Running with hayfever

I wonder how other runners who suffer like this cope at this time of year so I started doing a little research and came up with the following top tips that I will take notice of and monitor:

• Don't delay getting into the shower after the run. Pollen will be sticking to clothes, sweaty skin and hair. Get rid of it as soon as possible by showering hair and body and putting clothes in the wash.

• Apparently pollen counts are normally highest between 0500hrs and 1000hrs. They then drop as the air temperature rises but can go up again in the evening as the temperature drops. It may be worth dropping the morning runs for the next month and heading out at lunchtime instead.
• Eat locally produced honey and drink nettle tea. Apparently this will build up immunity to pollen. Take a teaspoon of honey a day to build up a natural defence to the local pollen that you will be running through.
• Try a low histamine diet. Apparently some foods are naturally high in histamine so cutting them out prevents overload on the body. Also drink plenty of water as the body produces histamine in order to stop water loss.
• Aussies recommend garlic and horseradish tablets although I've never been able to get hold of them in the UK. Perhaps just eat plenty of garlic and horseradish although this may have a negative effect on your love life!
• Avoid running on windy days as the wind whips up the pollen. Do some cross training such as swimming on these days instead.
• Run after the rain. The rain will dampen the pollen down so this is a great time to run.
• When running make sure you wear wrap around sunglasses to keep pollen out of the eyes, put vaseline up your nose to keep pollen from getting up there and take lots of tissues in case all of that fails!
• If the above fails you may try wearing a mask or a bandana over your face.

I'll let you know how I go from here!