45th time's the charm?

Take a moment. Breathe. Feel the air in your body, your whole body.  It reaches every part.  It feeds, powers even that twitch in your eyebrow.  

I went to my allergist last week.  She cured my allergies years ago. Love her for that, really. So why the visit, eh? No, my eyes haven't suddenly welled up from the neighbors mowing the lawn (we have weeds that kind of look like grass. My roommate did mow them last week.  Looks much better, but still...shabby).  No, allergies are not my problem.  The thing is that I can't breathe.  Or, at least I can't breathe when I'm running fast or up a hill, and fast up a hill? Only in my happiest dreams.

I have asthma (have I mentioned that?), and it's not responding to my old meds like it used to.  I've been running with it since I was 12 or 13.  Nothing gets it going like speedwork or hillwork.  I was on the track the other day.  Just 3x1 mile hard.  Six min pace or less.  Naturally, I wheeze a bit running at 6 min but no bad.  Got worse when I picked it up on my second mile.  Tighter in the throat.  On the third lap of my final mile, however (when I was running 5:35 pace or so), air sounded like a train going in, and my exhale was literally a scream.  The air vibrated my vocal cords and i quite literally screamed my way down the track.  Not wanting to collapse from lack of oxygen (have i mentioned the fact that you need air to run?), i slowed down and finished at 5:45. It was annoying.

Yesterday I wheezed my way through 8.5 hard.  You know, after a while, it bothers my legs.  I think they don't get quite enough oxygen to keep 'em happy. Now, i didn't have an all-out attack like the speedwork day, which is nice.  I'm on a new medication that i have to take twice daily.  i feel like an addict. So maybe this one will work better than the previous (three? four? i don't remember).  and if--in a month--i still sound like a train, i have anther drug to try.  and if that one doesn't work in the next month, don't worry, because she gave me yet another inhaler to test.  after that, who knows.

Glam

It's been a while. so sorry. i'll use the excuse that i've been too busy running (i have been. check my training at lisap.fastrunningblog.com).  anywho, i'll tell a funny tale to make amends to the millions who have been biting their nails in anticipation of my next post.

This story requires a bit of preface. Being an avid runner comes with...hazards, not all of which are injuries.  This specific, however, begins with an injury.  Just after my st. george marathon in 2007 my achilles tendons were on the verge of seceding from the union and would not hear tales of meeting "half-way" and demanded a break.  Thus, the pool running began again.  After a few months of pool running I was in and out of the gym all the time, sometimes running on land a bit, often elipticalling or biking.  I was in and out of the gym on campus often as i drop in between classes (i teach at usu). my schedule just happened to coincide with this good-looking red-head's schedule who worked there. we were there at the same time in the day and often in the evening as well and chatted every now and again. i swear i didn't go at those times because he was there. but it was certainly a perk. 

anyway, after a while we became friends or at least acquaintances and i learned he had a semi-serious girlfriend (of course) but that was ok because he was still cute and fun to chat with.  one day he came up to me while i was stretching before a run and said, "lisa, i feel like i can tell you this now that we're friends."

     Curiosity piqued, i said, "ok. go on.."

"So one of the first times i ever saw you, you were running up the hill on eighth."

        "k" i continued stretching waiting for him to tell me how i was running fast and that he was impressed with me.

"well i knew you had to be really into running..."

suspicion confirmed. compliment on running. yeah (usually i try to avoid these because i'm somewhat bashful with compliments but he was cute so i didn't care)

luckily my silent commentary lasted only a second so i didn't have to make him repeat: "...because you had the biggest snot-stache i think i've ever seen."

I must have blinked and maybe dropped my jaw (as cliche as that is) because i did not expect to hear that. you don't tell a girl you saw her with a snot-stache regardless of how hard she's running. i must have run pretty hard to mess up a snot-rocket or farmer-blow (both sound much more vulgar that i'd like them too. i hesitated at using either in this blog. oh well, i am not a dainty woman when i run. apparently).

i managed to laugh at the story and we became better friends. even when he'd introduce me to people with that story. like he later said, it's a good thing we weren't dating because he'd tell that story all the time. 

good thing indeed.

Blarg! I feel icky!

I hate it when I can't run...even when I'm sick.  I'd rather just run through a cold and sweat it out than sit in bed and watch a movie and pretend I'm enjoying the time off.

Usually I can do this. I find that I don't often get sick and when I do it's usually just for a day. I'll run easy for a day and then regain strength.  Two weeks ago, however, that didn't work out so well.  I'm not going into any details but we'll say that running was not very enjoyable.  I tried and tried and tried to run but my body decided to secede from the union of running.  I think I managed to squeak out at least a few miles each day.  And they were pathetic miles; I must admit I had a hard time pushing it even for a few days after my icky-ness passed. 

Now that I'm back and ready to run hard, the inversion has settled upon my picturesque Logan, making the view not quite so lovely. So at the moment I'm one with the treadmill. And, for at least a day or two, it's okay.  I sometimes like running on the treadmill because I have the inability to run easy (sort of addicted to the "speed up" button), and I'll confess that it generates a most excellent running high and life is better again despite the fact that I must not run in the sun.