I've had allergies my whole life but didn't figure it out until I was in college. I grew up with cats and smokers at home. Went the allergy shot route after diagnosis for several years which helped. I am allergic to maple, oak, grass, pine, all weeds, mold, mildew, with the tree stuff being a 5+ using a skin scrape test. When I started racing about that time, I remember having trouble breathing at the limits but I always felt that it was my aerobic fitness and strength being out of balance. I took up racing again in 2011, still struggling at the limits. During a hard, long effort I would get so out of breath that I came close to passing out. Recovering from a sprint took 2-3 minutes. That's when I decided to ask my doctor about it. She put me on Allegra 24 hour daily year round and an albuterol inhaler. It came with one of those tube things that make it easier to dispense like WR described above. 20 minutes before every hard workout or race, I take between 2-4 puffs. The bad side effect is that it makes my heart race. My HR will be 20-30 beats higher than a known output on the trainer. It calms down after a half hour or so, but if I don't time it right, it is racing at the line. There have been times in long races or rides where I took a puff on the bike, but only when the rasp is tight and I know that it will fix it. I have a standing offer to try a preventative but have declined so far. That is the next step.

Asthma and cats. Hate them both.