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First off, I would like to bring to your attention the fact that during the whole of 2009, I did not need to visit the emergency room once, nor was I hospitalized for any reason. Holla!
Despite this awesome fact, the amount of times I visited the urgent care clinic and the number of prednisone courses I took suggest that my asthma control is still less than optimal. I’m working on it.
Springtime was rocky, as it always is, but 2009 was nowhere near the rough ride that 2008 was. Hopefully this spring will be even better.
I caught H1N1 in June (in all likelihood) from my dear brother who caught it at school. This turned my normally easy-breathing month of June into a bit of a nightmare.
When I moved back to school, I moved into an appartment as opposed to living with family as in previous years. I keep it as lung-friendly as I possibly can. Being the sole manager of my health has been a learning curve, and I have learned a lot. Go me!
I took up RUNNING, which boosted my confidence and helped me to totally rearrange my mental schema of what I am actually capable of. I’m much less quick to restrict myself with limits now, and so are the people around me. Plus, I’ve found something that I enjoy tremendously.
My pulmonologist and family doctor gave me a vote of confidence this fall when they allowed me to decide when I need to take oral steroids. I tried not to get into a funk over how “sick” this means I am, and took it as a ticket to more freedom. I’m trying very hard to be a responsible patient.
If I were to bundle 2009 into a unifying breathing theme: “Going from an asthma kid to an asthma adult“. It sure feels that way anyway.
Hello! C’est moi! I thought I’d post a little running update for those interested. Recently, it became winter, which has meant I’ve done some adjusting.
First of all, I’d say I run about three days a week now, as opposed to the five days I did during the fall. This kind of sucks and I should try and get myself out more, despite the lack of sunlight and the colder temperatures.
The cold air is an issue. I’ve discovered that around -10 C is about the coldest I can run at. I have an awesome lycra neckwarmer thing that I pull up to my eyeballs and it really helps. It does get a little hot and moist in there though. I’ve been running 3 km at a time, which considerably less than I had worked up to in the fall, but is about as far as I can go without my lungs protesting and burning.
The snow is not an issue. The sidewalks are either plowed or salted and so far there’s rarely ice on them. I do need to pay a little more attention to my footing these days though.
Rather than being disappointed with my reduced running frequency and distance, I’m just happy that I’m getting outside and exercising rather than staying inside in my pyjamas all day (which is quite easy to do during winter exam period). Also, I’m super stoked that my lungs have actually been extremely cooperative lately. So yay for running.
My dad and I are looking forward to running together when I go home, but the weather there is extremely cold and dry out there (think -35 C) so we’re just going to have to see.
Exams start in two weeks minus one day, anyone else feel like these past four months just flew by? From now on in, I am committed to studying and staying healthy. Of course I will run as much as possible because this is what keeps me studying well! Time to hunker down 
Thanks to the Runner’s World magazine my dad brought me, which I read cover to cover many times, I’m starting to learn stuff about running. Like how you should schedule both a long run and a tempo run every week (well, if you are actually serious about training that is).
A tempo run, as I understand it, is a shorter run at “medium-hard” pace, intended to increase speed and resistance. I usually do one a week if the week is going well breathing-wise. I find these way hard! I know, I know, they’re supposed to be. As I’ve been experimenting with running different distances and at different paces, I’ve been surprised to discover that I can handle a “long” run quite well, as long as I keep my pace in check. I always thought that due to my lungs I’d never be an endurance chick. But nope, as long as I maintain a slow and steady pace and concentrate on breathing, I am able to run long.
The tempo runs are harder. These are the ones that have me on the floor after I stop. It takes me forever to recover from one, even though it’s such a short workout. I suppose it might be this way even for non-lungers (feel free to chime in, I wanna know!). When you push your pace, you’re putting a pretty high oxygen demand on your body, and it takes a whole lotta breath to meet that demand. I like them though, because they wake my muscles up and really make them work.
I’m not training to be an elite runner, I don’t really need to increase my speed, I just want to run! I don’t really need to include tempo runs in my regimen, which is why it’s hard to make myself do them when I know I’ll feel crappy afterward. But I guess it’s good for any runner to shake things up and develop different facets of their running. It’s bound to get easier if I stick to it! I’ll keep you posted.
I love to run, even when breathing is pretty tough. I might even say I love it especially when breathing is tough. To start running is to make my lungs wake up. Suddenly I’m pushing air to the nether regions that never seem to see any action. My lungs feel alive, and real, like a part of me instead of some faulty auxiliaries.
When you see me doing my lowly 6 kilometre jog in the morning, huffing and pushing air with the intensity of an olympic rower, you might wonder what my problem is. Well I’m here to tell you that I don’t have one, I’m just out getting my daily high.
