inhaling

For whatever reason, I'm more dependent on my inhaler this year than I have been in recent years. My asthma usually grips me pretty well about halfway through a run. Its typically very manageable, albeit very uncomfortable. As is the status quo of summertime, I gradually increase my cardio workload and ultimately deal with more breathing complications. I've never had a bona fide "attack" (I thank my lucky stars) so I'm not particularly worried that increasing my workout duration also ups my risk . Sure, I'll use my inhaler after I'm done running - that's just the way its been for me. It wasn't until a week or so ago that I noticed that compared to last year, I'm hitting the thing like a water bottle. Every single time I'm at Rotary, I'm sucking gas (say it fast enough and it sounds like I'm sucking ass... heh...)

I've decided that in order to turn this thing back into a manageable condition, I've gotta find ways to lay off the aerosol. A few years ago, when I ran into this problem on a much smaller level, I just forgot about the inhaler altogether. I found other ways to work through it. I'd increase my cool down times, do some "inhaler-like" exercises and try my best to control it. Granted, that was a much lesser instance, but it still worked. I'll try to manage it on my own.

Now, the biggest question of all is "why?" Why, all of a sudden, am I succumbing to asthma more and more often? I'm in pretty good shape. Not like I was a few years ago, but still I'm definitely not lethargic and lardy. So it can't be anything physical, right? I'm not allergic to anything, so that's definitely not an issue. Is the pollen count up? (Will somebody PLEASE TELL ME IF THE DAMN POLLEN COUNT IS UP!?!?) Even if it is, that's never really been a flare factor. Ozone action days are at least another month-and-a-half away. The weather has been pretty nice, besides. My only other thought involves my living quarters. I live in a basement where a dehumidifier has been running since about 7th grade. When we got central A/C a few summers ago, there was no need to run the dehumidifier because the A/C acts as its own dehumidifier. (Lucky me! a two-fer!) When winter rolls around, the air in the house is so dry that the dehumidifier's effort is wasted when left running. So I stowed it away in a corner. My mom's a sharp lass. At the first sign of spring she's usually the first one to dehumidify anything (I'm looking at you, dryer). So for about a month now, I've been living in a rain forest equivalent. Maybe that's whats affecting my breathing. I figured this much out a few nights ago and victoriously switched the dehumidifier ON. I fully believe my breathing problem will be corrected soon.