Week 4 is actually gonna kill me

[ADH94]

I hate week 4. I can't run for longer than 3 mins on the first five min run I had to walk the rest on the half way mark cos I had a small asthma attack (which I can handle when walking, that's part of what happens on recovery walks anyway) I then got onto the last five min run and got to about 2 mins in and couldn't breath! I stopped and took out my headphones and my breathing sounded like a donkey it took me 2 doses of my inhaler (4 puffs) to notice a slight difference it felt like I could only breath with the top part of my lungs (if that makes sense) this lead to what i assume was a panic-attack (cos i couldnt breath) and I didn't fully recover till about 5 mins later so I'm gonna go back to week 3 and redo that again but I know week 4 is going to kill me

[dddd4 Graduate]

Sorry to hear it set off your asthma. I found week 4 difficult but slowing down helped. See if the next run goes better or try going slower to help with the breathing. Hope you have a better run next time.

[ADH94 in reply to dddd4]

I'm that slow that if I go any slower I'll stop ha ha I'm fine now and thanks I just think this is gonna take a while

[90ldfinch Graduate in reply to ADH94]

Slow & steady is what it's all about

[Girl123 in reply to ADH94]

Hi good idea to go back to week 3. I don't think the heat and pollen is making running any easier at the moment. I'm only on week 2 and found it hard. Good luck x

[Tombenoly Graduate]

When did you last have an asthma check? As a nurse I m wondering if it's worth you seeing your asthma nurse and having a review explaining your new exercise regime?

[ADH94 in reply to Tombenoly]

I had a review about 5 months ago and went back to her again just as I started this

[Son1 Graduate]

Sorry to hear that you are struggling. I don't have asthma and I've been struggling with the heat and humidity too so it must be a lot harder for you.

There is no reason why you can't repeat weeks until you are comfortable, that's sensible. The main thing is that you are getting out there and try to enjoy it. Take it steady and look after yourself, I'm sure things will get a lot easier when the 'off the scale' pollen count drops!

Good luck!

[PippiRuns]

I'm not a doctor but I have a couple of close relatives who have asthma (and who are long distance runners) and they say that a well controlled asthma shouldn't be holding you back. My thinking is that if you continue to experience symptoms like that, your asthma is probably not fully under control and hopefully something can be done to help you. I suggest you see a specialist and discuss what can be done so that you don't have to experience panic attacks because of breathing difficulties. Must be very scary.

[ADH94 in reply to PippiRuns]

Yeah it was ... Normally my asthma is fine I carry my inhaler with me but barely need it its just when I run that I normally need it

[PippiRuns in reply to ADH94]

But if it continues to happen - please do see a specialist about it. It's not supposed to be like that.

[Feelingsilly]

W4r3 was my worst running the programme (so far!)- doing another longer run after all the others AND after a teeny little walk break, it was seriously tough. I repeated it twice more and still couldn't finish that 2nd 5 min run so, after picking everyone's brain here, moved onto w5r1... It was so much better. W4r3 and I decided to agree to disagree! Definitely worth checking out your asthma regime though to be sure you are as well controlled as you can be while this pollen is so darned heavy.

[ADH94 in reply to Feelingsilly]

See I've thought about that and that's the thing that's getting me is the small recovery time week 5 (although doing longer runs) seems easier cos I know I wouldn't struggle as much but first I wanna get to atleast W4R2 first so I know I can do it

[Feelingsilly in reply to ADH94]

Week 5 was definitely so much easier, so don't feel despondent if you canT do all the runs in week 4. As I said I repeated it 5 times in total and still couldn't do it so just decided I had nothing to lose to try w5r1- I could always go back to w3 if I needed to next time. Breathing is the toughest thing to master- especially when it's the the only thing you can think about, and even more so if you are asthmatic!! Good luck

[Colettey-Betty Graduate]

Hey.

I also have asthma and understand completely what you mean by only managing to breathe in the top part of your lungs. Although it's rare that I need to use it, I also take my inhaler on runs with me. I also use the inhaler just before I start as well, which I think stops amy irritation that would otherwise occur. I'm on week 9 and in all honesty, I only managed to get my breathing under control during week 8.

Hope you don't experience that again.

Colette

[ADH94]

I was starting to wonder if there was someone on here with asthma too and I'm glad there is and wow that's amazing to get to week 9. From past experience i find all the asthma related stuff is hard to understand unless you've experienced it yourself its good to know it is doable with asthma then ha ha and I'll bare in mind that it took you to week 8 to get breathing under control because that's what I struggle with at the moment. On the podcast laura explains to take deep breaths did you struggle to do that too or is it just me ? Ha ha

[Colettey-Betty Graduate in reply to ADH94]

No, it's not just you! I couldn't take deep breaths either, like I felt as though I just couldn't fill my lungs! I took longer than a week to do each week if that makes sense as well, so don't worry about doing that if you need to. Do you use your brown inhaler regularly? I used to often forget to use that but since I got into the habit of using it every morning and evening (I leave it on my kitchen worktop in the evening so I see it and remember to use it when I have breakfast) things have become easier.

[ADH94 in reply to Colettey-Betty]

Yeah I don't use the brown inhaler as often as I should but I use it before I go out for a run .... It took me more than a week to finish some weeks too ... I really do need to keep on top of the brown inhaler though