Training in April...should I just stay inside?

are honeysuckles really that sweet? I don't think so!

April 1-27, 2011

My loyal followers (yes, only 6, but everyone started with 0, right?!) know that I have asthma. Yep, my whole life and it sucks. Before I moved to Arizona, I usually spent most of March and April in an oxygen tent. During my senior year in high school, I missed 3 straight weeks in April and almost did not graduate because my Calculus teacher thought I was skippin'. We no longer talk...
even at home, my mother wore her nurse's uniform

Fast forward to 2000 and my delusional idea to move to AZ for relief from breathing problems. Instead of using current medical information found on that new-fangled thing called the Internet, I relied on the encyclopedia and discovered that the desert southwest was perfect for allergy and asthma sufferers. So I sold my junk at a few garage sales, packed up the rest of the stuff in my tiny Acura and drove west.

The first 5 years were pretty good and I was rarely sick other than mornings after the pub crawls. Then I started teaching, got pink eye (excuse me, conjunctivitis) every February, and put my pharmacist back on speed dial in March and April. 2006, sick; 2007, sicker; 2008, very sick; 2009, medical leave.

Last spring was better! I had spent 10 months away from work, trained for hiking and running challenges, vacationed in Hawaii, took daily naps, you know, living the good life!! I also spent a good amount of time inside the gym, running on the treadmill, and skipped races from March-May.

I ran races in June-August, returned to full-time work in early August, saw my doctor on schedule and kept running steadily again in late September. Thought I would be fine this Spring.

I struggled this month. I smelled every honeysuckle and rhododendron bush I passed. Other people relish the smell of fresh cut grass, but my bronchial tubes contracted a little tighter. Jeff's biggest dilemma was whether to wear the support hose in black or white. I wondered if I should leave the extra GU to bring an epi pen instead. I really like exercising outside but I may have to take it inside next time. Unless McGeyer invents a lightweight, portable Nebulizer!

Jeff and I were out there 3-4 times a week + 2 hikes and logged about 60 miles in April. That's nothing to sneeze at.... ;)