I'm just wondering how fast I could be if my legs were the issue and not my breath. Seriously considering an asthma test.
I'm just wondering how fast I could be if my legs were the issue and not my breath. Seriously considering an asthma test.
Supplement your training with swimming. Get use to breathing every 3 strokes then work up to every 5 strokes and 7 strokes. When you run you'll find yourself in more control and breathing will feel easier.
ron c wrote:
How do I overcome, or at least minimize, being out of breath? Do more hills? More speed endurance intervals?
Yosemite Sam wrote:
Supplement your training with swimming. Get use to breathing every 3 strokes then work up to every 5 strokes and 7 strokes. When you run you'll find yourself in more control and breathing will feel easier.
Unfortunately I have no access to the pool. This does seem to make sense though. You'll learn more breathing control and it will carry over into other sports.
You might consider having an EKG, sonogram and cardiovascular check, just to make sure you don't have a structural problem with your heart that could be causing an inefficiency. Truth is, some people's pumps just aren't built for them to run high-level times.
Prairie Dawg wrote:
You might consider having an EKG, sonogram and cardiovascular check, just to make sure you don't have a structural problem with your heart that could be causing an inefficiency. Truth is, some people's pumps just aren't built for them to run high-level times.
Actually have already had this not too long. Resting ekg was "athletic heart syndrome", but everything checked out during the stress test and echo.
No aerobic fitness? wrote:
Prairie Dawg wrote:You might consider having an EKG, sonogram and cardiovascular check, just to make sure you don't have a structural problem with your heart that could be causing an inefficiency. Truth is, some people's pumps just aren't built for them to run high-level times.
Actually have already had this not too long. Resting ekg was "athletic heart syndrome", but everything checked out during the stress test and echo.
Glad you checked out OK. It's really frustrating to find out that you have medical issues that will hold you back no matter how hard you train.
No aerobic fitness? wrote:
I'm just wondering how fast I could be if my legs were the issue and not my breath. Seriously considering an asthma test.
Your breathing is the issue because of what your legs are doing.
Good suggestion, but I will add this. Runners differ. What is easy for one man (or woman), may be difficult for another. Posters here have indicated that the OP's issue (and my issue) is endurance-related. I disagree. We are talking about fast running here, not marathon-pace running. For me, distance is not an issue--speed is the issue. I can run for very long stretches at near-marathon pace or marathon pace and be quite comfortable. My times show that I have good endurance--only 18:57 in the 5k, but 3:02 in the marathon--which was my first marathon, too (at age 46). I am a master's runner who took up running late in life, and so I gather I still have more to learn and more skills to sharpen. However, I just do not like the feeling I get in a 5k...just as some do not like the feeling they get in a marathon.
I am 29 and ran in college. Took about 7 years off and then got back at it again. I lifted a lot during those years. I ran faster during college (sub-17).
Even before lifting and during college running it was my breathing that held me back. Maybe I am just the odd one out! I feel like I could probably take a minute off my 5K time if it were up to my legs and not my breathing.
No aerobic fitness? wrote:
Even before lifting and during college running it was my breathing that held me back. Maybe I am just the odd one out! I feel like I could probably take a minute off my 5K time if it were up to my legs and not my breathing.
I feel the same way. My 5k and 10k times should be better. It is the breathing/heart rate thing holding me back. In fact, during my long marathon build-up last year, I recall my legs being somewhat sore (my calves) only once during a workout (toward the end). It certainly did not hold me back.
I have no problems running a moderately fast pace over long distances. To be precise, though, it is the 10k that makes me truly suffer. When I make an effort toward a PR, I boost my speed as if it were a 5k, and those last two miles are deadly. The 5k is such a short race that the evil feeling does not have as much time to set in. Plus, I know the race will be over soon.
No aerobic fitness? wrote:
I am 29 and ran in college. Took about 7 years off and then got back at it again. I lifted a lot during those years. I ran faster during college (sub-17).
Even before lifting and during college running it was my breathing that held me back. Maybe I am just the odd one out! I feel like I could probably take a minute off my 5K time if it were up to my legs and not my breathing.
It IS up to your legs.
r u listening? wrote:
No aerobic fitness? wrote:I am 29 and ran in college. Took about 7 years off and then got back at it again. I lifted a lot during those years. I ran faster during college (sub-17).
Even before lifting and during college running it was my breathing that held me back. Maybe I am just the odd one out! I feel like I could probably take a minute off my 5K time if it were up to my legs and not my breathing.
It IS up to your legs.
How so? Running is a highly aerobic exercise. One's cardio-vascular capacity is the determining factor, not the strength of one's legs.
