********** Long post alert! *****************
Been looking for a post on this but can't see one so thought i would start! Hope all the Asthma UK runners are doing their training! Time for some very long runs now at the weekends.... remember to drink and eat well!
I decided to do this for Asthma Uk after living with Asthma since i was a child. Lots of missed time at school and memories of being very breathless and coughing if I tried any form of exercise. As i got older and into my teens i was still poorly controlled and not really managing much in the way of routine sport. The only medication was a new blue inhaler which made a huge difference. Still the winter meant 2 or 3 missed weeks as I got infections and very wheezy. However with a very supportive GP and parents from heaven i avoided hospital admissions. Onto University and things seemed to improve as I got older but in my third year i was admitted to Lewisham hospital with major infection and possibly needin ventilation. Luckily 2 weeks later I was out... much thinner even tho I was lean to start with and popping large doses of Pred, and strangely now allergic to penecillin after I had been flooded with it! BUT I was started on a steroid inhaler. Things changed very quickly as this new inhaler seemd to stop my attacks and I became relatively 'normal' (well that's relative).
So skip 20 years.... married kids, mortgage... middle age spread! Start running/walking in Jan 2006. Do Dorney Lake 10K in April 2006 and keep going with other runs through the year until jokingly send off an email to join Asthma UK for London Marathon 2007 thinking 'Oh long way off.... never get in' etc. My medication has been changed to stop exercise induced wheeze to Seretide Inhalers which seem fantastic! My running took off and I started to train for the FLM in Dec 2006.
Now it's 4 weeks away. I have done lots of miles and have sore knees which mean a temporary rest for a week but will do reading Half marathon on Sunday and then the last gasp before lining up in Blackheath on April 22. Am I a bit nervous?? You bet I am! But will get round and try to enjoy it too! Every morning and evening as I take my inhalers I am reminded why I am doing this and on my runs there is a ventolin inhaler secreted about my person - just in case!
I hope that others get some treatment which means that their asthma is controlled so they too can be active and healthy. Some like me are lucky, others I know struggle even with all the treatments around. With money raised by loons like me doing silly things like running/Skydiving/cycling/raffles etc then hopefully more treatments will be found and more can find relief.
Sorry for the essay! But as i do this Marathon next month with 450 other Asthma UK runners i hope that we are helping to prevent some suffering in others.
Mark
Running the FLM 2007 in aid of Asthma UK
do I start my rescue meds? 
First Post - Inhaler side effects worth it?
Respiratory Consultant wants me to come off asthma meds!
chronic infections and trying to be a primary school teacher
Snap, crackle and pop
