Any non-runners trying to be a runner out there?

[r3ngels]

Hi guys,

I am a non runner and I am trying to be a runner....

I can do the ellipitical, classes, weights, walking, biking but I can not run...I have trouble breathing and I feel I can't continue so I end up walking. It is really start to get me discouraged and doubt myself.

Any ideas on how to make old lady that is a non runner into a runner?

Thanks

 

[crewmatt]

The breathing thing - there are a few tricks to it.

1-Breathe when your left foot hits the ground. When you start out go for a calmer breathing pattern, maybe every 2 left feet breathe in, 2 left feet breathe out, just focus on maintaining a rythem. When I'm at marathon pace I usually go 2 steps in, 1 step out. 1 each would be for serious efforts.

2-Don't breathe super deep but make sure you're getting a lungful, lots of super shallow breathes wont get you anywhere, but on the same token breathing too deeply will not help either.

3-run with someone - and maintain a pace that you can talk to them. Best way to do it.

4-relax your shoulders, arms, and back, feel the tension leaving your body, focus on that, it will help you relax.

5-wear sunglasses - relaxation starts in the face if you're squinting you'll tense up'

Remember, if its hot out that can have a huge impact on your pace/abilities. The gym is always a nice 70 degrees.

 

[johde]

You might also want to look into a program called Couch to 5K. There are several variations out there with the one at www.coolrunning.com being the most popular. You start out alternating walking and running and over time you increase the running and decreasing the walking.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Another vote for Couch to 5K!! I did the program this spring after never being a runner and it was great! It's a 9 week program with intervals of running/walking for the first 6 weeks, last 3 weeks you do runs of 25, 28, and 30 minutes.

Its a great program! and coming from someone who never ran much before I couldn't wait to get out and do each run.

Good Luck!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

If you're out of breath while running, just try slowing down! There's nothing wrong with starting running at a pace that is similar to (or slower than) your fast walking pace. Speed will come in time, once you've gotten your cardio endurance up. Just get the basics in, and then gradually start speeding up at a comfortable pace.

Also, C25K is definitely your friend.

 

[FireDancer]

I am an adult-onset runner so there was a time I was a non runner who tried to run. I could sprint short distances but a mile felt like torture. I started slow, took baby steps (1 mile, then 1.25, then 1.5, and so on), and in time I went from non-runner to runner. I would wager the majority of people here went through some form of the same process.

Don't get discouraged if you can't run 5 miles at a 7:00 pace your first day, it takes time to get faster and to run longer.

 

[Daisybelle]

The breathing thing - there are a few tricks to it.

1-Breathe when your left foot hits the ground. When you start out go for a calmer breathing pattern, maybe every 2 left feet breathe in, 2 left feet breathe out, just focus on maintaining a rythem. When I'm at marathon pace I usually go 2 steps in, 1 step out. 1 each would be for serious efforts.

2-Don't breathe super deep but make sure you're getting a lungful, lots of super shallow breathes wont get you anywhere, but on the same token breathing too deeply will not help either.

3-run with someone - and maintain a pace that you can talk to them. Best way to do it.

4-relax your shoulders, arms, and back, feel the tension leaving your body, focus on that, it will help you relax.

5-wear sunglasses - relaxation starts in the face if you're squinting you'll tense up'

Remember, if its hot out that can have a huge impact on your pace/abilities. The gym is always a nice 70 degrees.

Good question, OP! And good suggestion crewmatt. This is something I'm struggling with too. I'll give it a try tonight!

 

[cewait]

Matt's got great suggestions....it not a matter of a training program but getting comfortable and running within your capabilities. I find as a coach most folks who can only sprint are actually running way way too fast. Relax and just try to goa little faster than you can walk.....note for all of us there is a little speed band where neither walking nor runner works. You are just looking for than loping trot.

 

[John VN]

Matt's got great suggestions....it not a matter of a training program but getting comfortable and running within your capabilities. I find as a coach most folks who can only sprint are actually running way way too fast. Relax and just try to goa little faster than you can walk.....note for all of us there is a little speed band where neither walking nor runner works. You are just looking for than loping trot.

This might be a dumb question... at what point is one "running"?

Is it pace/speed related, a physical characteristic of movement, a combination of the two or something else????

Thank you.

 

[cewait]

This might be a dumb question... at what point is one "running"?

Is it pace/speed related, a physical characteristic of movement, a combination of the two or something else????

Thank you.

Great question and the difference between a casual walker the a world class sprinter are obvious. But what about a 12 minute paced runer vs walker? Simply a walker always has two support points at a point in the stride - the point when foot lands and before the rear foot pushes off. A runner will always have a flight stage or a point where no contact is made with the ground between push off and front foot strike.

