I was on well on my way to setting a personal best, when at mile 21, I slipped on some wet paper cups, did a full summer salt, cut my finger open and tore a ligament in my knee. It took me almost 2 hours in excruciating pain to limp the last 5 miles of the race , but at least I finished. Jon Robertson my spotter ( bless his heart), bent the rules a little and stayed with me on the course right through the finish chute. In the end, despite the time I lost as a result of my little acrobatic maneuver, I still managed to finish the race 12 min faster than last year.

Hey, it wasn’t all bad. The spectators really out did themselves this year. Imagine experiencing this scene for 7 hours. My hands are raw from from having them high5′d so many times.

Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes. I’ll have a more complete race report up in a few days.

PS….Thank you Kerri, I just saw my Facebook Fan page. Naughty naughty..:-)

PPS…It was nice meeting you Chris and Laura!

So in just a few hours Bib# 21619 is off to the Boston area to take another stab at the mother of all foot races. Monday morning I will attempt to finish my 3rd Boston marathon in a row and my 8th full marathon since starting this incredible fitness journey 5 years ago.

May not sound like a big deal to walk a marathon,but put in perspective; only 1% of the population will ever walk or run a marathon in their lifetime, and most of those people will be totally healthy. The number of people who have completed 7 or more marathons is astronomically small. So, even if I don’t finish the race this year, I’m still ahead of the game.

Btw, Y’all know that the Boston marathon doesn’t actually start in Boston, right? It finishes in Boston, but it actually starts 26.2 miles away in a quaint little New England town called Hopkinton. For the last 115 years on Patriots day, the towns’ population explodes with tens of thousands of some of the fastest runners in the world as they gather at athletes village to make their way to Boston. Some will finish the 26.2 mile course in less than 2 and a quarter hours.

And then there’s me……..
In 2010 , I became the last official finisher to cross the finish line. Out of the 22,672 people who completed the race, I came in dead last! In other words, I finished up in 22,672nd place.
Don’t ya just love it!

But regardless of how the race turns out, I probably wouldn’t be here at all if weren’t for the help of some generous and caring individuals. So let me take this opportunity to thank in advance, the officials at the BAA and my support crew, affectionately known as Team Wheezy . Helping me out again this year are Tom of Caire Inc, plusJon and Chris from the BAA. Jon and Chris will be spotting for me on bike and Tom will be providing logistical support on the course as well as transportation to and from the event. As a disabled athlete, I’m also allowed to have someone accompany me on the course, but this year I will be doing the race alone.

I also wanna thank some of the folks that contributed behind the scenes…. The wonderful folks at the Runningwarehouse for providing me with the shoes I’ll be wearing during the race, the very generous people at Rabbitair for providing me with clean air in my home, so that I could stay healthy while trained for the race, the Sony corporation for providing me with a bunch of their portable music players, which came in handy during those long training walks, to and to Microlife for providing me with the state of the art peak flow meters. Last, but not least, my Pulmonologist and dear friend, Sally Wenzel for supporting my fitness endeavors, no matter how extreme they might me.

While in Boston for the marathon, I’m also going to be participating in a medical study for runners over the age of 40 who take statin drugs (statin drugs are used to treat high cholesterol). The study is titled “The effects of chronic statin therapy on markers of skeletal and cardiac muscle damage in Marathon runners”.
They’ll be drawing my blood before and after the race and then a 3rd time 24 hrs later. After the study is complete, they’ll send me a detailed report of my lab results, including Lipid Panel, Liver Function Test, Muscle Myoglobin, CK Isoenzymes, Hemoglobin and Hematocrit and Cardiac Troponins. It’s basically a bunch of tests I need done anyway, so might as well contribute to science and get paid at the same time ($100 if you complete the study):-)

As far as the lungs go, I’ll pre-medicate with the usual bronchodilators. I’ll also have my portable neb with me on the course, along with a couple of epipens and a pocketful of inhalers. The riskiest time for me is usually not during the race, but afterward. The symptoms I experience in the hours immediately preceding the race will dictate how severe the flare will be. There’s really no way for me to stop or prevent a flare from occurring after exerting myself to this extent, but to increase my chances of keeping the flare at manageable levels, I’ll up pred to 50 mg the day before the race and then rapidly taper.