Yeaaahhhh. What makes you feel alive?
24 hours after starting the prednisone, I feel like me again. I went for an easy 3 km run this morning. Some people might say that is a ridiculous thing to do, but don’t worry I did use my brain. I rolled over in bed this morning, and didn’t feel any pain, and instead of taking in a half a breath before coughing my brains out, a nice full breath just glided into my lungs. Now THAT’S improvement!! I couldn’t believe it, so I jumped outta bed, took my puffers, had some water, got dressed and went. I took it easy and I was fine. It felt so good to be outside and active! I’ll be back to my regular distance/intensity in no time!
Now I am chowing down one of my favourite breakfasts : oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins with milky Earl Grey tea on the side. yummmm
I have THREE good reasons to get and stay healthy for next week: I have a midterm on Monday, I have an appointment for my H1N1 vaccine next Tuesday, and I am giving blood on Friday. Yes, yes I know I’m fairly certain I already had swine flu back in June and that I’m probably immune to it (especially since my rockin’ immune system fended it off when my roommate had it) but really you can never be too safe!
I’m so happy to be feeling better and that I didn’t spend all that much time in the crappy zone. I must say (though pride is supposedly a sin) that I think I handled this flare-up pretty well. I didn’t waste any time in doing what I needed to do and as a result I’m already better. Oh, and what did my mom say when I called her? “OK, well good luck with the asteroids sweetie”.
I had some awesome runs with my dad this weekend. I think he might have realized that I didn’t start running because my asthma was cured suddenly, but that I learned to run with my asthma. And I think he was impressed. The first day we went at an easy pace, but on the second day he kept pushing the envelope. Not one to be shown up, I responded. It took me awhile to recover but it really was a good run. It’s nice for someone to push you once in awhile, then you realize that you can do a little more than you thought. Of course, I pushed myself just because he was there too, wanting to appear as the strong one hehehehe.
There were many many wonderful parts of last week, despite the circumstances. Somehow my brain is total mush. Getting back to reality today has been…. odd. But if I just keep swimming everything will be ok.
That means… I did it!! I ran 10 km, I ran the whole way!! That in itself is enough to make me feel GREAT, but of course there were bumps along the way. I woke up this morning excited and breathing better than I had all week. Excellent!
The first 5 km were comfortable, I was battling with my own mind more than anything. I should have just taken the time to appreciate the beautiful day but instead I let myself get bored. The trees were gorgeous, the whole neighbourhood was a glowing gold colour.
At about 6 km, the wind picked up and we got out onto a main road. At this point I felt my breathing change and it got harder and harder to blow my air out. I really had to concentrate and focus hard to breathe properly, which, on the plus side, occupied my brain. The 6-8 km stretch was the worst, dyspnea-wise.
At about 7km I developed blisters and my shins got crampy. It seemed agonizing at the time, but now that I’m sitting here I can hardly remember what it felt like! I bet THAT is why people keep registering for races over and over again.
At 8km I felt sure I could do it. 2 more kilometers felt entirely do-able and I knew I could just bear down and run to the end. Then at 9km, I started to feel GREAT, I was flying! As I got to see the finish, with under half a km to go, I started running strong. I wouldn’t say I sprinted to the finish, but it was a pretty rockin’ pace! As soon as we got to the finish line, they fed us bagels and vegetarian beans!! Yummmm.
The only thing that really hurts right now is the arches of my feet, but I’m sure they will loosen up soon. My chest has gotten tighter since finishing the race, but I still feel pretty good! I’m perched on the couch at my aunt’s house right now, and I’m going to settle down with some studying soon. If I don’t move for the next few hours, that is fine with me!!
YAAAHOOOOOOOO!!!
I just completed my last training run for Sunday’s race. Seeing as deciding to run the 10k distance was a rushed deal, I haven’t put in the amount of training as I might have if I had had 6 weeks notice. Nevertheless, I’ve been running solidly for over a month and I hope it will be enough. Thanks to all for your encouragement! Here’s a brief look at this week’s training:
Saturday: 6 km
Sunday: 6 km
Monday: 15 minute swim (was cut short due to SOB)
Tuesday: rest day, too SOB for running
Wednesday: 7.5 km
Thursday: 3 km at tempo pace
Friday: 7.5 km
Now it’s rest time until Sunday morning!!
To be completely honest with you (as I try to always be) this week has not been optimal breathing-wise. I had 2 days where I felt too short of breath to exert myself too much and I’ve been pretty tight all week. To say I’m approaching this race with a little trepidation would be accurate. But, today I’m finally feeling better and I’m hoping that this will hold until after the race (and beyond!!). Also, the fact that I was able to train through most of it has given me a huge confidence boost.
I will of course give you a full race report sometime on Sunday. Wish me luck!! 
