So as of late my lungs have been mildly cooperative at best. Some of this undoubtedly relates to the fact that our air quality around here has been yellow most of the time, when the air quality doesn't stink it's because it's raining cats and dogs outside (time to start on the arc!). Finally, I'm still recovering from the week off antihistamines. That really tanked me down like a yellow submarine(okay so the ventolin is exaggerating my puny-ness). On top of that my hormones decided it would be a good time to mess with me too.
Basically it boils down to me and the little  blue guy have been seeing way too much of each other as of late. Don't get me wrong I love my little ventolin but I'd really like to see quite a bit less of it. I mean I'm definitely not in full blown flare by any means. I hit the ventolin up maybe once or twice in a day which isn't too horrible for me and flares. However, I really do want to get back to pounding the pavement and in generally not feeling gross all the time. So in a moment of weaker judgment today I went out for a run after it had started to cool off for the evening. I don't know if it was the heat or what but even with premedicating I still ended up all tight by the time I got home. I took another two hits of the inhaler then which loosened me up. It's now precisely 4 hours later and I'm starting to tighten up again.
Darn my lungs and their inability to tolerate this heat/humidity. It's really going to cramp my style if I can't get back to training for the 5k. I do want to run it so badly. It is not just a physical goal but also a mental one. Finishing the 5k with at least a good chunk of running for me will symbolize a victory over my asthma and allergies. I know that this is just a small victory in a long and endless war. However, being able to do something that literally would have never dreamed of until I read some of the other asthma blogs out there is really a big mental step for me. It is just a few physical steps. However, it breaks down the wall between me and the idea of being physically fit. Last spring/winter when I was literally gasping for breath just to make it up the stairs (not out of shape mind you); I thought I'd never exercise again.  I couldn't breathe enough to laugh, power walk, or do the stairs. I pretty much gave up on being able to hit the rower or the elliptical at the gym ever again. At that point success to me was being able to make it around campus to classes or sharing a good laugh with friends without stopping to cough up a lung. With some symbicort and a bit of TLC my lungs have made it to that point. I still wheeze quite a bit when laughing but I have always done that and probably always will.
The new goal is to get my buns in shape. I managed to loose a whopping 14 lbs between my annual check-ups with Dr. Z(PCP). While I don't care if I loose and ounce (okay so maybe I do a little), I really want to be able to run and bike and swim like I used to when I was a carefree kid. Okay, so I never really did these things very well as a kid because I was always stopping to catch by breath/cough(hmm.... early warning sign anybody?). Who says I can't let my inner child turn into a runner after all? Now seems like a good time to stop rambling.