Depending how the day goes, I’ll try to post or tweet. If you’re dying to know how I’m doing, you can follow my progress via the AT&T athlete program. My bib# is 21619 (Not sure it will work if you live outside the US)

Rather than rehash what Ive already been documenting on Dailymile for the last 4 months, I’ll just cut to the chase. I’ve successfully completed ALL of my training for my 3rd Boston marathon, BUT I’m not feeling very confident that I will actually finish the race this time.

While I’m definitely in much better shape (both physically and mentally) than I was 14 weeks ago and certainly capable of completing another marathon, my right foot is probably going to prevent that from happening this time around. I have a pretty nasty metatarsalgia in the ball of my right foot (inflammation of the 2nd metatarsal head), which has been bothering me a lot during my training walks. The pain generally kicks in after a few miles and gets gradually worse the farther I go. If the 21 miler I did a few weeks ago is any indication how my foot will hold up during a full marathon, it’s a sure bet I won’t finish the race.

Still, I have no plans to withdraw or cancel my trip to Boston. My lungs have been doing great the past week and I have way too much pain and sweat invested in this to back out before I even make it to the starting line. I may not be able to finish the entire race, but I plan to be there in Hopkinton with my friends on Patriots day and will complete as much of the 26.2 mile course as I can.
To increase my odds of success, I’ll be in total rest mode starting today until race day, which is 10 days from now. Who knows, maybe that will be enough time for my foot to at least partially heal.

Without even touching on the breathing or asthma implications in all this, training to run or walk a marathon is hard, and the older you get, the harder it becomes. This is a risky business and no matter how many precautions you take, s**t happens. The body wasn’t designed to withstand the constant and grueling pounding of pavement with an impact force of twice your body weight. Eventually it’s gonna catch up with you. When that happens, you can either give up and call it quits, or you can pick yourself up, make some adjustments, and continue on. I think the fact that I’ve come as far as I have, considering the obstacles I face, is because I believe in myself 100% and I’m truly passionate about everything I get involved in. I may not be a natural born athlete, but how many people do you know with severe lung disease that have completed 7 full marathons, including the Boston marathon, not once, but twice! And all within a 5 year span.

So yeah, I’m proud of myself for making it this far. If it turns out I finish the race…great! If not, no big deal.

That truly is one beautiful bridge

Look Ma…No headphone wires….
The kind folks at Sony asked this walk man if he would share his opinion about their Walkman!
I’m referring to the Sony Walkman W series wireless MP3 player.

First of all, you should know that I practically live in headphones and an MP3 player. Listening to music is as much a part of my walking, as the physical workout itself. It gets worse than that though. You see, I’m somewhat of an audio nerd as well. I’m extremely finicky when it comes to the actual quality of the sound that reaches my eardrums. You might remember that before I went into medical field, I worked as a recording/sound engineer.. an audiophile if you will. Whether I’m listening to music on a home audio system, at a live concert , or during my workouts on my Mp3 player, I want to feel the music. I want to hear the full range sound, from crisp highs to resonating lows and punchy bass.

The Walkman W series MP3 system, is basically a set of headphones that have an Mp3 player built right into them. Amazingly, they were able to cram all the standard MP3 function controls into such a tiny little package. Pretty cool actually. What you have here is a no frills 2gb player that hooks over your ears kinda like the way Blue-tooth receivers do, so no need for headphone wires.
When not in use, the two ear pieces come together via magnets to form the shape of a heart…..Ahhh aint that cute

Now I’m not exactly a follow- the-instruction manual kinda guy, but getting the thing going was a piece of cake. After a fairly straight forward set up, transfer of music files and examination of where the controls were located, I put the buds in my ears and headed out for a 8 miler.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. The unit does exactly what it’s suppose to do…It stay in your ears while you’re running, jogging… or in my case, racewalking! It actually felt weird at first not having any wires to fiddle with it. You just put the earbuds in your ears, turn it on and forget about it. No more getting tangled up in wires or accidentally having an earbud yanked out of your ear when you pull your arms back too close to your body(which is something you do a lot of when you racewalk.)
The unit is also water resistant, but I didn’t get to check that claim out, as I barely broke a sweat during the 2 hour walk.

