Let’s see….Do a three hour 13 miler, get sick for three weeks. Do a six hour marathon, get sick for 6 weeks. Do a NINE hour marathon , and don’t get sick at all. What’s going on here?
That’s right …It seems every race that I’ve ever done fast ,or PR’d, I’ve paid a hefty price afterwards. On two occasions I was actually hospitalized as a direct result of “over exerting” myself .Of those races which I did very slowly ( for whatever reason , Portland for example), I had no significant breathing problems afterwards.
Hmmm …there seems to be a pattern emerging here.
I don’t know if my disease is getting worse or if I’m flaring up because I’m pushing myself too hard. If in fact, I’m making myself sick by walking too fast , then it must have something to do with intensity, not distance.
A possible explanation, is that the faster I breath (due to increasing exertion), the more hyper inflated my lungs become. Because I can’t exhale completely like a normal person, air becomes trapped in the tiny airways and gets progressively worse over time if the level of exertion remains high. Eventually my lungs get so over inflated, that I have a really difficult time breathing .To make things worse, my lungs only deflate when they’re damn good and ready. It’s often a very slow process and there’s not much one can do about it. They can stay in a state of “over inflation” for days after a race, sometimes even weeks. This in itself can lead to respiratory fatigue, pulmonary hypertension, and even trigger a full blown attack.
The other possibility of course, is that my disease is progressing to the point where I’m going to be short of breath at any exertion level. I hope that isn’t the case.
Anyways, if my first hunch is correct, then all I would have to do is slow down…. ..right? There’s only one problem ….. I’m a racewalker! Walking slow kinda defeats the whole purpose doesn’t it?
I would hate to go back to “regular slow walking”. Hell, the boredom would kill me before my lungs do.
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