Anyone else...

stevedjarrell

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone out there has gone thru what I am going through? I started trying to get back in shape and run again about 18 months ago. I am 40 now, I was very over weight and smoked for 24yrs. When I started I weighed 273lbs @ 5'11" and could really only jog for about 60 seconds and my heart rate would hit about 188. 18 months later and I am 9 months smoke free, I weight 235 and I can now run about 1.25 - 1.5 miles straight before I need to walk a little. I am running 5K's around 38mins on average now. I still am having a slow time of increasing my stamina. I have noticed that my heart rate rarely goes over 170 now and recovers in 60 seconds to 140. Most of my run my HR is now 165. so that is the only real progress I have seen lately. I am still pushing myself on my runs and am just now starting to feel a little stronger on my runs. I mean now after a 3-4 mile run on the tread mill my legs are not sore or tired at all but I still can only go 15-17mins at a time with out stopping. So after all of that I want to know if any of you have gone through this transition and about how long it took? I have set a goal of running my firs 5K non stop this March, it is exactly one year from my first 5K. I have also set the same goal of my first half Marathon for March of 2015.

hbrittingham

I am a former smoke who quit almost 7 years ago after smoking for 20 or so years. I do think running is tougher for us at the beginning, but it DOES get easier. I've been running consistently for 3 months, though I have been running on and off for a couple of years. There are good days and bad, but the good days are more frequent by far. There are days that I feel like I could run forever and not even breathe hard, and there are days that I wonder what the heck I am thinking getting out there an running.

Try slowing your pace a bit and see if you can get past the 1.5 mile mark. I have definitely found that running is 90% mental and 10% physical for me. If I allow myself to psyche myself out, I'll quit before I physically need to.

Mokey41

It's mostly mental. Just will yourself past that point where you always stop. If you aren't going to faint, puke or die then just keep going. If you have to you can slow down to a "wog" but keep going without dropping to a full walk and you'll find you can do it.