When it comes to improving my fitness, why should I go through all the pain and sacrifice of exercising my body hard everyday, if I’m gonna continue to throw toxic chemicals into it? Doesn’t make much sense.. does it?

Good old fashioned common sense (which sometimes eludes me), tells me that eating healthy and natural untainted foods, surely must be better you for you than ingesting food that is treated with hormones and pesticides. How could it not?
Convinced that this is not only the right thing to do, but also the wisest, I’ve decided to switch from a conventional diet, to an all Organic one.

Ive already started with fruits and vegetables because they’re easier to find at the local markets. As I get better at doing this, I’ll start including dry and canned goods, and then eventually on to meats and dairy. I’d like to be 90% organic in 3-4 months.

Going Organic is obviously more expensive, but cost shouldn’t be an excuse. I spend $60 on gym fees and $25 for a haircut every month without batting an eye. Why would I even think twice about spending a little extra on something that can only make my life better. Besides, there are informational web tools out there that can help you get the biggest bang for your organic buck… you just have to be a savvy shopper and know what to look for. Remember too, that locally grown food takes less gas to transport it to market, which means less environmental pollution. So there’s a positive impact on more than just ones own body.

Without getting into politics of what’s considered safe and healthy, the turning point for me was this; Why do something only half right? Improving your health requires more than just working out regularly, you also need to fuel and nourish your body with clean natural food.
I love this line by Michael Palin……
“All I ask of food, is that it doesn’t harm me.” (Monty Python’s Flying Circus)

Buon appetito!

Here’s the deal…. if you have an obstructive lung disease and are prone to air-trapping (which is usually the case if you have severe asthma and to a greater degree if you have COPD or Emphysema), you need to be aware that any physical activity that makes you breath faster and deeper for prolonged periods of time, can also cause you to trap more air, which in turn can make your dyspnea worse and can even trigger a serious, life-threatening exacerbation. That’s right, you heard it from the king of asthmatic marathon walkers… If you exert yourself too much for prolonged periods, you can actually make yourself sick(er)…at least in the short term. The severity of ones lung disease and the propensity for air-trapping (as indicated by TLC and FEV1 ), probably adds to the likelihood that these negative side effects will occur. It also appears that this increased “air trapping”, at least in part, contributes to the delayed onset of symptoms that sometimes follows strenuous activity.
(Btw..the symptoms of air -trapping should not be confused with exercise induced asthma, which is totally different).

Now that’s not say that you shouldn’t exercise. In that regard, my message is the same as it’s always been, and that is….If you have asthma or any obstructive lung disease, you need to get out there and exercise your butt off regularly! Just don’t over do it, and always be aware of your breathing pattern.

Oh..and I should also point out, that it doesn’t seem to be how much exercise you do, but rather, how intense the exercise is , that determines how severe the air-trapping will be. If you participate in a sport such as running or jogging ( and yes, that would include racewalking), you’re probably going to be much more prone to developing increased air trapping than you would with regular fitness walking or from milder forms of exercise.

So for me, does this mean I should stop training and/or stop doing marathons? Probably. Will I follow through on my own advise? Probably Not.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a bad habit of over do it. But, out of the 19 races Ive completed in the past 5 years, only 2 of those landed me in the hospital. And don’t forget, non-asthmatics end up in hospitals too from “over-doing it” too.

Hey, I’m short of breath 24/7 anyway, so if pushing myself to the brink is what I need to do to really feel alive, then regardless of the consequences, that’s what I’ll do. I’m willing to take that risk because Id rather be sick and feel happy , then to be healthy and feel miserable. Sounds contradictory I know, but it’s really not. We all deal with our afflictions in different ways.

I have no plans on ever returning to the traditional work force as an RT, but there’s definitely a sense of security and satisfaction, knowing that I could if I wanted to.

I’m also considering sitting for the National Asthma Educator Certification exam later this year or next. I already do quite a bit of asthma educating from the sidelines, and having official recognition of that skill would be nice to have.

Just as with the RCP license, becoming a “certified” asthma educator is something I don’t really need to do, rather, it’s something that I want to do.

Just wanted to send good vibes out to my friend and racewalking coach, Dave Mc Govern who will be competing this weekend at the World Cup championships in Chihuahua Mexico. Dave will be doing the 50K race ….that’s 31 miles!

I was checking the local weather report for Chihuahua, and the temperature for the 50K at race time on Saturday morning is expected to be 70 degrees F, and heating up to 89 degrees later in the day. Yikes.. that’s pretty warm weather to be doing a 31 mile racewalk in, but if anyone can do it, Dave can. Luckily the relative humidity is supposed to below at 25%.

