When Allergies Attack

I was finally off to a good start. I allowed two weeks to acclimate to my new altitude and head back on the road again. My Saturday and Sunday Runs started off well. Since I had not been running consistently due to the move, I gave my self a modest 10 mile a week goal to start building a solid foundation and continue easing into my new environment. The weekend was good, I logged about 3+ miles, leaving a good distance to cover over the next three to four runs that week to reach my 10 mile goal. My plans were quickly thwarted due to a series of severe allergic reactions, the cause yet to be officially determined.

The weather has started to heat up in Denver. I turned on the AC for the first time on Sunday evening, for only an hour, just long enough to cool the place off before bed. I tucked myself in with plans of logging another two miles on Monday morning. I awoke bright and early with a mysterious case of hives covering my face and the top part of my neck. I was determined to get back in my routine, popped some Benadryl and headed out for my morning run. By the time I got to work most of the hives had faded, I was still a bit swollen, but feeling better and less concerned than when I started my day.

Monday evening, AC was back on and I was back to bed, hoping that I would not face the same fate on Tuesday, and possibly have to skip the run to deal with matters of personal health. I attributed Monday's hives to a fluke and slept again. Tuesday morning, the hives had spread and I felt a cold like tickle in my throat. I opted to take the extra hour in bed to recoup and skipped the run. After some thinking and deductive reasoning, and three more days of hives, I determined something blowing around in the AC was the culprit causing my hives (probably a combination of dust and mold sitting in the unit for the last six months as the apartment was vacant).

What do you do in this situation?

My common sense, and investment in my long term health, tells me that the best approach is to take it one day at a time and listen to your body. I did just that. After four days of open windows and a deep clean of the AC I had my first hive free morning in five days. Four of which were also run free, but I was back on track Saturday morning.

Now that I can safely say I'm back in a solid training plan I will be back to regular posts...health pending, as I have yet to turn the AC back on for fear of hives. Stay tuned, I'll be hitting the switch next Friday night to await my fate next Saturday morning and see if my hunch on the cause was correct. In the meantime, I've set myself up form ten miles again this week, and a couple days of core training to continue building my base.

I don't recommend running after/during a severe allergic reaction. For those of you that are chronic sufferers check out this article found on LiveStrong for some tips and tools for better understanding how to survive while running with allergies.