The Self-Coached Runner

About the Book

My book is to help you start running in an easy, simple way if you have asthma. Some people may say running is boring, and others may find it enjoyable. Running can be made easy and fun even if you have asthma. Running is one of the most inexpensive ways to keep fit, lose weight, and stay in shape. It doesn’t cost the price of joining a gym or hiring a personal training coach. All you need is a pair of running sneakers, shorts, and a T-shirt. Training will come easy by putting one foot in front of the other and by being consistent. I hope my book will encourage and help you overcome any concerns you may have while running with asthma. I have always had an interest in health (exercising and eating healthy), and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with my friends, colleagues, and family. I decided to increase this knowledge and learn, in a formal training program, how to live a better life through eating well and taking care of myself. I’m not only learning to improve my life but I have also received detailed and careful instructions on how to coach others in food and lifestyle choices. It’s an exciting time for me! I look forward to sharing more with you about my new career path and all the benefits of this work. I appreciate being able to share this with you. Please feel free to visit my Facebook page, Vitamin K, to get a preview of what I am up to.

About the Author

Because I’m an asthmatic, I couldn’t always do the training that my running buddies did. Well, I did it, but it caused me to be out of breath. The “healthy runners,” as I called them, would run longer and faster than I could because my lungs could not take in enough air. Sometimes I thought maybe I needed to train harder, to spend more time training on the road or beach. I felt out of place and sometimes embarrassed, constantly wheezing and coughing while running. I didn’t want anyone to see me using my Ventolin inhaler. I would ask myself, Why am I out here running if I can’t breathe, if I’m out of breath, if I can’t keep up, and if I’m feeling tired? Why am I having asthma attacks during training? Should I stop running and find another type of exercise, or should I continue running and find out what I need to do or what would work for me? Still, I wanted to run because it was the least expensive exercise. Plus, I wanted to lose weight and stay fit and healthy. So I stopped training with my running group and started training on my own. I didn’t know that asthma can be brought on while exercising. I knew that dust and certain sprays and perfumes made me cough but not exercise. Even when the weather was cold or humid, I had trouble breathing, so I had to use my Ventolin inhaler before and after my training runs—and sometimes during. My doctor praised me for choosing running as an exercise, so I started to do some research to find out how I could control my breathing. I didn’t know I needed to breathe through my nose more often to help prevent wheezing and coughing. I learned that my lungs needed to stay warm in order to breathe. Breathing (inhaling) through my nose would keep my lungs warm and help me breathe without wheezing and coughing. I enjoyed training on my own at different times of the day—early morning runs, lunchtime runs, and evening runs. While training on my own, I used my inhaler when I coughed and wheezed, and I didn’t feel out of place or embarrassed, as I did in front of my running group. I just didn’t want anyone to know I had asthma. I wasn’t aware of any other runners in our group who had asthma; I never saw anyone use an inhaler.