To My Runners With Heart Problems
People laugh when they find out I have asthma and am a runner.
“Chose the wrong sport!” They’d joke. Of course, I’d always respond with, “it wasn’t the wrong sport! i love running and i just HAPPEN to have asthma.” It barely affected me, just like it barely affects other runners. It just something that’s apart of life.
Pretty much every runner has some degree of Asthma, mine just requires an inhaler. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. It’s only exercise induced, so it was normal to take puffs before practice and races and still get slight burn in my chest.
Well, the pressure on my chest from asthma quickly turned to pressure on my heart and sharp pains that made me stop mid workout. I was no longer taking my inhaler, not because my asthma stopped but because every time I took it it seemed to make my heart skip beats. No longer was I finishing a race out of breathe but conscious, I was finishing them with spots in my eyes and a burn in my heart, almost passing out. I was no longer running. Days went by, then weeks, months, and so many doctors appointments. You have something wrong with your heart.
Do you know how hard those words are to hear? The one thing keeping you alive, that you just expect to be working around the clock? Yea. Mine wasn’t working too well.
Running was now modified. Any pain in my chest meant I had to stop. Physical activity in gym was forbidden. Don’t overwork the heart!
I felt like I would never get better. “A runner with heart trouble? HA!” It’s an absurd thought. Running puts so much pressure on your heart, how could I run and not do damage to my already in poor condition heart?
But slowly, the days and weeks and months passed by and I worked back up to the mileage, the speed, the confidence I once had. No longer would I let it be an excuse. There’s still pain, and scares, but I figured out how to not overwork myself but not put limits either. No longer was it holding me back.
A competitive runner with heart problems and asthma?! Yea, they have those. And it makes us 10x stronger, too.
- Anonymous