Ray Sharp (50K) , Dave McGovern (50K), Trevor Barron (10K Junior),DanSeriani(20K),JonathonMatthews(50K),MaryanneDaniel(MedicalStaff),AlexChavez(10K Junior), Solomiya Logan (20K),Tyler Sorensen (10K Junior), Patrick Stroupe (20K), Jolene Moore (Junior Coach), Philippe Gonzalez (Head Coach)

Good luck to all of our racewalkers !

Another thing I learned from doing this marathon, is that I need to take off a few pounds. I mean it just makes sense that the lighter you are on your feet, the faster you’ll be on your feet. The less you weigh, the less stress you’ll put on your legs and feet and even your heart and lungs. I might not look real fat, but the fact is, I’m 10 lbs over my ideal body weight. For the Boston marathon I weighed in at 150 lbs, which is the heaviest Ive ever been at any of the marathons Ive done. Part of that weight gain was probably from steroids, but I’m sure the bulk of it was from eating too much fattening food during the winter holidays.
Back in 2006 when I walked my fastest marathon ever, I weighed 144lbs. We’re only talking 6lbs less , but that 6 lbs made a world of difference when it came to speed. I ended up finishing that race almost 30 minutes faster than I did this one. Too bad I didn’t pre-medicate with prednisone during that 2006 race, because two days after that race I ended up in the hospital. But back then, the whole marathon/ severe asthma thing was still new to me , and I wasn’t yet convinced that walking a marathon could actually make me sick(which by the way, I fully believe is the case now.) As far as my weight goes, you might not know this, but since I began walking for fitness back in 2004, Ive actually lost and kept off nearly 20 pounds. That’s right, the steroids along with a lack of physical activity, was turning me into a little blimp.

So anyway, to put into action the things Ive learned from the Boston experience, Ive set a goal to loose 7 lbs and then keep it off. I will accomplish this by doing more strength training at the gym and by eliminating some of the junk food from my diet. I hoping to knock these pound off in about 2 months, just in time for my next gig ( whatever that might me). And from now, every race I do, I’m going to bump up my pred. Yes, I hate the drug, but if it will keep me out of the intensive care unit, I’ll take it.

Speaking of the Boston marathon, my friend and ever so funny walking partner/guide in that race , Miss Dizzy Lizzy, is finally getting caught up on her blogging ( Some excuse about not having her laptop). Anyways, she promises to have a race report about the Boston marathon , up by this weekend. I love reading other people accounts of that race.

At Hansi’s Carmel home the day before the Big Sur marathon

To make the challenge even more rewarding, Hansi ended up taking 1st place at Big Sur. Francis had respectable finish times in both races as well. Heck, between the two of them, they’ve probably finished more than a hundred marathons in just about every country on the planet. My hat’s off to the both of them!

Read Frans 2010 Boston marathon race report. Lots of pics and vids too.

If you look really deep, you can see the pain starting to come through
(Finish line photos)

I don’t care how healthy you are, even if just walking a marathon, when you get to a certain distance in a race, your body starts to hurt really bad (I think that’s what they mean by “Hitting the WALL”). The problem is, you can’t really stop moving or you run the risk of your whole body cramping up. It’s happened to me before, and I’m telling ya..it ain’t a pretty scene. A full body cramp would end the race for you , right then and there. So after 20 miles, you do whatever you can to stretch out those muscles while you’re moving, but you never stop.

So what did it take to get this 55 year old severe asthmatic across the finish line at the Boston marathon?
Well, how about lot’s of training, lots of medications and a ton of determination and willpower! Having a good friend walking along side of you , who makes you laugh constantly, probably helps as well.. Thank goodness for Lizzy.

Here are couple photos I left out of the main photo set. I think you know why…

(Had to stop to sneek a neb treatment about every 7 miles along the course… this eats up a lot of time )

( Needed 3 neb treatments back to back after crossing the finish line. )

Here are a few other things you probably didn’t know

*To control my asthma during this 26.2 mile race, in addition to the neb treatments every 7 miles, I took appx 24 hits off my inhaler ( about 3 puffs per hour). On top of the inhaled drugs, I swallowed 10 mg of prednisone every hour , chased by an antacid to control the stomach burning that the prednisone causes in the first place . Thank You Jon ( our spotter who went and got me some TUMS in the middle of the race.

*To control the pain in my calve muscles and the metatarsalgia pain in my feet, I took 2 Motrins every 2 hours along the course, 6 in total.