My only real complaint, is that there is no sound equalizer or audio presets on the unit ( I mean where would you put them?). I’m not sure what the actual specs are, but I found the sound to be kinda metallic and mid-rangy. Again, I’m an audio nerd and most people probably wouldn’t even notice this. I will say however, that in my opinion, the audio quality of this Walkman is better than the Ipod nano.

So overall I like this cordless Walkman, or should I say, I like concept behind it. I wish the audio quality was a little more to my standards, but I’m totally impressed with the rest of the design, that for the most part, works very well and looks kinda cool too. Sony is definitely on the right track with this one. I think future models will be even better.

If you’re looking for a music player that will stay in your ears while you’re on the move, give these babies a test run. Sony is offering a special discount through this link.
Happy training!!

Disclaimer, I was provided with this product free of charge in exchange for reviewing it.

I knew that jumping into a marathon training regime on the heals of a methadone detox wasn’t gonna be easy, and boy was I right. These first few weeks have been really tough and I haven’t even gotten into the longer distances yet. It’s bad enough that Ive had to shorten my training schedule to accommodate my crappy lungs, but now I’m dealing with some GI problems which complicates matters ( more about that later).

This past Saturday I did my first 20 km (12.2 miles) training walk in a year. My lungs held up pretty good during the 3 hour workout with only some minimal delayed asthma flaring the following day, but somehow I managed to get myself majorly over-heated and dehydrated. My heart rate, which is normally in the 70′s after I finish this type of walk, was in the 130′s when I got home. And when I weighed myself, I was down 2.5 lbs just from fluid loss. How stupid can I get. I just wasn’t prepared for the warmer than expected temperatures in San Francisco that day ( 72 degree at the end of the walk). I was way over-dressed and didn’t carry enough water.

To add to the fun, about 15 km into the walk ,my Metatarsalgia starting kicking in big time and I was forced to walk on the outer edge of my foot for the last 5 kilometers. I had this same type foot pain last year, but back then it didn’t start bothering me until after 30kms, so this is not an encouraging sign.

But wait! It’s not all doom and gloom. I must be doing something right, because so far this training season, Ive had no knee, IT band, hip flexor, calf muscle or shoulder pain during or after any of my walks. That’s a huge improvement over last year and the only thing I can attribute it to is a healthier diet .

The bulk of my long distance training walks (which is the core of my endurance building and the most critical part of marathon preparation ), is still ahead of me and won’t occur until the end of this month and into March. That’s when I’ll have a better sense as to whether I’ll be able to finish all of the training and /or the actual race itself. If I’m not “feelin it” by mid March, I’d probably be better off withdrawing from the race. I get sick at the drop of a hat now, and if I push myself too much, that’s exactly what will happen.

In the meantime I have a bunch of medical appointments I have to work around, including an ultrasound of my abdomen tomorrow to figure out what’s going on with my gut and all the bloating Ive been having. I also have to figure out a way to prevent my foot pain from getting worse, while at the same time still being able to use it to walk on it. (Ahh.. the joys of training for a marathon) .

I leave you with a couple phone pics I took during my walk this weekend. I’m so lucky to have this place as my workout gym.

New for this year I’m introducing a new a feature I call “USE ME”, where I answer your questions relating to respiratory therapy, asthma, lung disease, fitness walking or just about anything else you think I might be able to answer in the form of a blog post. The only caveat being that I can’t diagnosis specific medical medical conditions.

What makes me such a know it all in these areas?

Well, I’m a licensed and registered respiratory therapist of 33 years, a life-long severe asthmatic, a sought after lab rat and a 7 time marathoner finisher. I’m also pretty good at explaining medical/technical things in a way that non-medical people can understand.

So cmon, what are you waiting for. Take advantage of me, pick my brain…USE ME !!! I’m sure there are questions you’ve always wanted to ask . No question is too silly.

