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!?!?!