It is speed related but only on an individual level but not universally as an example, a world class walker will walk a 20k race faster than a large percentage of runners in a half marathon. The WR for a 20k walk is around 1:18 or 18-19 minutes slower than the WB half marathon. Bringing it home that walking performance would land in the top 25-30 places in the Disney Half.

 

[John VN]

Great question and the difference between a casual walker the a world class sprinter are obvious. But what about a 12 minute paced runer vs walker? Simply a walker always has two support points at a point in the stride - the point when foot lands and before the rear foot pushes off. A runner will always have a flight stage or a point where no contact is made with the ground between push off and front foot strike.

It is speed related but only on an individual level but not universally as an example, a world class walker will walk a 20k race faster than a large percentage of runners in a half marathon. The WR for a 20k walk is around 1:18 or 18-19 minutes slower than the WB half marathon. Bringing it home that walking performance would land in the top 25-30 places in the Disney Half.

Thank you Coach. If I may be allowed to enquire a little deeper into this because of my own situation.

Last year while attempting to train for the WDW Marathon, I was "running" and my right knee buckled. No more training because after that event I was always uncomfortable.

FF to this year. Starting training in January for 2011 Goofy plus other events. Still could not run because of discomfort so I started walking and found myself leaning forward, getting faster and feeling very comfortable. Bought Chi Walking, noticed similarities so I put into practice this form. My Garmin 305 has me paced comfortably at 12:30min/mile for 13.1 miles 2 weeks ago with shorter distances at 10:00min/mile and under. Best so far has been 8:45m/m for 1/2mile and I am working on extending distance at the faster pace. My stride is very short with a very rapid turn-over and my feet are always close to the ground and no bounce. I know I am not Race Walking but still do not feel I am running.

Am I walking or really running?

Thanks again.

 

[cewait]

Thank you Coach. If I may be allowed to enquire a little deeper into this because of my own situation.

Last year while attempting to train for the WDW Marathon, I was "running" and my right knee buckled. No more training because after that event I was always uncomfortable.

FF to this year. Starting training in January for 2011 Goofy plus other events. Still could not run because of discomfort so I started walking and found myself leaning forward, getting faster and feeling very comfortable. Bought Chi Walking, noticed similarities so I put into practice this form. My Garmin 305 has me paced comfortably at 12:30min/mile for 13.1 miles 2 weeks ago with shorter distances at 10:00min/mile and under. Best so far has been 8:45m/m for 1/2mile and I am working on extending distance at the faster pace. My stride is very short with a very rapid turn-over and my feet are always close to the ground and no bounce. I know I am not Race Walking but still do not feel I am running.

Am I walking or really running?

Thanks again.

You would know the tradtional racewalking stride as you must land with a straight knee. Chi walking would encourage a bend forward knee to soften the landing.

So the question comes back to your push off... are you pushing with enough upward force to create the flight or are you maintaining a double contact? I am guessing a self described very short stride length with no bounce is still a walk. But honestly cannot tell for sure without seeing your stride.

Let me throw this out... if you are following the chi methods you may well be running and not know it and have a lower risk of injury also. One of the really big issues with runners and injury is the braking force on landing. We all read that a marathon runner must land on the heal and not mid-forefoot. Baloney. Taken to the extreeme, a heel landing can be almost a straight knee landing. Think of running and making a quick stop. An extreeme heal lander is doing the same action each stride to a lesser degree. All force (3-4 x your body weight) shoots up your through a straight knee up the quad and into the hip. A chi like stride encoutages a mid foot landing with a softer bend knee. You are not landing in a braking fashion rather you stride is already moving forward. You are engaging your hamstring complex and only using quads to support balance. The force of impact is carried through the musclular sytem sparing the overload of the joints.

 

[John VN]

You would know the tradtional racewalking stride as you must land with a straight knee. Chi walking would encourage a bend forward knee to soften the landing.

So the question comes back to your push off... are you pushing with enough upward force to create the flight or are you maintaining a double contact? I am guessing a self described very short stride length with no bounce is still a walk. But honestly cannot tell for sure without seeing your stride.

Let me throw this out... if you are following the chi methods you may well be running and not know it and have a lower risk of injury also. One of the really big issues with runners and injury is the braking force on landing. We all read that a marathon runner must land on the heal and not mid-forefoot. Baloney. Taken to the extreeme, a heel landing can be almost a straight knee landing. Think of running and making a quick stop. An extreeme heal lander is doing the same action each stride to a lesser degree. All force (3-4 x your body weight) shoots up your through a straight knee up the quad and into the hip. A chi like stride encoutages a mid foot landing with a softer bend knee. You are not landing in a braking fashion rather you stride is already moving forward. You are engaging your hamstring complex and only using quads to support balance. The force of impact is carried through the musclular sytem sparing the overload of the joints.

Thank you so very much. After reading your reply I guess I am Chi Running. Mid foot or more forward and virtually no impact going up my leg is the reason my knees do not hurt.

