The Road to Berlin has Started
Training for Berlin started on Memorial Day weekend. It's been a few months since I have done any marathon training, and with the asthma flareups, I have been reticent to push it and get an attack. So, going into this training, I was not sure what to expect. Training for a marathon is not easy; training for a marathon during Summer in Miami, is worse. But I am nothing if not a fighter, so fight I will.
Week 1 went really well. I got my new paces from my coach and it allowed me to run easier than before in order for the asthma not to be a bother. The first week included a 5K race I had already planned and, like the other 5K races, it was a disaster. After the last five 5Ks, three of which included an asthma attack, I am officially scared of them. Mileage: 43.
Week 2 came with a challenge. The Saturday prior, I attended a party and there was some debris and residue from a construction done earlier that week. By Monday I was seriously ill. I was diagnosed with severe asthma (rather than my regular mild asthma), given a prescription for a nebulizer, and stayed home from work. I was exhausted, I couldn't breathe well, and was unable to perform all of my runs. Mileage: 18
Week 3 came much easier. I decided not to do my LR for Week 2 and the extra rest did me well. I did some kickboxing on Monday and by then I knew that the body was ready to continue training. This was a cutback week anyway, so I was able to do all my workouts, including my new weight training workouts, and my runs without issue. The only residue of the severe asthma was a lingering cough. Long run was a 14 miler with 2 fast miles at the end and even I surprise myself by performing so well. Mileage: 36
Week 4 went even better. Cough went down to almost zero and I was able to fly during my fartlek intervals. I was glad to see paces going down to sub-7mm without asthma issues. The 16 miler long run also went very well. Tropical Storm Debbie (before becoming one) parked itself in South Florida, so most of my runs were in the rain and with higher than high humidity. However, the relief from the temperatures and sun did me well. While I was running in 90-95F and 70-74 dewpoint during Week 3, I was running in 73-75F and 75-78 dewpoint and, although humidity is my asthma trigger, the lower temps really help. Some of my runs were done faster than usual and I thought my coach would ask me to slow down, but we agreed the weather helped a lot. The long run of 16 miles went really; faster pace overall and lower HR than my other runs. I did run my 9 miles on Wednesday and I had a HR spike that almost caused me an asthma attack, but it went away. I figure that if I can find why these spikes are occurring, I can prevent any asthma attacks from happening. Mileage: 44
So now, I am about to finish with Week 5. For those results, you will have to stay tuned.
Sorry I have been absent for a while. Work has been busy and life has thrown me some curves. As to the asthma, I had an asthma follow up visit during Week 4. The news was not good. No improvement and, in fact, I had a 3-5% reduction of breathing capacity. Now my larger valves are at 76% from 80% and the smaller valves are at 62% from 67%. The severe asthma week had something to do with it, so I hope next time the results will be better. I am still using the same meds but we're playing with the timing of the doses and after that, all my runs have been better, so hopefully, that will help.
Thanks for reading.
Week 1 went really well. I got my new paces from my coach and it allowed me to run easier than before in order for the asthma not to be a bother. The first week included a 5K race I had already planned and, like the other 5K races, it was a disaster. After the last five 5Ks, three of which included an asthma attack, I am officially scared of them. Mileage: 43.
Week 2 came with a challenge. The Saturday prior, I attended a party and there was some debris and residue from a construction done earlier that week. By Monday I was seriously ill. I was diagnosed with severe asthma (rather than my regular mild asthma), given a prescription for a nebulizer, and stayed home from work. I was exhausted, I couldn't breathe well, and was unable to perform all of my runs. Mileage: 18
Week 3 came much easier. I decided not to do my LR for Week 2 and the extra rest did me well. I did some kickboxing on Monday and by then I knew that the body was ready to continue training. This was a cutback week anyway, so I was able to do all my workouts, including my new weight training workouts, and my runs without issue. The only residue of the severe asthma was a lingering cough. Long run was a 14 miler with 2 fast miles at the end and even I surprise myself by performing so well. Mileage: 36
Week 4 went even better. Cough went down to almost zero and I was able to fly during my fartlek intervals. I was glad to see paces going down to sub-7mm without asthma issues. The 16 miler long run also went very well. Tropical Storm Debbie (before becoming one) parked itself in South Florida, so most of my runs were in the rain and with higher than high humidity. However, the relief from the temperatures and sun did me well. While I was running in 90-95F and 70-74 dewpoint during Week 3, I was running in 73-75F and 75-78 dewpoint and, although humidity is my asthma trigger, the lower temps really help. Some of my runs were done faster than usual and I thought my coach would ask me to slow down, but we agreed the weather helped a lot. The long run of 16 miles went really; faster pace overall and lower HR than my other runs. I did run my 9 miles on Wednesday and I had a HR spike that almost caused me an asthma attack, but it went away. I figure that if I can find why these spikes are occurring, I can prevent any asthma attacks from happening. Mileage: 44
So now, I am about to finish with Week 5. For those results, you will have to stay tuned.
Sorry I have been absent for a while. Work has been busy and life has thrown me some curves. As to the asthma, I had an asthma follow up visit during Week 4. The news was not good. No improvement and, in fact, I had a 3-5% reduction of breathing capacity. Now my larger valves are at 76% from 80% and the smaller valves are at 62% from 67%. The severe asthma week had something to do with it, so I hope next time the results will be better. I am still using the same meds but we're playing with the timing of the doses and after that, all my runs have been better, so hopefully, that will help.
Thanks for reading.
Good luck with the marathon!
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