Take My Breath Away

Following this year's LA Marathon weekend where I rode the Acura LA Bike Tour, I've tried to stay active during the summer, and was somewhat successful at doing so. I've managed to get myself out and hiking, cycling, swimming and a bit of running. Even with the amount of activity I was doing, whenever I went for a run, I felt like I was slow and ran out of steam, and attributed it to being out of shape.

I'm really more built as a sprinter on top of the fact that I have poor stamina due to my have physically-induced asthma, so it’s a constant challenge to pace myself for the long run.

Getting my running watch’s battery replaced was going to help solve a lot of my problems. The only way I'll be able to survive a marathon is by going at a run/walk ratio, which is perfectly paced out with my watch. I was really excited to be able to monitor myself better, and see if the pace I was going is up to scratch to where I should be.

I was going for broke and was going to see if the three minute run, two minute walk pace was manageable for me on Tuesday. Things seemed to start of good and strong, and I was able to keep up with my friend who’s usually a strong, sustained runner, but ran intervals with me that day because her knees were bothering her.

I knew I've been running out of my inhaler medication for some time, and it's a critical thing for me to use prior to any excessive physical exertion. It wasn't long before I felt short of breath one minute into the run, and I could feel and hear myself wheezing, something I haven't done in a while. I tried to keep going as best I could, and it came to the point that I was running, but very, very slowly.

Around the same time, my friend’s knees really started to hurt, and when we were about halfway around, our short sprints were slow, painful tasks. We then took a five minute walk break and did the rest of the run on a three minute walk, two minute run. We finished the run at a pace we could tolerate, and felt good, albeit a bit pained.

We managed to run around the Rose Bowl (just over 3 miles) in just under 42 minutes – which was faster than a 15 minute mile pace. Despite our run’s handicaps, we still managed to get in at a decent pace.

In the end, my efforts to get myself back into shape have been successful, if only my lungs could keep up. I’m going to have to take it easy, for I can’t get a refill on my inhaler medication until next week when my doctor comes back from vacation, but will remain relatively active in the meantime.