Asthma & Triathlon

I know the feeling of gasping for air, the sad thing is that I wake up with asthma and I know it’s going to be one of those days. I am on Symbacort twice a day plus my rescue inhaler. I have also been put on prednisone several times during the last 6 months. I have the hardest time swimming and running, cycling is the best of the 3 things I do. I want to do Kona but I know that I need to get my asthmas under control. If anyone has any advice I am open to it, anything that helps I will try it.

Hi there,

it is most important that you learn to breath properly. Learn to belly-breath and to control your breathing. Try to breath predominantly through your nose. That will also help to keep your heart-rate down. Concentrate on exhaling. That is especially important for the swim. Especially in colder water it will help you to exhale strongly and breath calmly. Many people tend to overbreath in a cold water swim start if they are not used to the conditions. For asthmatics that can trigger a bad attack.

I also recommend to strictly take your "preventer" as recommended by your doctor. On the race day take your "reliever" 1 hour before the start and than again a few minutes before the start. Depending on the severity of your asthma have a reliever on you at all times or in your transition bags. Ask your doctor how long the effect of your particular medication last. Remember: prevention is better than trying to curb a full-blown attack.

As for the heart rate, don't worry too much about it. Side effects tend to get a bit less with prolonged use (only as prescribed of course!).  Try to breath calmly at all times and try to control your (pre-)race nerves. 

Happy racing!

Hi,

I'm a 37 year old asthmatic who tried to do his first triathlon this morning.. fighting a sinus infection, wore a wetsuit that was too tight in warm water, and nearly asphyxiated at the first buoy. I did  brick run of bike-swim full length of the race 10 days ago and was quite proud of the 1:09:00 in which i finished it. i barely trained for the swim, which is heavily to blame. I inhaled a drop of water and my lungs just locked up. i couldnt breath at all and my HR shot up to 190 (my normal training HR is in the 150s). I could barely hang onto the lifeguard's kayak. Needless to say, I never even got onto my bike afterwards.

How do people deal with this? I was having an amazing year in all the 5ks and mud runs i had been doing. my numbers had be dropping like flies. my ego was on overload(probably a bad thing). i got reality fast today. I think a more experienced person might have declined to perform within 3 days of being diagnosed with a sinus infection but my pride wouldnt let me.

thoughts?

First of all, take serious control of your asthma.  Use your maintenance inhalers as directed and rescue as needed.  I pre treat prior to swimming with my rescue, particularly if I am in a flare prone season (year round allergies worse in spring and fall).

Second, equally as important .....more so in many ways.  SWIM.  You cannot expect your body to be fine on race day swimming 750 meters when you don't normally swim.  The whole learning to breathe in water thing is harder (in my opinion) for those of us with asthma ---UNLESS one already has a good swim background.

My asthma is MOST bothered when I swim during flare season.  I think it's a combination of race nerves, the challenges of breathing in water and that we are LAND mammals by nature of the species.  I have trained myself to cough with my face in the water and not aspirate half the river.  Biking is sometimes a challenge when I flare, a coughing spasm is brutal when you can't get to the rescue inhaler.  I tape mine to my bars for fastest access in races.  If I am riding with friends, I will announce which pocket my rescue is in cause there have been times I couldn't get it  due to the coughing and needed a friend to retrieve it for me.