Okay, this is one of the hardest thing of running in my opinion. Everyone breaths right? I breath all the time, when I do climbing, when I go kayaking, when I go biking, so why would this be different? Well, my answer to this is that it is different. In other sports, there are pauses, times where you rest. Paddle-paddle-paddle-gliiiidde.... climb-climb-climb-rest.... Well, you get the point. I think for all of those sports, I've been breathing just from the top of my lungs, not the whole thing. And here is the trick that worked for me. You don't actually have to concentrate on breathing. Just focus on breathing out. Exhale. Push everything out. Deep breaths. Don't worry, your body will take care of the breathing in all by itself. See, we just got rid of 50 % of the work!
If you find that you are gasping for breath, slow down. Simple, but it works. As you get better at breathing, you'll be able to do more, but that's it for now. Just focus on breathing out.
Next lesson: Being Constant is Better.
Listening to: Quartetto Gelato - Passacaglia
Wow, breathing right really helped a lot! I couldn't go 1K without taking a good long break but yesterday I did 4K with only a short break in the middle! Thanks buddy.
ReplyDeleteThe "top of the lungs" thing is straight from music class, where in order to play notes on an instrument longer you have to concentrate on taking deeper breaths and exhaling out the whole thing (involves the diaphragm). So I was pretty used to that, I just wasn't doing it while running. It improved my stamina dramatically.
I was already rolling my feet pretty much because that's just how I run: really soft on the knees, low impact. I just have to learn to pace myself. Yes, I noticed I sped up going uphill! hehe
I think I'm going to try to do times (5's and 1's maybe) instead now though. I just need a watch. How do you do the timing without looking at your watch all the time?
Good tips man, thanks a lot!
Yay! I'm glad that my write up helped... that's really cool.
ReplyDeleteTo do 5 and 1's you DO have to keep on checking your watch. But you can sort of guess (roughly) how long it has been for an interval. One of the interesting things that happens when you are tired is that you *think* that it's been 5 minutes, but it's only been 3. It gets easier the more you do at a constant pace.
I am 44 yrs. old and have been running for 2 yrs. I run 3 miles at 5 AM every other morning,and average a 8min 30 sec. pace. When I am done I am gasping for breath and drenched in sweat. I keep telling myself I'll get used to it,I'll improve and breath better and stop sweating so much but it never happened. Then I read your article on how to breath with my stomach and to slow down my pace. The next day I tried it and ran for 5 miles and wasn't breathig hard at all and wasn't drenched in sweat. THANK
ReplyDeleteYOU!! It was so easy I still can't believe it. Can't wait to go running again!!!!
That's awesome George. ;-) Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI'd also look around for a running group in your area. They'd probably be able to give you lots of helpful advice.
I've been running for 60 months and still dony know how to breathe.
ReplyDeletei m a very weak runner my problem is that i loose heart while running due to breathing problem and i am an athlete thats why i have to run a mile in 5 minutes and thirty seconds but im unable to do it....please help me regarding these problems
ReplyDeleteHi Saad.
ReplyDeleteIf you're still having troubles after reading my post then I would join a running club / group. If you have someone help you one-on-one then they'll be able to focus on how best to train you.
I'm not exactly clear why you have to run a mile in 5:30, but okay. ;-) Before giving up because you can't reach your end goal, set a goal that you can do now. When you get that, try and keep that time for 2 weeks. Then set a goal that's 20 or 30 seconds faster. When you're comfortable with that for a couple of weeks, set a higher goal. Take the goals slowly and you'll get there. ;-)