IMC, smoke, and asthma

Triathlon Forum
1

I read reports about this year’s race that as the day wore on, the smoke became worse.

  1. Is smoke in the air typical for this event?
  2. For those with asthma, or anyone else, how bad is it? Did it hamper your race?

Thanks!

2

I read reports about this year’s race that as the day wore on, the smoke became worse.

  1. Is smoke in the air typical for this event?
  2. For those with asthma, or anyone else, how bad is it? Did it hamper your race?

Thanks!

I didn’t notice the smoke at all until the run. This was my first IMC so I don’t know if this is “typical” but I do know that area (like SoCal) is prone to forest fires. I don’t suffer from asthma, but had a slight chest cold on race day and I would not say the conditions were bad enough to hamper my race.

3

I had to use my inhaler three times on te run, about normal
.

4

I pulled out of the race at Yellow Lake this year because of my breathing problems. I hadn’t taken an inhaler as my Doctor still isn’t sure that my breathing issues are asthma-related and so far, the inhaler they had given me hasn’t really ‘helped’ me when I am having problems (this is a fairly recent problem). BUT…as soon as I came down off Richter Pass and into the rollers, my breathing got worse. The smoke had settled in the valley and was noticeable…at least to me.

Several people commented to me afterwards that they were reliant on their inhalers during the bike and run section. So, I suspect that I was not the only one affected by it. I took a photo of Okanagan Lake after I got back into town…and it was like a thick fog had rolled in.

I’ve raced here 4 other times and have never been affected by smoke issues and despite having to pull the plug early, I would still come back and do this race over and over.

5

in 2003 the run course had to be revised for that year due to fires in the area.

smoke has not been an issue at this race at all since then until this year.

6

The smoke was a little eerie at first shrouding the peaks biking into the Similkameen, then got much heavier as the day wore on heading back on the Okanagan side. I could definitely smell it on the run after the turnaround when facing into the wind. Couldn’t even see town coming back up the lake until within maybe a mile.

On the plus side, I think the thick cover probably blocked the sun enough it didn’t get as hot as forecasted.

7

By Yellow Lake on the bike leg, my lungs didn’t want to fully expand to take in a full breath of smoke, so it was shallow breathing for the rest of the day.

8

The smoke messed me up pretty badly. I had a decent swim and a good bike, right on target both in time and perceived effort. About 8 miles into the run I started having trouble breathing as I am very sensitive to smoke. My heart rate jumped and my stomach decided to rebel so I ended up walking about a third of the marathon.

I actually did a lot of my training indoors this summer because of the smoke locally (I am in Kelowna). I was pretty pissed when I started having breathing problems, because I DNFed earlier this year at Lanzarote with for the same reason.

I am still not able to get a deep breath today without coughing. Sucks ass.

At least I had the distinction of having a faster bike split than run :wink: