NAH, I don't get allergies, but thanks for this email!"
Got this from too many of you, who then proceeded to tell me how badly your run went that day.
Let me be really, really clear: I"m not allergic to water but if you were to fill my lungs with it, i would drown. Same with pollen.
Right now, there is A LOT of pollen in the air, and the passageways in your lungs are constricting to keep you from literally drowning in all the pollen you are breathing in. Your body may be creating more mucus to combat this pollen, and I'm not going to get into all the places to look for it because I just don't get paid enough to hear about your poop or what you coughed up this morning, but rest assured some of that mucus is in your lungs. Having a serious earwax problem? This is why. Heavy legs? Can't hit the paces? Breathing like a locomotive? Can't get a good deep breath or feel asthmatic? THIS IS WHY
So, when there is pollen in the air, you may be less efficient (slower) at 140 than usual due to compromised lungs.
ON TOP OF THIS, some of you may be having a histamine reaction to pollen, in the form of nasal congestion or itchy running noses or itchy watery eyes or sniffling sneezing stuffyhead fever etc etc. This is called hay fever.
People who get hay fever like to take drugs like Sudafed, which is basically speed. Read the label, no joke it's super fun. Speed narrows your blood vessels and increases your heart rate, which means your heart is working harder to pump less oxygen. This is the very definition of reduced efficiency, and you'll be slower than usual at 140.
So, when there is pollen in the air AND you have an allergic/histamine reaction to it while your body tries to prevent you from drowning in it, you will be MUCH slower at 140. It's not you, it's temporary, and it goes away.
One or both of these is happening to you right now. Not sure? Look out your window. I'm looking west at the mountains, and see an ugly yellow halo type of haze around 'em. The haze isn't actually far away, we are breathing that.
📷