Can someone explain this?

kerikitkat

Ok, this is weird. When I run outside, I can only go about 4 minutes before my lungs completely give out and I have to stop because I feel like I can't get enough air. I walk for 60 seconds and I'm good to go again. I attribute this to having stopped smoking recently.

Tonight, I'm cleaning house and I want to up my heartrate a little bit for the heck of it since I'm home alone and bored. So I run the length of my house over and over, as fast as I can go inside.... and I go for ten minutes without stopping. My lungs feel GREAT. My body is tired and I feel like I was going fairly fast. Felt like the same effort as outside but... maybe that's an illusion?

Anyone got any ideas? Do my lungs just not like the thick humid air outside or something? Could I have some kind of weird asthma?

Whew! I wanna do it again!

kerikitkat

Ok, this is weird. When I run outside, I can only go about 4 minutes before my lungs completely give out and I have to stop because I feel like I can't get enough air. I walk for 60 seconds and I'm good to go again. I attribute this to having stopped smoking recently.

Tonight, I'm cleaning house and I want to up my heartrate a little bit for the heck of it since I'm home alone and bored. So I run the length of my house over and over, as fast as I can go inside.... and I go for ten minutes without stopping. My lungs feel GREAT. My body is tired and I feel like I was going fairly fast. Felt like the same effort as outside but... maybe that's an illusion?

Anyone got any ideas? Do my lungs just not like the thick humid air outside or something? Could I have some kind of weird asthma?

Whew! I wanna do it again!

Healthier_Me

I get the same way due to the weather outside.
This is what an article says on runnerworld.com and I have found it to be so very helpful:

Without giving it much conscious thought, most runners breathe in a 2/2 rhythmic ratio. They take two steps as they inhale; they take two more steps as they exhale. While running very slowly, they often breathe in a 3/3 ratio. While running very fast, they might breathe 2/1, or 1/1, but 2/2 is much more common.

If you count breaths in and out and discover you are breathing with a different rhythm, don't worry about it. Adjusting your breathing pattern will not make you a better runner.

The same with whether you breathe through your nose or your mouth. Most runners naturally breathe through both. Famed New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard, when asked how runners should breathe, once replied: "Breathe through your mouth. Breathe through your nose. Suck the air in through your ears, if you can."

Your jaw should be relaxed, your mouth slightly open. The oxygen will come through your nose and mouth to your lungs, to your blood and to your muscles without you needing to give it a lot of thought. Breathing is a very natural activity--and so is getting out of breath when you run.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-386-245-0,00.html

kerikitkat

I get the same way due to the weather outside.
This is what an article says on runnerworld.com and I have found it to be so very helpful:

Without giving it much conscious thought, most runners breathe in a 2/2 rhythmic ratio. They take two steps as they inhale; they take two more steps as they exhale. While running very slowly, they often breathe in a 3/3 ratio. While running very fast, they might breathe 2/1, or 1/1, but 2/2 is much more common.

If you count breaths in and out and discover you are breathing with a different rhythm, don't worry about it. Adjusting your breathing pattern will not make you a better runner.

The same with whether you breathe through your nose or your mouth. Most runners naturally breathe through both. Famed New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard, when asked how runners should breathe, once replied: "Breathe through your mouth. Breathe through your nose. Suck the air in through your ears, if you can."

Your jaw should be relaxed, your mouth slightly open. The oxygen will come through your nose and mouth to your lungs, to your blood and to your muscles without you needing to give it a lot of thought. Breathing is a very natural activity--and so is getting out of breath when you run.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-386-245-0,00.html

This is what I thought. When I used to run several years ago, I did it the same way I do now. 2/2 or 2/1 if I'm really being speedy. My husband tried to get me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, but that just made things worse so I went back to mouthbreathing.

I'm really frustrated because I really like running outside, but if something outside is making it that much harder to breathe... well.... what gives?

Healthier_Me

Allergies maybe?
When my allergies come on, my asthma flares up big time so it makes it harder for me to continue running. So, I just settle for walking.

~Joanna:flowerforyou:

mkeithley

When it's cooler outside I breathe more shallow and rapid. I quit smoking in February and have noticed my endurance is much better. Sometimes if I'm not hydrated enough before I run I feel like I'm going to explode. :happy:

kerikitkat

When it's cooler outside I breathe more shallow and rapid. I quit smoking in February and have noticed my endurance is much better. Sometimes if I'm not hydrated enough before I run I feel like I'm going to explode. :happy:

maybe that's it... inside it's cool and dry and I breathe normally... outside it's hot and humid and I suck air in like I can't get enough!

