Exercise cured my asthma

I lived with asthma for most of my life but when I started exercising, I was cured.

Note: I am not a medical professional. Don't do anything stupid.

I was diagnosed with asthma at 18 months old. I'm not quite sure of the details but apparently I was wheezing a lot and struggling to breath.

I grew up reliant on the daily brown/purple inhalers. When I had an asthma attack, I would be puffing on the blue inhaler. I carried them everywhere I went for 21 years.

The main triggers for me were dust, pollen, alcohol and animal hair. I missed out on scuba diving in Mexico at age 11. My ability to deal with it got better over time but it was always something in my mind.

It's hard to estimate how many asthma attacks I have had in my life. I've spent countless nights sitting out my back door with my dad, trying to calm my lungs down. I've taken hospital trips on holiday in Tenerife when the dry, sandy air irritated my lungs. I spent 2 hours dealing with an asthma attack on a Scout camp when I lost my inhaler and was too scared to tell anyone.

And that stopped when I started exercising.

My first ever run was in November 2016 and just 2.7km long. Upon my return, my girlfriend opened the door and I was slumped against the wall gasping for my inhaler.

For some reason, I kept at it and ended up doing half marathons, marathons, an ultra marathon and a triathlon. Now I'm truly addicted and training to run 50 miles. I can also hold my breath for 4 minutes.

I can't pinpoint at what point I started noticing the change but when you go from a sedentiary lifestyle to working out most days, a lot of your life improves.

Totally ignoring all the cardiovascular and strength benefits from exercising, I think the fact that I don't even carry an inhaler now is my favorite thing about it.