Chest pains/tightmess running outside but not on treadmill?

lexbubbles

I'm not a runner but I wanted to just put my two cents in - just in case - since this is close to what my daughter goes through. She has 'cold urticaria' - which is basically an allergy to the cold. When she would run in gym class she would swell up, be unable to breath, and her tongue would swell up. If she had only shorts on or a tank top her skin would turn red and itchy. Even if it was a warm day, her own sweat would cool her skin down enough to react. Now her hands swell up if she holds a frapuccino. lol But it was slow coming and took some time for us to figure it out.

As I already said (twice) it happens in all weathers - not just the cold. The chest thing happens equally in heat! (Actually I'm worse in heat generally because I CANNOT DEAL with anything above 20c just as a person. I get heat exhaustion on the regular if it gets above that for very long. Cold weather is my friend. It's January and I still have the heating off and the windows open. Luv u cold weather don't leave me)

To the other points raised: I don't own a HRM and neither can I afford one. No, not even a 'it's only £25 one'. That's more than half what I have to live on a week and I don't have an overdraft or credit card or family. So nope. Definitely not buying one. I probably am exerting myself more outside and tbqh I really miss the treadmill. Like, so much.

My sports bra is the same outside and inside. it was a cheap one (see previous) but it does the job jumping around - like, no boob movement happening here when I jump about like a loon. The shoes are also cheap.

The person who said I'm going 'all out': my mile time is 1.5-2min/mile SLOWER than inside. Definitely not sprinting this one out. If I went much slower I'd be walking (I WALK at 15 min/mile and currently 'running' at a 12min/mile). I really don't feel that I can run any slower and not just be power-walking.

I live in London. While there aren't any factories in my immediate vicinity, it's not known for being the cleanest air in the world. But there's quite a lot of green space where I live so it's probably one of the 'cleaner' bits of the city in that regard.

EDIT: Person who said the sternum thing, I just checked the link. No, I do not have Tietze's Syndrome. My housemate does, and it's very very painful so I've heard, and also totally different to what I experience. She doesn't even exercise - hers just flares up if she breathes in wrong and she's had it for years. But it's not something I have - been given the all clear on everything by the doctor.

lexbubbles

There are a couple other things to consider running outside over a treadmill in addition to what's already been mentioned. One is wind resistance. It's not huge at 6mph, but it exists. Obviously, there is no wind resistance on a treadmill. Two is pacing. Pacing yourself takes effort. In the process, you often drift up and down in speed. Even though you're averaging an 11 minute mile on the road, you're probably doing a 9 minute mile for a bit and then a 12 minute mile and then a 10 and then back down to 11. The treadmill manages this for you.

In team oriented endurance sports, like pro cycling and probably cross-country running, a helper team member will often do pace making at the beginning of a stage or race. This does two things. First, they cut the wind resistance for the leader. Second, they take the hit of setting pace.

To simulate the effect of outdoor on a treadmill, the recommendation is to put in some slight incline. Like 1 to 2%. I bet if you run a 10 minute pace at 1% incline, you'll notice fatigue similar to running outdoors.

Yeah, I probably suck at outdoor pacing.

The treadmill thing though - on alt days I'd just run 5k but the others would be a program of ever-increasing incline (with alternating run-jog speed ie 11mph and 6mph - 6 being a 10 min mile) which started with 1% incline and the end of it was 10% incline at 11mph (15 min - increase 1% every 90s or so). Never got the chest pains and that level of fatigue. It was HARD but I never had difficulty breathing or painful breathing or chest tightness or any of it. I always felt brilliant after, in contrast to outdoor running which makes me feel absolutely awful

lexbubbles

Update: went out again today. I think I slowed my run pace slightly as I manage to complete the entire 2.37 miles (I walk a little at the start and end but didn't have to start walking early). Average pace was 11:13/mi rather than yesterday's 11:29/mi and my pace when I was running seemed to be around 10:36-10:38/mi. Gotta say I didn't really feel like I was moving at all at that pace but ya gotta do what ya gotta do, I guess.

Although it was better than yesterday (obviously) it still really hurt my chest from about the 1.5mile mark and I still feel awful afterwards. Ugh.

Thanks for your help though, everyone! Just looks like I need to seriously watch my pacing and just keep at it until it stops hurting.

grneyedgoddess77

As I already said (twice) it happens in all weathers - not just the cold. The chest thing happens equally in heat! (Actually I'm worse in heat generally because I CANNOT DEAL with anything above 20c just as a person. I get heat exhaustion on the regular if it gets above that for very long. Cold weather is my friend. It's January and I still have the heating off and the windows open. Luv u cold weather don't leave me)

As I mentioned because it happened in June - it doesn't just happen in the cold - sweat can cool the body enough to make it happen. I'm glad that the cold is your friend and you don't have this. Good luck!!