It is in the thirties right now in Denver and I cannot run more than a mile or two without discomfort. As of late, I was fine at 50 ish degrees, but nothing colder. Does anyone have any techniques, or thoughts on overcoming this? I am not excited about treadmill only workouts, and there is a “Chilly Cheeks” race series coming up next week here.
Speedy
First I would go to a doc and get a good work up. I also have Asthma…it sucks!
Guys,
Ask your doc to get you on Advair. It has changed my life. I’ve been on it for about 1.5 years now and it has changed my life. I used to be sucking albuterol constantly and now I have no idea where my inhaler is!
As for cold air. I play hockey and train for IM"s through the winter with no probs.
Advair has worked wonders for me also. However, as a precaution during the winter months, I will where a thin scarf over my mouth while running outdoors. I would go crazy if I could not run outside!
I’m on Asthmanax I think it is similar to Advair and notice a huge difference - almost no coughing in the cold. I second the idea of something over your mouth to warm the air. I also find that I can’t run quite as hard in the cold or I will cough. There seems to be a magic heart rate at which my asthma will kick in - and it is lower in the cold.
Yep, medicate medicate medicate. I use(d) singulair (sp?) but now don’t have as much of a problem because it is not as cold here in Milan as it was in Utah… So I just use the odd puff of albuterol these days. No reason to stop training - better living through chemistry 
i also have asthma. i have a nebulizer, which is kind of like a big, motorized, advanced inhaler. i take xopenex, a steroid, and something else in the neb in the morning and at night. i use my albuterol inhaler when needed; it works awesome for me. advair never worked for me. it did nothing.
Haven’t posted here in forever but this one hit close to home.
I agree with everyone about possibly getting some medical attention to your asthma. I started tris (from a life of much couch living) about a little over 4 years ago. Up TO that point I’d had some moderate (not mild, not severe) asthma since I was about 21 (now 41.) Advair was the best med I ever used. However, I must say, that I have not used any medications (long term or albuterol) for almost 2 years now. My training seems to have dampened the symptoms of asthma in me that I never have to use it anymore.
That said, I always used to have some difficult in cold weather as well. One easy, and cheap cure for this is to check your intensity. If you breathe through your mouth the air doesn’t get warmed as fast and it can irritate the lungs quicker, breathe only through your nose, and it warms better and less irritation. Now, granted, this works for your AeT training but not so much when you’re doing tempo and threshold stuff.
Thank you all for your suggestions, much appreciated.
I was given Albuterol earlier in the year when it got damp here and revived my long forgotten asthma. I stopped taking it after a month as i was feeling no effects. Now, Ill have to go revisit the doctor and see if Advair or an equivalent may be the answer.
Zev
It is in the thirties right now in Denver and I cannot run more than a mile or two without discomfort. As of late, I was fine at 50 ish degrees, but nothing colder. Does anyone have any techniques, or thoughts on overcoming this? I am not excited about treadmill only workouts, and there is a “Chilly Cheeks” race series coming up next week here.
This is text case ‘EIA’ (exercise induced asthma). Not too difficult to treat - I have used an Atrovent inhaler when needed. Be ware that some inhalers will effect your heart rate.
I would be cautious jumping to more meds if you have not been taking your albuterol. Consider an indoor warmup, use the albuterol before if you are an exercise/cold unduced, and then head outside w/ a cover over your mouth. Start with an easy effort and easy breath through the nose if you can, then build up intensity slowly. I find that after 40min of exercise, my asthma will dissipate. Not a problem for distance training. I have a long history w/ asthma & a lot of meds. Long story short- I recommend to do as much as you can to control the asthma w/ out a lot of meds if at all possible.
I don’t like the meds and see no reason to take albuterol when the climate is dry here. In fact, I suggested to the doctor that maybe I shouldn’t be puffing every day and he agreed. I think I may seek another Dr. out for this issue.
If it’s not the asthma it would be the fact that we could ice skate on the streets right now. 
Seriously though, I have asthma too. Seems like athletes have special needs so finding a doc who is also an athlete in order to get advice from that perspective seems to make a lot of sense sometimes.
First thing I would try would be to premedicate (take albuterol) before going out… However the best thing would be to talk to your physician and perhaps starting an inhaled steroid during the winter months.
This is a very common strategy in the pediatric population where it is easy to identify the worse months for a asthmatic child… the converse is that you can stop medications when you don;t need them… either way I would spekaing to your physician about it.