Allergies are THE WORST

After a long cold winter, I was SUPER excited to get back outside for a run.  I had been staying in the gym mostly, and decreased my running immensely.  Whatever running I did was on a treadmill because my lungs just did not want to adapt to the cold.  It's that damn asthma.  So dumb.

On one of our first warm days I went outside, feeling like a little kid with a 10 acre wide playground.  But within the first few minutes I had to walk.  I was crazy out of breath.  I thought to myself "No biggie.  You've been running on the treadmill for the last couple of months.  You'll need to adjust.  Try again."  As I started to pick up my pace, I was able to jog for about 2 minutes before I needed to walk again.  I still couldn't breathe, I started to get a headache, and my vision got blurry.  I only jogged 2 miles that day but had to stop to walk about a dozen times.

What I came to find out about a week later was that I had allergies.  Wait...what?  29 years old...never been allergic to a thing in my life and NOW I have allergies.  Apparently lots of folks this year were getting allergies like never before.  Something to do with the long winter blah blah blah.  I didn't fully absorb it because I was so super bummed. I LOVE running outside.  And not only was it going to be challenging because of the dang allergies, it was going to be even more challenging because of my ashthma.  Apparently allergies and asthma don't mix very well.

With that said, I have had to make some adjustments to deal with allergy season (which seems to be dragging on for frikkin ever!).  Here are just some suggestions for folks who might be dealing with the same thing:

• Nettle supplements.  They're a natural herb that you can get at GNC.  You have to be super diligent about them though.  Take 2 in the morning and 2 at night.  It's also best if you start them BEFORE allergy season hits.
• Local honey.  Also, better off eating some BEFORE the season.  Eating the honey from local bees helps you become somewhat immune to the local pollen.
• Neti pot.  It might be a bit painful at first, but it will help get the pollen out of your nasal system and help you breathe better.
• Flonase.  Helps with breathing too.
• Shower two to three times a day.  Especially when you get home.  Definitely take a shower before bed.
• Take off all of your clothes as soon as you get home.  Don't let your pollen infested clothes get all over your house.
• It might kill your electricity bill, but you gotta close your windows and turn on the AC on warm days.  Having your windows open with fans is like cropdusting your home with pollen.  
• Drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep.  Allergies will hit you hard and being deprived of these two things will only make it worse.
• If you have asthma, definitely hit that inhaler at least twenty minutes before exercise.

That's all I have for now.   Anybody else have any suggestion to survive allergies!?!?! 

Where did I go!?!?!

Despicable!  Truly.  i started this blog to try and capture my experience training and running my first ever marathon, and I did;t write a single blog!  Yikes.  Luckily, I tracked a lot of my runs and experiences through instagram, so it is not all lost.  But I REALLY do regret not noting some of my thoughts and personal growths and challenges here. However, hopefully I'll be better about this year!

Last year's marathon was truly an amazing experience.  I was definitely third and sore by the end of it.  I didn't realize how taxing the training would be.  Particularly with my schedule as a full time working single parent.  It makes training practically impossible; but not completely.  I did get injured for about 2-3 towards the end of training, so that set me back.  But the day of the marathon was pretty awesome.  I ran with one of my very good friends, who was also running her first marathon.  We ran the first 25 MILES together!  You don't understand what happens to a friendship when you run for over 4 hours together.  We decided to take it easy and not push to hard, which got me to the finish line at 5 hours and 16 minutes.  I was hoping to finish under 5, and probably could have done so if I pushed myself a bit, but I am much happier with how I approached my first marathon.  I relaxed, enjoyed the scenario and company, and just soaked it all in.

Now that i have that first experience out of the way, it's time to get more serious with my second marathon this fall.  I WILL complete it under 5 hours.  Even if it's at 4 hours and 59 minutes and 59 seconds.  I'm slightly apprehensive with the training that comes along for the marathon.  But I'm hoping since I've been working out pretty regularly, and I will have a couple more half marathons under my belt by that time, that my body (and time!) will be better by then.  Last year my knee gave out the last 6 miles.  So I'm hoping to cross the finish line this year stronger than before.  Crossing fingers!

Lot's of things have been shifting as I have been getting involved with two running groups; Moms Run This Town and Team Red, White and Blue.  Each group is so different and fulfills very different needs.  I'm interested and psyched what training with a group of people will do.  Last year I ran every single run solo, except for one long run with my newly found running sole mate/running boo.  Other than that, I was in a zone of self transformation and focus.  The idea of running with a community excites me.  Especially since there are so many folks from Team RWB running; it will be pretty awesome to soar with some of my fellow Eagles.

Let's just hope I can keep this up to date a little better than last year!  WISH ME LUCK!!!