I've been struggling with seasonal allergies for 5 years now. Ever since my sophomore college season when I unexpectedly started running like trash after indoors. My chest tightens up, and I can’t get any air. I feel like I’m running at 10k ft altitude. My eyes get really red, itchy, watery and on bad days I can hear myself wheezing when running. Took a while for me to narrow down possible causes, but I now know its terrible allergies to various spring allergens.
April 1 – July 1 are the worst times for me. I never have problems outside this period, it just sucks that this is the only time that really matters for track. I’m a 14:00/8:05 guy and all of my PB’s have been run indoors. My goal has been to run 13:30 and take a crack at a spot on a sub-elite training group. I am now 24, I am getting married this summer, and I have told myself that if I can’t figure out what is wrong, I will stop running competitively and move on with starting a family.
I ran 29:00 on the roads last fall, and I know there are no underlying issues like overtraining, vitamin or iron issues. I eat the same foods, but as soon as April comes around, I crash into this horrible wall of fatigue, congestion, and inability to breathe. Beyond frustrating to run 14:00 indoors, and not be able to run 15:00 as soon as the seasons change, especially since I ran 14:57 in high school. Even more frustrating is explaining it to everyone who wonders why I suck on the outdoor track.
I know a few others who have struggled with similar issues, but those who haven’t experienced allergic reactions like this have no clue how mentally and physically draining it is. I’m depressed off my ass and I am winded walking up stairs as soon as April rolls around. I also sleep a ton, many days in the spring I need about 12-13 hours of sleep and I am rarely able to wake up before noon.
I’ve been prescribed Ventolin, nasal sprays, Claritin, and singulair in the past but they have all had minimal effects. I even wear the “rupp mask” every day of the spring season. It has actually helped my breathing in my easy training runs, but I haven’t had any help in hard efforts. Last year was so bad that I couldn’t even race outdoors.
I’m sorry for whining about this, but I know there are people on this board who have dealt with similar stuff, and I would really appreciate some input on things that have/haven’t worked for you. This is eating away at me every day. Obviously there is a solution out there, rupp looks like he has found one. And if there’s one place I can hope to find a solution, it’s LetsRun. So I am begging you to help out a fellow runner trying to make his dreams a reality.