Raise your hand if you breathe hard when you run.
::raises hand::
I’ve always heard it’s best to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Honestly, that was easier said than done in the beginning for me.
Even now, it depends on what kind of pace I’m running as to what my breathing is like.
When I run at a slower pace, I have no problem breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth.
When I run at a more brisk pace, I notice that I switch to breathing out of both my nose and mouth at the same time.
I’ve read tips on matching your breathing to your cadence. Just thinking about that makes my brain hurt.
Here’s how I judge my breathing:
(1) If I’m going out on a long training run, I know I need to keep a pace that I’ll be able to talk comfortably at. I slow way down and make sure I can breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. If I can do those things, I know I can maintain my pace for a long time.
When I say I slow down, I mean I slow down. Oftentimes, that means I’m running anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes slower than usual.
(2) If I’m going out on a short run (let’s say three miles), I’ll start out at a slower pace. I’ll make sure my breathing is stable and I’m in a comfortable zone for about the first half mile to mile. Then, I’ll slowly start to increase my pace which causes my breathing to increase.
At the beginning of a run like this, I may be able to chat with my man with little difficulty, but by the end it will be quite a challenge to say more than one or two words at a time. I will most defintely be breathing out of both my nose and my mouth.
Here are a few articles that you might find helpful:
Techniques for Proper Breathing While Running
Learn to Breathe Properly on a Run
How to Breathe When Running
I asked about this once and your advice literally kept me running. I was ready to give up completely!!!
My sister called me two days ago asking for my nephew about how to breathe when running. (He’s conditioning for baseball.) Anyway, I told her to tell him to get air in his lungs any way he could – mouth, nose, whatever. My husband read a book where the author said to breathe through your mouth, nose, eyes, ears, fingernails, however you can get the air in, get it in! I did snort when he said that. I always breathe through my nose and mouth. always. And when I ran with my 21yo son recently I began to struggle a little and he said, “Breathe in through your nose, Mama. Remember when you used to yell that at us when we were running for the Presidential Fitness time? Yeah. It’s not easy, is it?” I hung my head in shame…
Sorry about the book I left as a comment.
Don’t get all excited or nothing…but my hubby talked me into signing up for the Y’s Zero to 5K. They are doing it SLOW and it’s in 3 phases. I DO NOT plan on becoming a runner…just need help getting over this plateau and something I can do inside- WINTER (ugh). Tonight is my first class.
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Oh, how I needed this post before my 80s 5k. My friends were literally embarrassed by my breathing at the end…I sounded like a monster, no lie!