February

[ladyrunner]

Hi SW,

Just been reading about your asthma. I had suffered with terrible breathing problems whilst I was running for years after getting a dreadful chest infection back in 2003. My lungs were so strong before the infection - the only way that I can measure the difference that the infection made was through swimming underwater as I didn't own a peak flow meter back in those days. Before I had my chest infection I could swim 25-30 meters under water holding my breath, but afterwards I could only manage 5 meters!!

I went to the doctors about it approximately 18 months ago. I had all sorts of tests done - lung xray, computerised peak flow testing and had to keep a diary of my peak flow for a couple of weeks after using the brown and blue inhaler. Nothing was conclusive but the doctor suspected that I have some minor scar tissue on my lungs which has damaged them. The brown inhaler, which is the preventer did not have any benefit. It should have slowly risen my peak flow back up towards normal levels, but the Blue inhaler does open my airways and help me to breath when I run.

Before I run I always take 2-4 puffs of the blue inhaler - and will carry it with me on a long run so that I can use it to top up after a couple of hours if necessary.

Cold weather hasn't been too much of a problem for me with the asthma but the biggest problem I find is when I'm tired my breathing is bad.

Regular interval training seems to really help as it gets your lungs working. Also I have an Ultrabreath (http://www.ultrabreathe.com/) which is excellant and inexpensive.

Could you try doing a longer run over flatter terrain to see if this helps??

Julie