EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE...
WE ALL GET OUT OF BREATH WHEN WE RUN , BUT FOR SOME RUNNERS THIS IS MUCH MORE OF A PROBLEM THAN OTHERS . LISA JACKSON MEETS THREE WOMEN WITH ASTHMA WHO WERE DETERMINED NOT TO LET THEIR ILLNESS STAND IN THE WAY OF THEIR DREAMS
“SOME DAYS I COULDN’T EVEN RUN 300 METRES, BUT I FOUND WAYS TO OVERCOME THAT”
“I was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 14 – some people grow out of it but I grew into it!” says Tracey Wright, 32, from Stockton-on-Tees. “It was a relief to get a diagnosis because it meant I could be given medication to control it. My asthma is exercise induced and also triggered by allergies to animals and dust but I take daily antihistamines that help a bit. After having children, my asthma got much worse: I’d need to use my reliever inhaler after walking up the stairs at home or could be sitting on the sofa and suddenly start wheezing. From a very young age, my children knew where my reliever inhalers were kept and that if I asked for one they needed to get it straight away. I never could have believed at that point that I’d ever lead a normal life, much less contemplate running! Fortunately I was eventually prescribed a steroid preventer inhaler – I use it morning and night and it’s made a huge difference to how I feel. Then, one day in 2013, I saw Race for Life advertised. I decided to give it a go and it became a personal challenge to go a little bit further or a little bit faster.