Decided to try a run today.
The only way to find out what works for me with running is to try stuff out, but it is difficult to control such experiments as there are simply so many variables. Something may work one day but not another and it is hard to identify what the differences are and even harder to control them as they are mainly 'external factors'.
Anyway, an increase in heart rate makes it more likely for me to have an issue so for the sake of getting some training into my legs, this must be avoided. I set the cut off at 175bpm and promised to stick to it absolutely.
Second, experimentally, I have read of many runners who swear by using a buff over their mouth until they have fully warmed up. This, theoretically, keeps the air you breathe in both warm and moist and reduces the risk of a flare up. Not quite sure why you only need to use it until warmed up, but I decided to give it a try. I'm sure I looked a bit of a knob, but quite frankly I couldn't care less if it works!
I employed the normal procedure of two puffs of Salbutamol before the run, and set off feeling like a cowboy with my bright red buff over my nose and mouth. It seemed to help though, and I kept it on until I felt it was starting to restrict my breathing somewhat, this was after about 8 minutes so I would be fairly warmed up by then, although I normally start to experience problems (if I am going to) around 15 minutes in.
The next issue was heart-rate. As I started up the the hill towards School Brow I was able to keep it down by slowing off but as the hill steepened there was nothing for it but to walk. No problem - I am still breathing fine, and I am still getting round. Used the buff again on the downhill stretch just as I felt the air colder on this side of the hill, but then pulled it off again along the straight through the village.
Once again, walking up the hill when my heartrate tipped 174, and picking up the running again when it had dropped back down.
So, a run/walk then, but I got round with no ill-effects and still felt fine afterwards too, apart from a slight feeling of tightening. Stats show that my lung function is good post run, and it's a while since that occurred!
So, the buff is in the kit bag for the time being at least. I am really not sure how I am going to get on in Lincoln with this 10k, but I am heartened by the fact that it is flat, so I hope to be able to run all the way round. My legs are feeling the lack of running so I really do need to do some cross-training to keep them moving, and I think the bike ride yesterday helped. I was a bit congested after that, but it went off relatively quickly.
All things considered, I am happy with this mornings effort.
Monday 21 March 2011
Friday 18 March 2011
Joe & Back again!
Today was not supposed to be a running day but the sunshine was so gorgeous and the sea a sparkling blue and the fells - snow free at last - so awesome... well, you get the idea. Who would want to stay indoors on a day like today.
As Jasper has hurt his foot, a long walk with him was out of the question, so I thought I would pop in another run.
This did not go well, but taking the positive from it, I learn from these days. The problems, as usual, start to occur around the 15 minute mark. I have read many runners with asthma will warm up to bring this on, as once this has settled you can often continue relatively problem free. I think there is something in this. Reviewing my own running over the past months, on longer runs I have remarked that the first couple of miles were awful but then I got into it. This is much more than just finding your rhythm, or warming up.
I'm not quite sure how to go about trying this out though - I guess it is just a case of plugging on, but it is a tricky call as I don't wanna go off too far if I am going to have problems. Hmm, will have to give this some thought. Wonder if warming up indoors is the answer, although I haven't managed to set off the asthma through indoor exercise so far, so probably not.
Anyway, I am not going to get disheartened by this - after all, it wasn't even a running day!
A woman passed me as I was using my inhaler whilst sitting on the road side, she kindly checked if I was okay, I told her I would be okay and thanked her, adding 'I shouldn't run up hills', she replied 'you shouldn't be running at all with asthma, dear'.
She is kind, but wrong.
As Jasper has hurt his foot, a long walk with him was out of the question, so I thought I would pop in another run.
This did not go well, but taking the positive from it, I learn from these days. The problems, as usual, start to occur around the 15 minute mark. I have read many runners with asthma will warm up to bring this on, as once this has settled you can often continue relatively problem free. I think there is something in this. Reviewing my own running over the past months, on longer runs I have remarked that the first couple of miles were awful but then I got into it. This is much more than just finding your rhythm, or warming up.
I'm not quite sure how to go about trying this out though - I guess it is just a case of plugging on, but it is a tricky call as I don't wanna go off too far if I am going to have problems. Hmm, will have to give this some thought. Wonder if warming up indoors is the answer, although I haven't managed to set off the asthma through indoor exercise so far, so probably not.
Anyway, I am not going to get disheartened by this - after all, it wasn't even a running day!
A woman passed me as I was using my inhaler whilst sitting on the road side, she kindly checked if I was okay, I told her I would be okay and thanked her, adding 'I shouldn't run up hills', she replied 'you shouldn't be running at all with asthma, dear'.
She is kind, but wrong.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Joe & Back
Okay, okay - I know I can't make my mind up!
I have had a few days off work this week and the rest seems to be helping, a throat infection kind of knocked me for six and I now have some treatment for that and all is mending well. So this morning I decided to try a run, promising myself that even if I felt okay I was strictly only gonna do a three miler.
It seems to me that it is important for me to simply be able to complete a run at the moment without having any major problems with my breathing.
Big Sis has persuaded me that I should go to Lincoln for the weekend of the 10k - she is quite right too, Reece is in the kids run, and she is doing the buggy push with Poppy. Anyway, if I am going to be there I need to decide whether I am going to take part in the 10k or just spectate. This was the tester.
Took this run at a very very steady pace with a close eye on my heart rate. Of course hills are the problem, running uphill is really a challenge for me, and the bit of an incline towards the end of the route pushed by heart rate up to 184 and I was forced to stop momentarily to bring it back down. My own fault, I saw it increasing and didn't react to it thinking I could battle it out. I can't at the moment.
So I think as long as I take it steady and don't let my HR go above 180 I will probably be okay for Lincoln - it's supposedly a flat course. Well, I will find out!!