You can write me privately with your questions or leave them in the comment section. I’ll try to answer as many as I can and post them here on a bi-monthly basis.

Incidentally ….Do you know what the most common Google search phrases are that brings people to my site? #1 is “Hospital Bills” followed by “Recovering from severe asthma exacerbation” And lastly ” Can you have a high O2 sat during an asthma flare? ( Of course you can, asthma is a disease of the airways, not the alveoli). The most searched image from my blog is a photo of me gorked out on Propofol while on the ventilator.Go figure

Not sure the title of this post applies, since Ive already succeeded at this two times already, but it has a nice positive ring to it and it puts me in a good mood. So after months of contemplation and a series of decent test walks , Ive decided to take a 3rd shot at the grand daddy of all races !

OK I admit it, I’m an adrenalin junkie. I like it all. I like the preparation, I like the anticipation, I like the crowds, I like the excitement, I like everything that goes along with doing a big marathon… (except of course the pain afterward). I like anything that takes me out of my crappy breathing/ self pity zone, even if for just a few hours. Working hard towards a goal like this gives me reason to get up in the morning.

I’m not kidding myself, this will not be an easy undertaking. My lung function and tolerance for long distance speed walking is at an all time low. I missed out on 2 races last year due to hospitalizations and my FEV1 is 5% lower at 36%. Finishing this race, or even making it to the starting line, will the be one of the biggest challenges Ive ever set for myself, but this something that I really want to shoot for.

Training for Boston is always harder than the other marathons, because doing a spring race means preparing during the winter. Thankfully we don’t get snow storms or blizzards here in the San Francisco bay area, but we get tons of fog, and our fair share of freezing temperatures and rainy days, all of which tend to have a really negative effect on my breathing. Still, I think this is what toughens you up for the big day. If nothing goes wrong ( yeah , right), I will train a total of 11 weeks or 55 training days.
This year, more will be less. I’m pretty good in the short distance already, so I’m reserving most of my energy and breath on the longer hauls.

Now I’m sure a few of my friends and family are going to think I’m totally insane for wanting to do another marathon, but they also know that it’s pretty much pointless to try and talk me out of it. The last few months have been incredibly difficult for me, and if dreaming big and getting a little reckless is what it takes to get past those bad times, then I think the cause is worthy. If I succeed in pulling this off, it will make my 8th full marathon and 3rd straight Boston in just 5 years. There aren’t too many people on the planet who can say that.

As in previous years, I’ll be in starting the race along side the other mobility impaired athletes in Hopkinton, Massachusetts at 9am on April 18th. I have the option of bringing a 2 person crew along with me on the course . I’m unable to pay for expenses, but if anyone out there is going to be in Boston on that day anyway, and would like to do the race with me, drop me a line. ( As of this posting, one of the positions as already been filled).

I’d also like to take time now to thank the kind folks at Runningwarehouse.com for their support in providing me with shoes and other racing apparel for the Boston marathon. If you’re looking for running shoes or specialty shoes, these guys are awesome. ( Use the link on my sidebar for a special discount).

[Someone held this sign up at last years race... I Love it!]

Just found out that my story is appearing in the RCB’s annual Newsletter…. “Breathing Matters”.

I’m always flattered when an organization or a person writes an article about my fitness walking achievements, but this one is special because it comes from the same government agency that regulates Respiratory Care in the State of California where I live, and who issued the very license I hold to practice Respiratory Therapy.

I’m certainly not the only asthmatic RCP out there, there are a lots us out there who know what it’s like to be on both ends of the stethoscope. I know this for a fact, because Ive worked with many of them over the years. Heck, some have actually taken care of ME as a patient in the hospital at one time or another (and Thank you by the way). Perhaps my story will inspire some of them to take up fitness walking or maybe tackle a marathon someday, or maybe even share my story with some of their rehab patients.

My message is simple, don’t let lung disease ruin your life. Fight it every step of the way and include exercise in your daily life.

Oh… and one last thing, Respiratory Therapists are very cool people!

Who hoo…scored!

