Nine: Asthma and Allergy Control

I am an allergy an asthma sufferer. Both have affected my running in the past. Last May, I had Claritin induced muscle weakness which kept me from doing any serious running for about a month before I got it figured out. And then in August, I had my first ever asthma attack and it was a doozy, turning the 100k National Championships at Where's Waldo into my worst race ever. Fortunately, these are things that I think I have under control so they won't be an issue on race day (knock on wood!).

Last August, I started getting allergy shots for grass. I had a little scare in the form of an anaphylaxis attack, so that I am not up to the full dose yet, but it is smack dab in the middle of grass season and I have barely a sniffle! No more head full of yuck and no more allergy meds!

For the asthma, it seems to work pretty well to do a three to five day lead up with the steroid inhaler. Yep, hitting the 'roids right before race day. Shhh! Don't tell anyone! Just kidding, these are NOT anabolic steroids so they won't help me get big and strong. It does help my running, however, if I can breathe properly! I will be carrying my short acting inhaler with me the entire way on race day and I plan to use it if I feel even the slightest tightness in my chest (I did this at Bandera and in the Grand Canyon and never had any problems).

In addition, I have been taking Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin C and Vitamin E supplements for the anti-inflammatory properties. Do they help and am I sold? I don't really know, but they don't seem to be hurting any so I will keep taking them at least through race day.

So that should keep me breathing easy...well, at least when I am not hyperventilating thinking about the race!