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By Kathy Przywara, Community Director at the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America


Clearly, I’ve lost my mind! I’ve committed to train for and participate in a half century (50-mile) bike ride. That’s not the crazy part. I have asthma and it frequently becomes a factor in what I do. Will I be able to keep my exercise induced asthma under control so it will allow me to even train for this ride?

I love biking but would never consider myself an avid cyclist – or an athlete. I’m “Sunday cruise on the parkway” – not “Maserati on the Autobahn!” I’ve done longer rides in the past that were 25 to 30 miles as a casual cyclist. Training to ride 50 miles should be an achievable goal, right? I have nearly 4 months to train! However, I haven’t ridden much over the past 2 years. I broke my wrist and it didn’t heal properly for a while. That made riding difficult. It’s all healed and fine now. Over that same time, my environmental allergies and allergic asthma have flared more than usual. I’ve been struggling to get them under control again. Since committing to do this ride, the running dialog in my head goes something like this:

“I can do this! I still have 4 months to train!”
“But what if I can’t breathe?”

“I have plenty of time to train and build up my endurance”
“But what if my allergies are bad all summer? What if I can’t breathe?”

“The course is mostly flat and there is only one big hill to climb. I can walk it if I have to.”
“But what if I can’t breathe?”

“This is going to be fun trip with a bunch of friends.”
“But what if I can’t breathe? I don’t want to hold everyone else back.”

The Rosarito Ensenada Bike Ride is something my husband has been wanting to do for several years. The timing just has not worked with kids in school. This fall, we become empty-nesters and can be more flexible in our travel. So, this is the year!

My husband started seriously cycling about 4 ½ years ago. It quickly became clear that my asthma was not going to let me keep up with his pace. He was able to build up endurance much quicker than I could at the time. I quickly got discouraged because he wanted to ride much farther on routes with more hills than I thought I would be able to handle. I didn’t want to hold him back, so I just stopped riding with him and became even more discouraged. Now, we have a big difference in our fitness levels and I’m going to have to seriously train to build up my endurance. But my asthma is an ever present factor.

My husband is really excited about doing more riding together and has many training rides in mind. Awesome, right? Then I realize that he’s thinking I can just jump right into a 20 mile ride! And we are right back to one of the reasons I stopped riding with him before. But, this time will be different. I’m advocating for myself and educating him about my limitations.

This is going to be an adventure. I know there will be bumps in the road. I know there will be times when I will want to give into my asthma and let it conquer me and hold me back. I’m determined to not allow my asthma and allergies define me – to find ways to conquer them and meet this challenge head-on.

Read on for the next part of my journey.

Follow my journey – join the community here to follow this blog and find me on Instagram @AAFAKathyP. Help me raise awareness about asthma by making a donation.

 

kathy-przywara-aafa-kathy-pKathy Przywara is the Community Director at the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. She manages asthma, nasal allergies and food allergies. She is a passionate advocate for education and support for those managing asthma and allergic disease.

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Kathy, this is awesome.  We wish you the very best, training and on the day of the ride. And you can bet not only that we'll be donating in your honor; we'll be rooting for you all the way.

TandemRiders

Welcome @Karen B PT! I totally understand about weather concerns. My allergies are flared right now with certain trees and it's really a struggle! I'm trying to not let fear of an attack keep me from riding. It's hard some days! Then it's going to get hot here in July and August which is also an issue for me.

I'm glad my story is encouraging for you! I'd love to hear more about your training and goals. I'd like to invite you to join us on the support forums to share your story. To start a new topic - click "Post" then select "Topic"; on mobile, it's under the menu button. We can cheer each other on!

Kathy P

Kathy, I am training to walk a half marathon on October 1st and I have many of the same concerns.  I am doing well with training now, but I am concerned because July and August are my bad months for asthma and allergies.  I also have trouble with hot humid weather.  I am encouraged by your story and I am excited to follow your journey while I continue with mine!

KB

Thanks Gigi! I AM doing it for all of us who deal with asthma! And it really did take a courage to start this and share my journey. The whole thing is kind of scary!

I will definitely feel you riding with me! I have a special shirt and I'm going to write everyone's name on it who supports me with a donation for AAFA!

asthma-allergy-foundation-tackle-asthma-tackle-allergies-aafakathyp-shirt

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Kathy P

Oh kathy this is great! In response....

...whether you finish or not the training is worth it! Most important is that you have the courage to start!

Do it for all of us, some of us aren't at that level and it is inspiring to watch and cheer our friends on. We ride with you my friend.

Prayers and best wishes for great weather, staying above the allergens, building up your lungs and body and freedom from any incidents to slow you down.

gigi

GigiGibson
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