It will be great for me if I can manage it as this is the first of the runs I had planned for 2011. There is a second 10k two weeks later in Langdale which I will think about after Lincoln. and then I have nothing until mid June.
So I am planning to use a lot more cross training in my preparations for the half marathons I have planned, this keeps me on track on days when I can't go out cos of weather or just when my breathing is poor.
“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”- Jimmy Dean
Just been sussing out the route for the 10k, and it does look pretty harmless. Lots of long straight roads, so hope there's lots to distract me!! Mapmyrun used to be so useless, but it is actually pretty good these days...
Sunday 13 March 2011
Back to the start
Two weeks since my last run, although I have been out with Jasper a few times to keep my legs moving. Seems crazy that just two weeks ago I had slogged out those 18 miles and was feeling fine, and now here I am struggling to get out of the door.
The doc was very pleased with how we are bringing the asthma under control but he feels it is too soon for me to be attempting a marathon, and I did not this time protest. I know he is right. It would be too much for me and it is not worth the risk. I think as far as the asthma goes I need time to get used to how it feels and what certain feelings mean - to recognise when all is well in the breathing factory and when I am at risk. At the moment I am at the start of that learning process, but I am learning fast!!
My goal being removed I found I had absolutely no desire to run. This in turn made me pretty miserable, although it was good medicine to have a few days away last weekend with my cousins Emily & Christina down in Leeds. Had a great time away from running and all running related things (although I did go for a run with Jasper!)
Since returning home I have reset my sights and have signed up for a half marathon in mid June here in Cumbria, and I still have the two 10k's already booked for April. Lincoln on 3rd and Langdale on 17th or something. So I really needed to pull on the Asics and get on with it.
Decided to hit a route which is on my way home from work. Tallentire.
When I first took up running I lived in Cockermouth and I didn't want people to see me huffing and puffing through the town so I went just up the road and ran round these lovely quiet villages, well hamlets really of Bridekirk and Tallentire. I remember using my first HRM here - a polar which I loved, and it was here that I pushed myself like mad to run for a whole two minutes before the respite of a walk for one minute! I was hooked.
So this was the place for me to start again. All those massive hills I had remembered were now just inclines! Ha ha, I loved it being back on these quiet tracks with the beautiful view of the snow capped fells around, and lambs springing along in every field. Lovely. And the running? Started off great, felt fab and was going at a reasonable pace too, lovely. This is exactly what I hoped to take from this run today and it would put me back in the game and I can start training again with a fresh perspective.
But then I started wheezing and by heart rate elevated and I weakened and weakened and it got harder and harder. Ventolin required. Oh dear. It was VERY cold and maybe that was the issue but I had a lot of problems and had to stop-start a bit. I confess to finding this very upsetting but I pushed on to 4 and a half from the original 6 I had intended. It would have been folly to have gone farther. Back at the car and driving on home I started to get very congested and when I got to the house I required a few further hits of my inhaler before it came back under control.
Depressing, but as I said, a learning curve. I am not going to run tomorrow but will hope to on Tuesday, just a short one. I need to get the feel of this, as I think I should have been able to identify signs that today was not a run day. I will get there, but I beleive it would be sensible of me to withdraw from the 10k in 3 weeks time. In the words of my doctors, it's just too soon Sarah.
The doc was very pleased with how we are bringing the asthma under control but he feels it is too soon for me to be attempting a marathon, and I did not this time protest. I know he is right. It would be too much for me and it is not worth the risk. I think as far as the asthma goes I need time to get used to how it feels and what certain feelings mean - to recognise when all is well in the breathing factory and when I am at risk. At the moment I am at the start of that learning process, but I am learning fast!!
My goal being removed I found I had absolutely no desire to run. This in turn made me pretty miserable, although it was good medicine to have a few days away last weekend with my cousins Emily & Christina down in Leeds. Had a great time away from running and all running related things (although I did go for a run with Jasper!)
Since returning home I have reset my sights and have signed up for a half marathon in mid June here in Cumbria, and I still have the two 10k's already booked for April. Lincoln on 3rd and Langdale on 17th or something. So I really needed to pull on the Asics and get on with it.
Decided to hit a route which is on my way home from work. Tallentire.
When I first took up running I lived in Cockermouth and I didn't want people to see me huffing and puffing through the town so I went just up the road and ran round these lovely quiet villages, well hamlets really of Bridekirk and Tallentire. I remember using my first HRM here - a polar which I loved, and it was here that I pushed myself like mad to run for a whole two minutes before the respite of a walk for one minute! I was hooked.
So this was the place for me to start again. All those massive hills I had remembered were now just inclines! Ha ha, I loved it being back on these quiet tracks with the beautiful view of the snow capped fells around, and lambs springing along in every field. Lovely. And the running? Started off great, felt fab and was going at a reasonable pace too, lovely. This is exactly what I hoped to take from this run today and it would put me back in the game and I can start training again with a fresh perspective.
But then I started wheezing and by heart rate elevated and I weakened and weakened and it got harder and harder. Ventolin required. Oh dear. It was VERY cold and maybe that was the issue but I had a lot of problems and had to stop-start a bit. I confess to finding this very upsetting but I pushed on to 4 and a half from the original 6 I had intended. It would have been folly to have gone farther. Back at the car and driving on home I started to get very congested and when I got to the house I required a few further hits of my inhaler before it came back under control.
Depressing, but as I said, a learning curve. I am not going to run tomorrow but will hope to on Tuesday, just a short one. I need to get the feel of this, as I think I should have been able to identify signs that today was not a run day. I will get there, but I beleive it would be sensible of me to withdraw from the 10k in 3 weeks time. In the words of my doctors, it's just too soon Sarah.
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