As an asthma sufferer all my life, many activities can be hindered by my labored breathing. I remember as a child having yearly asthma attacks and being hospitalized for a week at a time due to my breathing. It's the most horrible feeling in the world to not breathe.
I do not remember a time where I haven't used my medication. I have a daily steroid inhaler as well as a rescue inhaler to use when I do activities or if something triggers my symptoms. When I have an attack (which I still do even as an adult), I also use oral steroids to bring it under control. While I know I need these medications to help me breathe, unfortunately some of the medications I took while I was younger have taken a toll on my body. They have broken down my joint material, making my knees, elbows and the like practically disintegrate. I do not have pain or discomfort currently, but I know deep down in the back of my mind as I grow older, I will be faced with pain I am sure.
While I sometimes think about the days when I won't be able to run, I enjoy my time now when I CAN run and do things I love. Like yoga, cross-training and completing more marathons & triathlons and the like. I have good days when I can feel like I can run forever and bad days when I can barely finish a short 20 minute run without using my inhaler and feeling like my lungs are going to explode. I just try not to focus on the bad runs and just make sure to keep going so my next run will be better.