*For energy and hydration , I consumed 2-4 oz of plain water every mile, alternating with Gatorade every other mile. I did this for the first 20 miles, then switched to a 50-50 blend of electrolytes and water (2 oz) every mile for the rest of the race. In addition, I swallowed one Powerbar gel ( tangerine with double caffeine) every 6 miles.

So as you can see, doing this race ( or any other for that matter) wasn’t as as easy for me as most people might think. I just make it look that way:-)

You might like these posts as well:

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  Boston----7 hours 17 minutes and change
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  Advise Please
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  Two Afternoons after

By Blogsdna

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/behind-that-finish-line-smile/feed/ 2 http://breathinstephen.com/more-images-from-the-2010-boston-marathon/ http://breathinstephen.com/more-images-from-the-2010-boston-marathon/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:38:23 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=12732

During this trip I took close to 500 still photos and about 20 different video clips, which I still haven’t sorted completely.
I’ll be adding more photos to these albums as I get them.

______SOME SCENES BEFORE THE RACE______

______SCENES DURING THE RACE______

But, first let me start by acknowledging some wonderful people who helped make this a truly special day for me.

My walking partner in the race, Mike Mc Bride.
Our super cool spotters, John and Chris from the BAA
Our fantastic crew, Pete from Apria Health Care, and Tom and Brett from Caire Medical and Brett’s wife Shay.
The wonderful folks at the University of Pittsburgh’s Asthma Institute
And finally, our special course guide, the one and only Lis Shepard , who drove the spectators wild and who stuck by me the entire distance just so she could cross the finish line with me. A pretty awesome lady I’d say!

Introducing
“TEAM WHEEZY”

(hey…where’s Lis at? )

( Oh that’s…right, she’s yacking it up with the Boston Globe reporter dude)

So here’s a collection of unedited short clips that I took with my phone camera. Sorry, the video quality isn’t too good, but I wanted to give you a sense of what it’s like to be the first AND last people out on the Boston course. This pandemonium goes on goes on for 7 FULL hours!! See if you can hear my name being shouted during the middle and end portions of the clip. Every time my spotter John would see I was having problems with my breathing or my legs, he’s get the crowd cheering for me. It was like a magic potion that kept me going.

26 miles and 7 hours later , watch how Lizzy works the crowd and helps me make it to the finish line 6 minutes later. Again, this clip is a little long, but I wanted give you an idea of just how many die hard spectators waited for us to finish and how much fun it was to have Liz along for the ride.

Chris is an awesome racewalker and coach. It was a video of Chris racewalking(The long and winding road) that got me interested in the sport 5 years ago. I finally had the pleasure of meeting him at Dave Mc Governs advanced racewalking clinic in Solana Beach last October.

( read more)

Well, after all the training, all the planning, and all the hoping like crazy that my sore foot will somehow heal in time and that my lungs won’t act up too bad, for better or worse, to finish or not, the big daddy of race weekends is finally here!

Saturday night I catch the red eye out of San Francisco and should be in Boston bright and early Sunday morning. Mike was kind enough to pick up my Bib and Goodie-bag at the Expo today. This saves me from the hassle of having to go all the way into downtown on the subway after flying all night. The Boston marathon Expo is massive and a great place to buy race merchandise and get all psyched up about the race itself, but there’s nothing I really wanna buy this year and Ive already done the race once, so I’d just as soon skip the crowds and spend the day hanging around the hotel and resting up.The million dollar views of the Boston harbor and skyline from my hotel room are worth the trip alone.

My race top, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh’s Asthma Institute and the best asthma doctor in the world, Sally Wenzel.
I figure that for every mile I walk, appx 10,000 people will see my shirt sleeves. My hope, is that my presence in this race will attract some much needed attention in the areas of severe asthma research, education and treatment.

Later on Sunday, Mike, myself and the crew are all gonna get together for an early dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. That’s probably where we’ll discuss the logistics of the race and who’s gonna to be doing what, when and where.The plan right now, is to arrive at the Athletes Village in Hopkinton around 7am. This will give us a couple hours to warm up and hopefully meet up with some of the other mobility impaired athletes, some of who’s stories are truly inspiring. The latest weather reports are forecasting intermittent scattered showers along the marathon course. Light, brief showers I can deal with, as long as it’s not too cold.

It’s weird, but I feel just as nervous and excited about this year’s trip, as I did last year. And even though I sorta know what to expect when I get there, it’s all still very much a big adventure for me. The only thing that will put a damper on the fun, is if I have to pull out of race because of my bad foot or my lungs. But no matter how the race turns out, I plan to have a kick-ass time in Boston!

So, that’s it. I’ll let you know how it all went next week after I return home.

