Saturday, June 18, 2011

Stumbling Block: Running with Allergies

In case you are lucky enough to not suffer from an outdoor allergy, let me just say: it sucks. Hard. Now here's the really fun part: you may have them, and not even know it.

I had never really had a problem with allergies, until after 1) I started running, and 2) the trees started blooming. Apparently, allergies are dose-dependent. Think of it like a bottle of wine. After one glass, you're still fine - no real inebriation. But after the whole bottle...

Allergies work something like the bottle of wine. While just walking around outside going about your normal business, you body may be able to handle pollen just fine and any effects you feel are minimal. But when you're running, you're huffing down the pollen at such a high dose that your body can't take it anymore. That's exactly what happened to me. I had been running just fine, until one day in April. The run itself went fine, but after about 5 minutes of cool down I started sneezing uncontrollably. My kids helpfully counted over 20 sneezes in the first 5 minutes. Plus, my nose was running like a faucet. I was a mess.

That's where my exploration into running with allergies started. There is good news and there is bad news. The good news: there is relief in sight. The bad news: there's no quick fix. First, if you do have allergies, you'll need an anti-histamine. Most over-the-counter ones will work just fine. However, anti-histamines don't work like painkillers - when you first take them, you likely won't notice any difference at all. In fact, it takes about 2 weeks to build up a good amount of anti-histamine in your system.

So, what to do for those 2 weeks? You basically have 2 options: suffer through it, or take it easy. If you opt to suffer through it, there are some things you can do to make it less painful:
  1. Pollen levels are highest early in the morning and late in the evening, so run in the afternoon.
  2. Try a nasal spray before your run. The idea here is that the spray acts as a barrier between the pollen and your nasal tissue. It works for some, and not for others, so you'll need to experiment a little.
  3. Take a shower the minute you walk in the house, and quarantine your clothes. This keeps the pollen from lingering on you and continuing to aggravate you.
  4. Stay super hydrated - the better hydrated you are, the better your body can fight allergens.
  5. Ladies: beware your period. For whatever reason, we're more susceptible to allergy attacks during and just before our periods.
Lastly, know your allergy. Sometimes its obvious, sometimes not, but by knowing what it is that you're reacting to, you can track the specific levels of that pollen to know when to tough it out, or when it might be better to skip it. Even better: you'll be able to find out when it will stop blooming....

2 comments:

  1. I'm really enjoying your blog. I'm a new runner and it's nice to "meet" someone else with similar experiences.

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  2. I'm glad you're enjoying it! As a new runner myself, and not knowing any other regular runners, I learned everything the hard way ;) I'm hoping to save someone some of my mistakes :D

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