10mile Starter number arrived today

I think today is a good Day to talk about this Year ( 2011 ) and how it started and where I'm now.
In my previous Blog I mentioned already that I haven't had a Bronchitis or Cold or Flu in over 2 Years , I have lost quite a bit of Weight and I also started regular Exercise, I'm a Alpha1 MZ Type , so according to many Experts I should not get any Symptoms as long as  I don't Smoke, but there are quite a few MZ out there, who have actually severe Symptoms .

So at the beginning of 2011 the only Problem I had, was  cold Weather, which causes a dry Cough  of which I can't get rid of and I was always the slowest Runner in my group. Being slow annoyed me but I said to myself ,I'm more or less just start the Running I can't expect Miracles.

So my annual Lung Function Test came up, my Lung function so far had always been very good but I never really bothered to look to deep into the Lung Function Test.
Everyone who ever had this sheet in his / her Hands knows there are a lot of other nice Numbers on that Paper ( FEV1, FEV1/FVC , PEF25-75%  )
I actually had no clue what these numbers meant and why should I bother , my Lung Function is good, the Year before it had been at 113 Percent , the only Value I remembered ( I guess a lot of People think now "How Stupid can you get" )  .
So the Day of the Lung function test had arrived and because of my Health Progress , the only thing my Brain was willing to accept was something like " Lung Function same as last Year or Lung Function has improved".

I really went to that Test expecting one of those Comments but instead  I got from the Nurse this: "Lung Function is still very good".
 It might sound silly but that comment was a huge Disappointment to me , so I took this Paper up to the Doctor and I actually still expected to hear "perfect" result" but again  I got the same Comment as before: "Lung Function is still very good.

I did not ask what they meant with that and just took this on board (Important NOTE Here : not asking Details is absolutely my Fault, I have huge Respect for the Doctors and Nurses  who take Care of the Alphas in Ireland, I'm really impressed with their Service and the Help they are giving ) .

 At home I finally started to learn what all these fancy Numbers in the Spirometer Test meant .I actually started to understand what COPD is and the difference to Asthma.
Result of my own research is :  "Lung Function is still very good"   but if I look a little bit Further Down I could interpret the Rest of the Numbers as "there could be a potential COPD problem looming". I'm kind of just above the Borderline of mild COPD Symptoms.

It took me a couple of Weeks to recover mentally from this, I also realized I could be on the wrong Track,  so the Alpha1-Runner was born.
I decided to run a 10km Race every month,  which I practically have done so far. In most 10k Races  as mentioned before I'm always the Runner just before the Walkers, I had some Races where Walkers actually have been faster than me. I have had Races where I was the Second Last and I was the Last Person in a Race.
Does it bother me ? Yes it does, I would lie if I would say otherwise , do I give up , no way because I also enjoy what I have archived so far. I actually have increased my Schedule and I'm planning to do a 10 Mile Race in 2 Weeks time , a Sprint Triathlon ( my first ever ) in 3 Weeks Time and a Half marathon in 8 Weeks Time .
I will probably be one of the last persons arriving the finish Line in each of these Races but if I reach the Finish Line than that's the biggest Win I can hope for and that's all I want finish those Races and see how far this Alpha1-Runner can go.