To all the other runners out there who are doing Boston, good luck, have a blast, and keep an eye out for me!
To all my friends and readers, thanks so much for your continued support!

Oops…almost forgot, I know a lot of you who live in Canada and elsewhere might not be able to receive the Boston Marathon ATT athlete text alerts, so for those of you who are still interested on how we’re doing in the race, my friend Lis, has agreed to send out tweets throughout the day . Her twitter name is SFAUDIOGAL . I’m sure I’ll be updating on Facebook as well. Cheers!

This news came in after I posted……….

VIEW ALL NEWS HEADLINES

Take for example Keven Counihan. Kevin lost part of his right foot in an accident with a lawnmower. 15 years later, he was in a near-fatal car accident that caused extensive knee, arm, hip, chest, and shoulder damage. Despite all this, and after years of rehabilitation, Kevin focused on running again and set his sights on the marathon distance. In the 7 years since he started marathon running again, Kevin has finished 99 marathons, and hopes to complete his 100th at this years Boston marathon! Pretty amazing Id say. Check out this recent article and Video about Kevin.

Then there’s Kelly Luckett, another awesome athlete. This is her 6th consecutive Boston marathon. She’s also done 21 Ultrathons (50ks) and over 80 shorter races. Kelly came in at 3rd place in this division in lasts years race. Way to go Kelly!

Can’t forget this guy. He is absolutely amazing to watch. Richard Whitehead is a congenital double amputee from the UK and quite a celebrity there. He has broken several world’s records, including the 2009 Rome marathon. I was there when he became the first amputee athlete in history, to break the 3 hour mark in a marathon. Absolutely incredible!

Last but certainly not least, there’s my good friend, Mike Mc Bride, who climbs skyscrapers for fun. Mike will pull an 80lb oxygen cart behind him for 26.2 miles. The fact that he does what he does, given his type of lung disease, still blows me away. He may not be lightning fast, but he has more fortitude and guts than most healthy people half his age. Check out this recent article in the Boston Globe

So, how does it feel to stand next to these phenomenal athletes at the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts? IT FEELS INCREDIBLE !!

Training for my 2nd Boston marathon (and my 7th full marathon to date), has officially come to an end. Ive trained and prepared the best I can what with little time Ive had. In total, I trained for 10 and half weeks in the rain and sun, racking up appx 250 miles in the process. This is about hundred miles less than I put into last years training for the same race. I hope it’s enough.

Every time I train for one of these things, I always seem to be hit by at least one over-use type of injury. Last year it was a plantar facsciitis , the year before that, it was persistent calf cramps and hamstring issues. This year it’s metatarsalgia ( ball of the foot pain). Probably brought on by old age ( arthritis) and over-pronation. How much this will impact me at Boston remains to be seen, but if yesterday’s 10 mile walk is any indication, I’m not feeling very confident. I can tolerate a lot of physical pain, but I don’t feel like limping my way through a marathon. I’m going to try to stay off my feet as much as possible between now and next week. Hopefully this will make a difference.

As far as my lungs go, they’ve held out surprisingly well during the actual workouts, but not so good afterwords. Even after some of the shorter walks (5-8 miles) I find myself getting tighter and more short of breath than in previous years. And after the really long walks ( 10+ miles), I’m experiencing more and more full blown flares (the whole delayed symptom onset pnenomina thingy). Fortunately, these mini exacerbations resolved on their own which allowed me to complete my training.

The big concern now is, how bad will I flare up after the race? That’s assuming of course, that I’m luck enough to actually finish the race given my foot problems. To try and stave off a potentially serious flare-up following the race, I’m going to prophylactically bolus myself with a one time dose of 40mg prednisone the morning of the race. Timing is going to be critical here, because if I take the drug too early in the morning, it could make me really nauseated, if I take it too late, it won’t have time to kick in. This is the first time Ive ever increased my pred during a race, so I have no idea what the effects will be. Hopefully it will keep me out of the slammer.

Our spotters……………………………………Lizzy and Chuck

Not only I am privileged to participate again in this incredible race with my good friend Mike Mc Bride, but this year we have the pleasure of having Lizzy along for the ride. Liz will be Mikes official course guide and will also be helping me out by carrying some of my medications and other supplies. Also on the course with us again will be Chuck, our wonderful spotter from last year. Chuck will tail us on the course on his bicycle to make sure we don’t get trampled by the other runners or slowed down by over-zealous spectators as we pass by. We’re very lucky to get him again.

Our support team………………………..Tom………………………….Brett…………………………….Peter

Without the help of these wonderful people , it would be really difficult to pull this thing off. Thanks Guys (and Gals)! We really appreciate it.