I hear you.This is my Pet Peeve #76 with my fellow HJs: that the 5K is a silly joke, whereas the marathon is epic and doing one makes you a 'real' runner. But shuffling for 5 hours has little to do with running, and the Suffering of 5K/10K has everything to do with running.Good on you, for recognizing you don't like that 5K feeling and deciding 'No Thanks'. That's me and marathons. But I'm concerned this sounds suspiciously like wisdom ...
outsiderunner wrote:
Good suggestion, but I will add this. Runners differ. What is easy for one man (or woman), may be difficult for another. Posters here have indicated that the OP's issue (and my issue) is endurance-related. I disagree. We are talking about fast running here, not marathon-pace running. For me, distance is not an issue--speed is the issue. I can run for very long stretches at near-marathon pace or marathon pace and be quite comfortable. My times show that I have good endurance--only 18:57 in the 5k, but 3:02 in the marathon--which was my first marathon, too (at age 46). I am a master's runner who took up running late in life, and so I gather I still have more to learn and more skills to sharpen. However, I just do not like the feeling I get in a 5k...just as some do not like the feeling they get in a marathon.
Sometimes I think people like you aren't trying to listen.
There is a definitely difference between having leg fatigue and having cardio/breathing fatigue. Most people you will see (and on this very thread) site leg fatigue as a limiting factor.
When I ride my bike, or use a bike trainer at the gym with a setting that is a little higher I can get that leg fatigue point where it's my LEG FATIGUE that is holding me back. It's not the fact that I can't suck in enough air or my heart is about to explode out of my chest.
When I run races that are anything under 1/2 marathon. (Only have done 1/2 marathon once.) MY legs always feel FINE. It's not LEG FATIGUE holding me back, it's not feeling like I have enough air.
Get it? Sure they are all related, but there is a distinct difference. IF some one feels like they need more air and then describes that as "well my legs just wouldn't go today!" that literally makes 0 sense.
outsiderunner wrote:
r u listening? wrote:It IS up to your legs.
How so? Running is a highly aerobic exercise. One's cardio-vascular capacity is the determining factor, not the strength of one's legs.
You don't run with your legs? Why do you think your cardio system is being taxed if your legs aren't working hard?
I gather you do not understand me. The OP has stated it perfectly, in the above post, and I have repeatedly described the distinction being made here, legs vs. cardio. If you do not understand that the cardio-vascular system is the basis for all that we do as runners, then I do not know what else to say. Our sport is all about aerobic fitness. Some, namely the OP and I, feel the impact of this in a very specific and particular manner, and it would seem to limit us, as our legs are always fine. This stuff I hear (constantly) about "jelly legs" and "burning quads" and legs that "will no longer go" is utterly and completely foreign to me.
Same with me. My legs have never been an issue. It's always the breathing. Even at my best when I was 18 (I'm 60 now) and ran 1:52, which I know isn't great, it was my breathing that kept me from breaking through. This has continued through today with albeit much slower times. It's always the less than 10k races for me. And the shorter it is, the worse it becomes.
Ron c wrote:
Same with me. My legs have never been an issue. It's always the breathing. Even at my best when I was 18 (I'm 60 now) and ran 1:52, which I know isn't great, it was my breathing that kept me from breaking through. This has continued through today with albeit much slower times. It's always the less than 10k races for me. And the shorter it is, the worse it becomes.
You have been running much longer than I have, and it sounds like you know the feeling all too well. I am sure it would be worse for me at the sub-5k distances, but the memories I have of it in 10k races are the worst simply because the suffering is prolonged at that distance.
I re-read your post, and see you mention the lack of "air." This is it precisely--you cannot get in enough air. Prior to expanding my training (weekly mileage, long runs, etc.), I used to call it "the feeling of death." With better training and fitness, things have improved, but if I pushed myself enough in a race, I am sure it would bring about "the feeling of death." The lack of oxygen is such a deathly feeling...and that is why I avoid it.
outsiderunner wrote:
I gather you do not understand me. The OP has stated it perfectly, in the above post, and I have repeatedly described the distinction being made here, legs vs. cardio. If you do not understand that the cardio-vascular system is the basis for all that we do as runners, then I do not know what else to say. Our sport is all about aerobic fitness. Some, namely the OP and I, feel the impact of this in a very specific and particular manner, and it would seem to limit us, as our legs are always fine. This stuff I hear (constantly) about "jelly legs" and "burning quads" and legs that "will no longer go" is utterly and completely foreign to me.
This may be news to you but the cardiovascular system runs through your legs.