ErinRNinMaine

It might be asthma-any history? Sometimes exercising outdoors in extreme weather or during ragweed season can induce it. Because you are a former smoker (YEA for you!!! :bigsmile: ) ), you most likely have some irriatation of your lungs. I'd watch it and if it persists, see your doctor!

ashley2011

for me... the colder it is the harder it is for me to breathe. My lungs start to hurt and sometimes my body gets really cold and it hurts to breathe. So i like running in warmer weather or inside.

pmkelly409

for me it is pace. I don't keep a steady pace outside and tend run faster so I get winded sooner that if I was on the treadmill..

kerikitkat

It might be asthma-any history? Sometimes exercising outdoors in extreme weather or during ragweed season can induce it. Because you are a former smoker (YEA for you!!! :bigsmile: ) ), you most likely have some irriatation of your lungs. I'd watch it and if it persists, see your doctor!

Nope, no history of it.... I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

abbychelle07

I started running, within a week I was better at the breathing thing.

However, last week I went for a run, and afterwards my legs were in PAIN! Now it hurts to even walk (mostly my shins). I am disappointed because I am taking some time off. Maybe shin splints? I wasn't stretching before I went even though I know you are supposed to.

msarro

They sell muffle scarfs (I don't know what the technical name is) at cycling and running stores. They're basically like a scarf designed to go over your mouth. It creates a pocket of warm air that you breathe in, so its a lot less harsh on your lungs. Running in the winter in temperate areas without one is just asking for bronchitis or pneumonia (I can attest to that, ha!).

Also, running outside your only real focus is running. Running in a house your focus is going to be more on dodging obstacles, etc. The more you focus on the running itself the more you're going to tire yourself. Why that happens, I'm not really sure. Thats why normally when i jog/run I make sure to bring music loud enough to cover up my raspy breathing (after a few minutes of running I sound like a cat with a hairball) it distracts my mind and lets my body do its thing.

msarro

I started running, within a week I was better at the breathing thing.

However, last week I went for a run, and afterwards my legs were in PAIN! Now it hurts to even walk (mostly my shins). I am disappointed because I am taking some time off. Maybe shin splints? I wasn't stretching before I went even though I know you are supposed to.

Shinsplints feel like the front of your shinbone shattered into a million tiny splinters and they all got stuck in the muscle. Its a pretty unique feeling If that sounds like what you have, go to a pharmacy and get wraps for your lower legs.

yellow_pepper

Two kinds of "shin splints":

1. The less serious kind is when the muscles in your shins are very sore. This is likely to happen if you've recently run farther than usual. Painful but not debilitating. You can actually run through this. Some runners say these aren't really shin splints.

2. The real deal ... Once when I was training for a half-marathon and out for a run, all of a sudden it felt like a hammer had hit my right shin. It felt like the bone would snap if I kept going. I could not go down the stairs normally for 2 months. I had X-rays which showed nothing, and an MRI, which showed only tiny muscle tears. That was EXTREMELY PAINFUL.

songbyrdsweet

Two kinds of "shin splints":

1. The less serious kind is when the muscles in your shins are very sore. This is likely to happen if you've recently run farther than usual. Painful but not debilitating. You can actually run through this. Some runners say these aren't really shin splints.

2. The real deal ... Once when I was training for a half-marathon and out for a run, all of a sudden it felt like a hammer had hit my right shin. It felt like the bone would snap if I kept going. I could not go down the stairs normally for 2 months. I had X-rays which showed nothing, and an MRI, which showed only tiny muscle tears. That was EXTREMELY PAINFUL.

The reason those x-rays didn't show much muscle damage is that the pain of shin splints actually originates in the bone. The anterior/medial side of the shin doesn't have any musculature actually. The pain is caused by the muscles surrounding the tibia (shin bone) pulling on the periosteum of the bone, which is like a covering layer. There isn't actually any damage to the muscle.

To prevent shin splints, it's VERY important to stretch to relieve the tension in those muscles...make sure you stretch the back *and* the sides of your calf. Also, making sure there's not a strength disparity in those muscles will help. Most of us flex our feet to work our calf muscles, but fail to evert our ankles to work our peroneals, which only peform eversion and very little flexion; they're often very weak. This can cause poor foot placement while running and further pain.

Anyone new to running will get them, and they'll go away eventually as your bone density increases and you promote strength and flexibility in all of your lower-leg muscles.

Healthier_Me

I always forget to stretch b4 and after.... I'm such in a hurry to get out and get it done...
I start doing it from now on... promise!!!

~Joanna:flowerforyou:

abbychelle07

Two kinds of "shin splints":

1. The less serious kind is when the muscles in your shins are very sore. This is likely to happen if you've recently run farther than usual. Painful but not debilitating. You can actually run through this. Some runners say these aren't really shin splints.

2. The real deal ... Once when I was training for a half-marathon and out for a run, all of a sudden it felt like a hammer had hit my right shin. It felt like the bone would snap if I kept going. I could not go down the stairs normally for 2 months. I had X-rays which showed nothing, and an MRI, which showed only tiny muscle tears. That was EXTREMELY PAINFUL.

I definitely have the first kind. My legs are extremely sore, and it hurt to walk, but not really bad. I was annoyed though, because it hurt to run, and I quit for a week when I was just getting started!