Bodywork: To Fare the Foul
Strategies for coping with the lung-offending rites of spring

By Brenda Dekoker-Goodman

You're gasping, coughing, and your chest feels like an accordion after an all-night polka party. Ah, the first big run of the season-must've been a great workout. Or was it?

Cruelly, the same rising mercury and lingering daylight that lure athletes outside again can also substantially foul up the quality of the air we breathe. Conditions each spring converge to raise levels of air pollution, an occurrence that wreaks respiratory havoc on many of us, assuming you don't live in Denali National Park. Pollution inflames the sensitive tissues of the lungs, causing irritation. If you happen to have allergies, this lowers your tolerance to the triggers that set off an attack, which is no great gift in the midst of the seasonal release of pollen. And for those who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, pollution compounds your distress.

But the news is even worse for active types. Because athletes suck in more air during their outdoor workouts, and because they do so more forcefully, they can suffer respiratory problems typically consigned only to small children and the elderly. Any combination of air pollution, allergies, and asthma is guaranteed to lower an athlete's performance.

That's not to suggest that hunkering down on the couch is the only answer to dodging breathing problems. Fortunately, you can protect yourself from this airborne assault with some common sense, a little planning, and maybe an extra dose of vitamin C. If you know what you're up against, there's really no reason the thick air should slow you down.

Savvy athletes have long heeded the warnings of health experts to avoid exercising in the thrall of rush-hour fumes or drafting behind diesel-fueled city buses on a bicycle. But if you think that you can escape harm simply because you log the majority of your workout time under the clearer skies of a place like Des Moines, think again. Certain pollutants travel far enough to make a spring or summertime romp more problematic than you may ever have imagined.

Assuming you don't want to hide in the gym all season, what can you do? First, know thine enemy. Ozone has taken the brunt of bad press, but scientists have recently started to recognize another serious offender, known as fine particulates. "What we're beginning to understand about fine particulate pollution scares me far worse than ozone exposure," says Bruce Hill, a senior staff scientist for the Appalachian Mountain Club who studies the effect of pollution on athletes.

Boldly conspicuous bits of airborne ash, dust, acid droplets, and other flotsam, fine particulates give smog its lovely pall. They alsocan lodge deep in your lungs, delivering oxides of sulfate and of nitrate — the same stuff that creates acid rain. Just as in a cumulus cloud, when enough of these molecules are moistened by the damp lining of your lungs, they create a less-than-pleasant burning sensation.

For athletes who like to soak in scenery, this is a problem, since we draw in ten to 20 times more air than people at rest. Anyone who regularly works out in heavily particulate-laden air over time risks developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which means oxygen's not getting to your blood, so that even one flight of stairs can leave you gasping.

If you don't mind the Andromeda Strain look, you can keep particulates at bay by popping in something like SmartMouth ($39; 800-835-8802), a filter with a snorkel-like tube made of clear plastic. Designed for breathing through the mouth, it's especially important for athletes, who breathe too hard to use the nose, a valuable natural filter. (And while you're feeling protective, consider that the American Optometric Association suggests wearing sunglasses while exercising outdoors to protect your eyes from the tearing, itching, and burning caused by airborne particulates.)

The mask will protect you not only from particulates, but also from the mutant oxygen molecule ozone, a gas that inflames the lungs by reacting with lipids in its tissue, oxidizing them almost the same way water rusts metal. After prolonged exposure this rusting springs leaks in the alveoli, the tiny sacs where oxygen actually enters the blood, thus greatly hampering your athletic performance. You can bust the rust by taking antioxidants: Oxidation creates free radicals that destroy tissue, but antioxidants take the brunt of the free radicals' assault instead, martyring themselves for your lung tissue. So the more the better, up to a point: In a recent study of Dutch cyclists, a daily dose of 15 mg of beta carotene, 75 mg of vitamin E, and 650 mg of vitamin C proved helpful in countering the effects of free radicals.

Of course, avoidance remains the best line of defense against pollution. Since sunlight conspires with pollution to raise ozone levels, if you exercise early in the day you'll avoid the worst of it, especially during the sunnier summer months. Check the local news or log on to the EPA's Web site (www.epa.gov/ oar/oaqps/realtime/) for daily pollutant levels; the agency now recommends that you not go gallivanting outside when the ozone is at 80 parts per billion — corresponding to a pollution standards index of 66 — or higher.

Dodging fine particulates is trickier than avoiding ozone, since most urban centers don't yet monitor them. Your own keen eye is a good guide, given that we can only rely on estimates for now. "If you look toward the horizon and things begin to disappear beneath a milky white haze, you should probably exercise inside," suggests George Thurston, a New York University associate professor who studies pollution-related illness. Obviously there's only so much you can do about your environment, so sometimes it's better to hit the treadmill than the trail. While one day of heavy exposure may only slap you with a cough, a little extra phlegm, or brief chest pain, over time it can leave you more vulnerable to respiratory infections and cause lung tissue to scar. At that point, you can pretty much hang up your running shoes.