Going to post some ideas here instead of as drafts on my Substack. I can use this as my notebook of sorts.

One thing that occurred to me while running at the track today is that my lung capacity and how I feel while doing it varies substantially day to day and week to week. (I go every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.)

Today I felt a bit sluggish, and I always thought maybe it was due to something inflammatory I ate — I’m gluten-free and eat mostly unprocessed foods, but you never know if some lactose-containing dairy or nuts or some kind of fruit sets you off.

I’ve also suspected pollens in the air, humidity, mold in the house, etc. I was diagnosed with “exercised-induced asthma” in high school, and while I’m not even sure that’s a real thing, I’ve definitely had times where I was much more winded than I should have been.

But today I was running and feeling kind of sluggish, not terrible, just below average and I paid attention to where the discomfort was in my chest and lungs, and I started getting in touch with a feeling of anxiety.

I suspected first it was anxiety about being pushed to run more or faster (I did 4 miles), but I watched it for awhile and it seemed more like just sweating and running and being outside, I was getting in touch with general anxiety, and the discomfort was from wanting to avoid that.

It occurred to me that maybe the exercise-induced-asthma was a defense mechanism from feeling something overwhelming. And it activates to keep me from breathing more deeply and getting in touch with whatever’s underneath.

And that I was sluggish today because I was more anxious than usual, and I was more anxious than usual because I had spent too much time on anXiety, the Elon-Musk owned social media site.

In other words, maybe my inflammatory response wasn’t from something I consumed via my digestive system but instead what I allowed into my mind.