Just finished a 90 mile bike ride so tomorrow I will go out, warm up, then proceed into a Chi Run mode. Believe me it really feels different and relaxing when I zone in. Figure on doing about 15+ miles.

Have a great weekend Coach and all others.

 

[El&Asmom]

I'm no coach, and I haven't read all the replies, but I'll tell you what I did.

I was an athlete in college, (basketball), but never loved long distance running over about 4 miles. I got sick in grad school, had a major surgery, recovered for about a year and then started having babies. I decided this spring to get back into shape when dd3 was about 17months, and I was close to being human again. In Feb, I started walking about 30-40 min 3-4 days a week. I increased it to where I was going 60+min walking 5-6 days a week. I lost about 15lbs, but got in a rut. My friend jokingly mentioned that maybe I should step it up a bit. So in May, I started running a block, walking a block. Each day I would run a little farther. I got to the point that I could run 20min then 30 and so on. I'm now up to running 6 miles on my long run day. I haven't been pushing my long runs since back in early June I decided to train for a sprint tri. The cross training has been a great way to work different muscles and not overuse anything. I'm going to start to focus on training for the Disney Princess half marathon more intensely after my tri is over so hopefully my long run days will increase.

It wasn't scientific or by a specific plan but it worked for me. I haven't run any sort of distance in over 9 years. So going from being unable to run a 1/4 mile up to doing 6m in about 5 months isn't too bad. I also lost 20lbs in the process which is nice.

Good luck.

 

[Bibbidi]

I don't want to discourage the OP, however I suffered the same problems last summer as a new runner. I found out about 6 weeks into my running that I have exercise-induced asthma. I had visions of taking a few puffs of my inhaler, about 15 minutes before my runs, and that it would all seem easier--it never did. I was running about 10-11 minute miles and could go for 2 miles, but I always hit a wall at that point. I could never get enough air in. To this day I can ride my elliptical for over 6 miles with minor breathing issues, but not enough to stop. I can do advanced cardio/circuit training for 50 minutes, again no major problems--but the running just kills me. Just last Sunday I decided to try the Couch to 5k approach--but then my mild plantars fasciitis kicked in big time in my right foot. I'm a small girl, no weight to lose, just wanting to be fit--and ultimately I've come to the conclusion that running may just not be the best form of exercise for me. I hate to give up, but I know that I can also walk a half at Disney---so I've chosen that as my motivation, rather than dwelling on my lack of success in running.

 

[marjam]

Another vote for couch to 5K!!! That is I started and I was the person that said I would never run!!! That was almost 1 year ago. And still going strong

 

[pyrxtc]

total non-runner here that is doing a 5k in January. I have issues with breathing also. I have had them as long as I can remember, even running for softball in high school. I cannot do anything more than a fast walk or I cannot breathe.

I am going to talk to my DR about it at my physical tomorrow. I tried an over the counter inhaler in high school that helped a lot ! I am gong to ask about getting one now so I can do this.

 

[r3ngels]

Thank you!!! I ran/walked yesterday.... 3 mins running, 2 mins walking for 45 mins... slow enough that my run was almost the same speed as my walk... I really slowed it down... Like you guys said i was running way to fast and it was too hard to keep up that pace. I looked the couch to 5 k program and changed it a bit to suit my schedule and it seems good.

I moved inside on the treadmill... it was over 100 with the heat index at 8 pm so I think I was getting discouraged and the heat was a big factor. I was still having breathing issues so I tried my daughters inhaler... well it actually worked. It wasn't burning when I was trying to breathe and no coughing. I have a doctors appt next month I will ask her then.

Thank you all for your help... I will keep you posted!

 

[NCrunner]

At least that is what The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer tells me! Although most days, I also, feel like a non runner. I keep chanting my mantra (as I'm told to do) I am a runner. When I run I feel confident, light, powerful and strong. I love to run. I love the High. I love to run. I love the exhileration. Running makes me free. I am a runner. I so recommend that book....a lot of good "mental" advice....onward 'non' runners! AND I have already signed up for Princess 1/2 in Feb 2011! Optimisim at its finest!

 

[NCrunner]

Thank you!!! I ran/walked yesterday.... 3 mins running, 2 mins walking for 45 mins... slow enough that my run was almost the same speed as my walk... I really slowed it down... Like you guys said i was running way to fast and it was too hard to keep up that pace. I looked the couch to 5 k program and changed it a bit to suit my schedule and it seems good.

I moved inside on the treadmill... it was over 100 with the heat index at 8 pm so I think I was getting discouraged and the heat was a big factor. I was still having breathing issues so I tried my daughters inhaler... well it actually worked. It wasn't burning when I was trying to breathe and no coughing. I have a doctors appt next month I will ask her then.

Thank you all for your help... I will keep you posted!

Please dont stop!!! sounds like we are totally on the same path! Good one day, not so much the next! Onward my friend!!