Considering training for a half marathon, advice please.
So, I just finished a 5k this weekend. I did okay, but I'm only "running" about a 14 minute mile. It pretty much consists of half running and half walking while I catch my breath. My sisters in law want to do the half marathon here in Detroit in October. They are telling me I should try it, but I'm kinda scared.
The hardest part of running for me is my breathing. I smoked for 23 years and quit 4.5 years ago at 38 years old. i don't know if my breathing issue is that I just don't know what the hell I'm doing or if I have issues for smoking for so long.
Anyway, i'd really like any advice from people who have run a half, or even people who have run a 10k. How can I regulate my breathing? I found that yesterday I would get to the point where I could barely breathe and had to stop and wal****il I got my breath back.
Age: 44 | Height: 5' 3" | Starting January 2015: 291 | RNY 8/4/15 with Dr. Arthur Carlin| Goal: 150
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. ~Proverbs 19:20
Congrats on your 5k!
The jump to 1/2 Marathon is challenging. I started with a 5k, then a 5 miler, then a 10k and finally a 1/2. This was over a 2 year period. Recently I did. A full marathon! Point is I think it is important to build up over time.
Smoking part I am unsure about...maybe consult with your PCP to have your breathing evaluated?
Good Luck!
Yours in WLS Journey,
Bill Mac
on 5/10/16 4:38 am
This sounds crazy maybe, but training myself on how to breathe has helped me a lot with RPM cycling. I do deep breathing at different points in the day when I have a couple minutes and sometimes I do it with my students in class to calm their butts down. We close our mouths and inhale for 8 seconds, hold it for 7, and exhale for 6 seconds. Repeat that like 3-4 times and it is very calming. Now...when you are training, don't do the hold part, but in through your nose, and out through your mouth in a controlled manner, focusing on the breaths and trying to count the 8 seconds in and 6 seconds out. If you can control your breathing when you are heavy walking, then slowly try when you are jogging and move on from there. It's a mental game and if you are in control, you will win the game.
I read statistics about smoking and clearing up the lungs because my father smoked for years and years. He quit cold turkey when I was 16 years old. I read that after 10 years of not smoking, a person's lungs could look like they never smoked because they would clean themselves up over time. I think you're fine; I think it's probably mainly learning to breathe and to be able to do heavy activity for a prolonged period. If you focus on something else other than the activity while you are doing it (focus on teaching yourself to breathe) you might forget you are running somewhat and let your muscles do their job. That's kinda what I do when I am about to keel over and die in RPM class. I go somewhere else in my mind and just breathe. I tell my muscles to take over and that I'll be back when it's done.
I was running a few laps at the gym this morning and was trying a breathing exercise that I saw online the other day. Breathing in for a 5 count and then breathing out for a 5 count. The guy who does it uses that for longer runs, and uses a 3 in and 3 out when he picks up the pace. I'm going to try that for my next run later today.
Age: 44 | Height: 5' 3" | Starting January 2015: 291 | RNY 8/4/15 with Dr. Arthur Carlin| Goal: 150
Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. ~Proverbs 19:20
I went from 5k to a 21k and you can do it. If you are serious I be willing to share my training schedule that I did with you. The one important thing I would do is schedule the walk breaks. Run for 10 minutes and and walk a minute. Much easier on you and the body to do it that way than to run until you are tired or out of breath. With the right training you be fine. if you find 10 and 1 to much than do 5 and 1 but no more than 10 and 1. I know about being scared I am training for a 50k and starting now for Oct. I do not have a day off. Let me know if you want help and I will be glad to help you
It's called the Mt. Taylor 50k. It is all in forest ranging from 7-11000 ft. elevation. It has about 9k of ft. in elevation gain. It will most likely suck, a lot, but in a good way. My official training started about 3 weeks ago. I'm following the plan in Byron Powell's book Relentless Forward Progress. I highly recommend the read. This will be my first ultra. I started running last June and did my first Marathon this March. Basically everything is new to me.
VSG: 3/12/15
