't kicked in yet. Maybe I just need a longer warm-up than usual. Nah, optimism FAIL. I had to walk and catch my breath near the end of the first mile. I tried a couple more times to get into a good pace, but nothing was working. So then it became Create Your Own Work Out time!!!
From miles 2-4.5 I did approx. 45-60 second all out sprints (or until I was gasping for breath) and walked about a minute in between. I know this type of workout doesn't really help long distance runners. We should jog in between sprints so our body learns what it feels like to not fully recover. I know, I know, I know. But try telling my asthma that. My asthma is a spoiled, stubborn brat that does whatever it wants. My asthma does not listen to simple, logical directions. My asthma throws temper tantrums instead. GUH! I hate you asthma!
I also did a few drills, 100 squats (bad ass right?) and a few upper body resistance band exercises.
Do you guys ever make up a work out? Or do you stick to the traditional routines? Do you recommend any speed play routines? Or strength training routines? I'll take all I can get.
OH! One more thing. I'm doing this:
And if you are thinking about doing it too please email me so we can train together. Fabulous. kahavens@gmail.com.
Toodles!
