Asthma Attack!

Just after posting about healthy thoughts and smoke, I come back reporting my first asthma attack in Los Angeles. The smoke created by the multiple wildfires over Southern California turned the air quality unhealthy, causing cancellation of the Pasadena Marathon, the cycling rides of most of the cycling clubs, and even the swimming workouts at the Southern California Aquatics (SCAQ), the Masters swimming program I attend. Unaware of everything happening around me, I woke up late and arrived 15 minutes before the start of the Run for Her 5K race (this one did not get cancelled), and just after running the first mile in 6:15min I felt something was wrong.

My lungs did not follow my legs during the second mile, and soon my legs did not follow my will. Still managed to complete mile 2 in 13:50, and then my race was against my body, trying to beat my PR of 22:36 achieved last year at the same race. Finished strong, and marked 22:42, six seconds above my PR! I soon started to blame the course change this year, the weak pre-race warm-up, bad nutrition, when I noticed my burning nostrils and the cough coming frequent over my fast breathing.
It was an old familiar feeling, and everything came together when someone told me the Pasadena Marathon got cancelled due to unhealthy air quality. I had taken my usual two puffs of Albuterol before the race, but those were not enough. And of course the pump was at home. After meeting my wife, I spent about fifteen minutes controlling my respiration and considering if I should go to the medical tent. Little by little, the cough became less frequent, and all the phlegm came out, assuring the beginning of recovery.

This was the first time California has failed me, and this was painful. In New York I needed daily use of long-acting beta-agonists to treat my asthma, most likely because of allergies to tree pollen during Spring, but since I came to Los Angeles, I never needed medications again. I was happy and free. Suddenly, I could not get outside my apartment, and came across limitations to my training. This was scary and sad. All the radio reports and images on the TV were describing people losing their homes, and wildfires devastated in hours, with firefighters not able to contain most of the fire. This has shortened my breath more than any asthma attack, with no fast-relieve medicines. Imagine Saturday night I thought the Moon looked beautiful bearing a dark orange brightness.


Today, the strong smell of smoke still in the air and all the newspapers remind me the same feeling I had during the race, when it did not matter how hard I tried, I could not move my body to my will.

Healthy thoughts

I just briefly mentioned on previous post another reason to dislike New York: the large amount of people smoking over you. Probably this is just an impression resultant of so many people crowding Manhattan, but the fact is I am not as exposed to cigarette smoking here in LA. Even worse: for the whole 26.2 miles of the New York City Marathon I had at least ten times smokers throwing their air pollutants over the runners; approximately at mile 25 there was a guy smoking cigars at the race course! Maybe I am being too sharp, but that came to me as a disrespect to all runners, not to mention public health.

Talking about health, the day before New York City Marathon I had a trauma to my right shin caused by my luggage, and that created a very painful shin splint, felt only after the race, until two days ago. For the first five days after the race I could not walk properly, and only now I have stretched enough and recovered my balance. A wonderful realization was to learn that exercise accelerated my recovery, through spinning and treadmill training, avoiding excessive load on the legs. It is always nice to see that my body takes better care of itself than I do.

Mental health was another issue this week. The concerns of being injured, together with pain at every step lasting more than three days threatened my sanity. My plans on running Pasadena Marathon this weekend were put aside, even because the race was sold out while I waited to register after my recovery was evident. The urge to sit and plan my next year schedule has started to cause me nightmares, and this probably will make me busy next weekend. Only the idea of a new sprint triathlon in two weeks (the Turkey Tri) and Vineman Ironman 70.3 on next July can make me forget my current frustrations and push me forward.

Talking about happiness, the current streak of victories of the Trojans and the NY Giants have an important role, but what fills my soul and blows my mind is Brian Melekian and his journey to Ironman Arizona. To read the posts on his blog is always inspiring, even though his numbers show me I still have a lot of work to do. Now he just launched his online coaching website. It is an honor to know he reads my blog. For all these next days and during the race on November 23rd you can bet all my good thoughts and strong energy will be with him.

Feeling well again comes together with the joys of the Holidays, and the hope of an even better year. Tomorrow I will participate for the second time in Run for Her, a 5K race to raise awareness and funds to support ovarian cancer research, as part of my sprint triathlon training. I have started again to be able to plan ahead and project goals, and this is my healthiest state of mind.

Next races: Run for Her 5K (11/16/08), Turkey Tri (11/30/08), Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: Lance Armstrong. He is the inevitable hero; well-accomplished, gifted and well-spoken. Above any criticism and all the media, he is able to catch the public attention to important issues and his cause. He managed to be a landmark to whom athletes compare themselves, for better or worse...

Quote of the week: “If you leave the smallest corner of your head vacant for a moment, other people's opinions will rush in from all quarters”

George Bernard Shaw.