Remember the Asics Hyperspeed II and III’s that I had, but couldn’t make up my mind as to which ones to wear at last years Boston Marathon? Well, as much as I wasn’t too crazy for the lime green color, those Hyperspeed II’s were probably the most comfortable racing flats I’d ever worn. They actually got me through my first Boston marathon in 2009 without a single blister. The Hyperspeed III’s weren’t too bad either, but most current model, the Hyperspeed IV., totally sucks. The new red color and the new style of the shoe is nice and all, but they fit totally different and seem to wear out twice as fast.

Asics, as with all other big shoe companies who cater to mostly non-athletic consumers, stopped making the green Hyperspeed II’s after a very short production run. It’s been really hard to find a pair…. even on the secondary market. Occasionally I’ll stumble upon an odd leftover pair, but they’re usually in a weird size like a 4 or a 13.
So anyway, a couple of weeks ago, totally out of the blue, I get this item alert from Ebay! A running club had just listed a brand new surplus pair in my exact size. I snapped them up for $50 and change…a bargain. Unfortunately, they only had that one pair or I would have bought out their entire inventory.

Not sure yet if I’ll be able to walk anymore marathons with my current lung function the way it is, but if I do, I’m gonna need some shoes I can depend on. These ones are tried and true.

Heading out for the evening walk.
A while back I wrote about some of the night walks we were doing . Well, my partner Douglas liked those night time walks so much , that about 3 weeks ago we started doing something similar on a nightly basis.

No, I’m not trying to turn Douglas into a marathon walker or anything like that. This was totally his idea…I just go along to keep him encouraged. Actually, we both enjoy these evening walks because it affords us time together, while at the same time doing something that’s healthy.

In contrast to my morning training walks, which are much more physically demanding, Id classify these evening walks as more of a casual, pleasurable stroll that we do for fun.The routes are much shorter (2 miles max) and closer to home. They’re also lot more scenic and involve a lot more hill climbing. And because we walk at a really slow pace, I can actually carry on a conversion.

With these evening strolls becoming a part of my regular walking schedule, I’m now putting in a total of 6 to 7 miles per day. That’s a lot of walking, but so far it hasn’t really impacted my breathing, and the extra couple miles are giving Douglas some much needed aerobic exercise in a way that he really seems to enjoy.

I know people lead hectic lives nowadays and don’t have much time for anything, but if they could pull themselves away from the TV for just one hour a day and take a leisurely walk instead, I think it would have a positive impact on their lives as well. Just a thought.

…….Yeah, that’s just about the time I’ll be crossing the finish line at my next race.

For my October race choice, Ive decided to go with the Urban Cow Half marathon, Relay and 5K race.

Held in an area near the state capital of California in Sacramento, the Urban Cow marathon looks like a fun little race. If it’s anything like it’s name, how could it not be?

I’ll be doing the half marathon distance (21km-13.1 miles), though the 2 person relay race looks like a lot of fun too. Hopefully the weather will be nice in the morning. ( Central California temperatures tend to rise quickly during the late summer months).

Some of my racewalking buddies are probably going to be a little ticked at me for not doing the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon with them ( held the same day), but I really wanted to do a half marathon this year in a smaller venue and a little closer to home. The Urban Cow has a 6,000 person limit for the half marathon, about a third of the size of the San Jose race. It also seems to have more of a local and country flavor to it, which I really like.

Training for the race began for me a week ago with a 7 miler, and will continue for only 4 more weekends. Preparation will consist of long slow distances walks on Saturday mornings followed by short distance racewalking ( 4 miles), 3 times a week.
A month and a half of training is probably not enough time to prepare properly for a fast half marathon distance, but I’m fairly confident it will be sufficient to get me to the finish line in under the time 3.5 hr limit, which is all really all I want.

Btw, This will be my 13th, 13 mile race in 5 years. ( good thing it’s not happening on a Friday the 13th, that would really be freaky!)

Carolyn Scott Kortge’s new book is finally out and guess who’s in one of the chapters?

Carolyn contacted me about year ago for this project. She thought I had an interesting story to tell, and that it would fit in nicely with the motivational theme of the book. It’s really cool to finally see the finished work. She did a great job on it.

