Jul 21, 20212 min read

#Fuckspring Part 2: Pollen Edition

“If you can’t breathe, you can’t run.” – Rule #6

https://www.coachedandloved.com/blog/in-sickness-or-in-health

I hate Spring.

HATE

SPRING.

You may be shocked to hear this. I'm not a 'negative' person; I find the good in damn near everything. I am tenacious. I am crafty. I turn sow ears into silk purses before breakfast then I donate them to the homeless for resale. I MAKE THINGS WORK.

Except in springtime. Springtime is my kryptonite. You just cannot win, it is way too strong.

So if I hurt your feelings by discouraging Spring "A" races or asked you to consider fall races instead, understand that it isn't YOU. It's SPRING.

"But COACH! Spring brings April showers and May flowers and all the snow melts! We can run outside every day and pretend we are little baby deer that dance like no one is watching through a Winchester special with a scope!"

Let's talk about all the things that can go wrong:

snow melts- pollen comes out full force.
April showers- muddy trails
May flowers- i cannot see them because my eyes are watering from all the f*cking pollen
flu season
Spring Break
kids with the flu home all week during spring break while you manage your pollen reactions

https://www.pollen.com/forecast/extended/pollen/80202

Click the link above, you will see that Denver is in a high pollen advisory. You probably had to clean it of your windshield this morning. You may have woken up with heavy eyelids and feel a bit sleep deprived even if you didn’t behave badly last night. That’s because the same stuff that was on your windshield is also in your lungs, which in turn are kicking up mucus production to keep you from choking while forcing your bronchioles to narrow so that you don’t drown in a pollen/mucus bath. Isn’t that nice? This is impairing your body’s ability to take in and process oxygen; that’s why your breathing is labored.

You can’t seriously expect to ‘perform’ with compromised lungs. So stop that. All we have to do is survive Spring.

I don't expect anything good to happen until June. You shouldn't either. Till then, do the best you can. Moving forward is still moving towards the finish line, even if it's slower than you want to go. I promise you are making gains, and those gains will be visible as soon as your lungs are totally clear.

(Why June? Pollen production has stabilized, and your body has had 8 weeks to adapt to the new normal. This is not a firm and fast rule, for day-to-day check www.pollen.com.)

#coachedandloved

#FuckSpring

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLCwhere she coaches all kinds of runners for $29 per month and gives marathon plans away for free. Click here to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF!