Article for class..

As a runner I notice quite often the quality of the air in the Utah Valley. It’s at this time of year that it’s the worst.

I didn’t think that it affected me that much until I started training for my next marathon.

I was on my normal daily run and for some reason I wasn’t able to run like I usually could. I couldn’t figure out why. I went over all of the options in my head. I had eaten well that day, I hadn’t been sick, it wasn’t that I was out of shape, and I wasn’t tired from a prior run.

So what could it have been? As I thought more of what it might be I realized that the Wasatch Mountains to the east were almost not even visible. I then started thinking about how bad the air is in the valley when there’s inversion.

It then hit me the reason that I felt I wasn’t running well. The air quality is terrible! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought if it before. What do I need to run well? Good air and lots of it. I wasn’t getting that. I was getting polluted air that was no good for me as a runner or anyone else breathing it no matter what they’re doing.

According to Time magazine in an article written on September 12, 2007 titled, Pollution: Dangerous to Joggers, “A recent U.S. study reported that exposure to polluted air boosts the risk of death from heart disease by 76%.”

This same thing has been a worry for athletes training for the upcoming Olympics in China. Athletes have been wondering if they should train in cities that the pollution is bad to get the upper hand. One athlete even joked as he asked his trainer if he should train while running behind a bus in the city.

A fellow runner from Utah Valley named Jake Summerson said that he’s experiencing the same problems and lack of energy that I’ve felt.

“I feel so great on clear days, it’s like I could go forever.” He later said, ”When I go to run and see the quality of the air or see it’s terribly smoggy outside I dread the run because I know I’m going to be short on energy.”

This is a common problem that people are experiencing. Studies have given us an insight on why that is.

While athletes are training they build up what’s called lactic acid. This is something that happens when athletes hit a certain threshold where the body doesn’t have enough oxygen. Lactic acid caused pain and burning in muscles and makes it hard to continue.

When the air is saturated with pollutants it makes it much harder to get oxygen, therefore the lactic acid begins to build much faster. This is where the feeling of no energy comes from.