Healing Walks for Hard Times, maps a path through life’s difficulties with walks that tap the healing power of movement. She demonstrates how walking can restore momentum in lives that have been jolted by illness, cancer, grief, depression or trauma. With a focus on walking for wellness rather than walking strictly for fitness, it offers a path of resiliency in the steps of a familiar exercise.

More than an exercise guide, Healing Walks for Hard Times acknowledges recovery not only as a physical process, but also as an emotional, spiritual and mental journey—-a journey of Survivorship.

Carolyn lays out a progressive, eight-week walking program that encourages readers to get their feet on the ground and move forward, one step at a time. Included are personal stories from survivors of heart disease, cancer, depression, diabetes, chronic pain, natural disaster, and of course severe lung disease, that inspire and reassure. Week by week, walk by walk, readers regain balance and footing on a path that leads to healing, step by step.

Below are a couple of the pages I’m in…….

( Excerpted from HEALING WALKS FOR HARD TIMES by Carolyn Scott Kortge, (c) 2010)
(Published by arrangement with Trumpeter, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston)
(www.Shambhala.com)

I hope you’ll check it out.

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/healing-walks/feed/ 1 http://breathinstephen.com/dead-last/ http://breathinstephen.com/dead-last/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:47:20 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=15484

Got my finishers certificate and the official results book for the 2010 Boston marathon in the mail today.

Out of the 23,177 people who started the race, only 22,721 actually finished it. And yours truly has the distinction of being the 22,721st person to cross the finish line. In other words…. I finished the race DEAD LAST! (Pretty cool eh?)
I mean if you’re gonna be slow at something, you might as well excel at it, right? But hey, last place or not, I still finished 15 minutes faster than last year. And who knows, maybe I’ll shave yet another 15 minutes off next years race.

( First place— Cheruiyot, Robert Kiprono 2:05:52)

( Last place— Stephen Gaudet 7:17;47)

And in case you’re curious to see what it looks like to come in dead last at the Boston marathon, here’s the last 6 and a half minutes of me doing just that.

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/dead-last/feed/ 13 http://breathinstephen.com/no-mountain-climbing-for-me/ http://breathinstephen.com/no-mountain-climbing-for-me/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:50:44 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=15253

Looks like I jumped the gun on this one. After polling my family, friends and doctors, and after reading up on high altitude hiking, Ive decided to heed some good advise for a change and will not be participating in the Mt Evans COPD Challenge hike.

The elevation just makes it too risky for someone with lungs like mine. There’s just too great a chance that I could get really sick. My travel schedule wouldn’t have allowed me enough time to acclimate to the higher elevations of Colorado anyway, so that would have put me at an even greater risk for high altitude complications. I would hate to ruin it for the other participants if something were to happen and I needed to be taken off the mountain for emergency medical care.

To say I’m a little disappointed would be an understatement. I’m the type of person who thrives on mental and physical challenges, so making the decision to withdrawal from this event was tough for me. I was really looking forward to pushing my body to the limits on this one and to see this magnificent mountain range up close and personal. I suppose I’ll just have to get my kicks in a safer , more familiar fashion.

Though maybe not as challenging or as memorable as doing a walk two and a half miles up in the air, later this year I’m planning on doing back to back half marathons ( 4-6 weeks part). I haven’t chosen the exact races yet, but Ive narrowed it down to the San Jose Rock &Roll , the Spirit of Pittsburgh and the Las Vegas half marathons, taking place in October, November and December.
Training for the those races begins for me in less than two weeks.

To the wonderfully wacky people who haven’t chickened out of the Mt Evans Challenge, Good luck up there!

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/no-mountain-climbing-for-me/feed/ 10 http://breathinstephen.com/i-think-ill-go-climb-a-real-mountain/ http://breathinstephen.com/i-think-ill-go-climb-a-real-mountain/#comments Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:19:10 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=15082

How’s this for a view!

In just a few weeks , if all goes as planned, I hope to be standing on that very same rock with a half a dozen of my COPD friends.

The brainchild of my Boston marathon walking partner Mike Mc Bride, the “COPD Mt Evans Challenge” as he calls it, is simply about a bunch of friends with severe lung disease, getting together for a day and hiking to the summit of one of the tallest mountains in the Rockies of Colorado…. just for the heck of it! No, we’re not going to scale an entire mountain, but we will be walking up the steepest portion of one.

Starting in Idaho Springs,elevation 8,700 ft, we’re gonna drive up the mountain road 9 miles to Summit Lake, which is situated at the 12,800 ft level. From there we’re gonna hike the last 5 miles on foot up to the summit of the mountain, which sits 14,220 ft above sea level. My COPD friends will be using high -flow oxygen @ 15 lpm to make the trek up the mountain I hopefully, will not need supplemental O2, but I’ll be closely monitoring my O2 sats just in case.

As you can see in this photo taken earlier this year during a race up the mountain, the grade along certain portions of the road is pretty steep. The part that we’re gonna be doing, gains approximately 1600 ft in elevation in just over 5 miles.

( Mike Mc Bride and Roxlyn Cole testing out their oxygen equip)

What makes this particular walk such a challenge for me (and for the other lungers), is the altitude and the steepness of the climb.
Excluding being a passenger in a pressurized airplane, this will be the highest altitude my body has ever been exposed to. The last walk I did that involved a mountain, was back in 2008 when I did the ET midnight marathon in the Nevada desert. And while it was a much longer walk ( 13.1 miles) , we only reached a maximum elevation of 5,500 feet during the race. The summit of Mt Evans is almost 3 times higher.

My lungs are not a big fan of climbing hills. I can barely walk uphill the two blocks it takes to reach my house, let alone 5.5 miles up the side of a mountain. Putting the physical challenges aside though, the main reason I wanna do this is, is to take in the sheer beauty of it all. I think Mountains are awesome.

If you’d like to read more, or maybe even join us, check out at Roxlyn Coles blog

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/i-think-ill-go-climb-a-real-mountain/feed/ 10 http://breathinstephen.com/is-too-much-of-a-good-thing-bad/ http://breathinstephen.com/is-too-much-of-a-good-thing-bad/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:38:53 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=14132

For 5 years now, I’ve been heralding the benefits of daily exercise in people who have severe lung disease. That message is plastered all over this blog, and I believe is the reason that Ive lived so long. But wait, just as with every other facet of this frustrating disease, there’s a catch 22.

While there’s no argument that exercise can make a huge difference in the lives of people suffering from lung disease, Ive long suspected that too much exercise also carries with it, the potential for some not so pleasant side effects. Namely, dynamic hyperinflation, aka…. air trapping.

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.

(Was finishing this Marathon worth the the nightmare that followed?)

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 doing it. But, out of the 19 races Ive completed in the past 5 years, only 2 of those landed me in the hospital as a direct result. And don’t forget, non-asthmatic people end up in hospitals too from “over-doing it” .

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.

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/is-too-much-of-a-good-thing-bad/feed/ 2 http://breathinstephen.com/university-of-pittsburgh-newsletter-may-2010/ http://breathinstephen.com/university-of-pittsburgh-newsletter-may-2010/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 13:05:46 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=13025

( click to view )

]]> http://breathinstephen.com/university-of-pittsburgh-newsletter-may-2010/feed/ 7 http://breathinstephen.com/behind-that-finish-line-smile/ http://breathinstephen.com/behind-that-finish-line-smile/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:27:42 +0000 Stephen http://breathinstephen.com/?p=12742

Ok, so I look really strong in some of my finish line photos, but believe me.. looks can be very very deceiving. I’m an expert at hiding what I feel inside (I think most asthmatics are, to some degree.) Behind those smiles were waves of excruciating pain shooting down my legs. My breathing was really labored at times and my calf muscles felt like they were going to explode, but I told myself at the start of this race that if I made it past mile 21, that no matter how bad my breathing was, or how much pain I might be in, that I would push on with positive thoughts in my head and a smile on my face….And that’s exactly what I did! And if for no other reason, that’s why I’m so proud of myself for finishing the race in style.

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:-)

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