Running... my Bs and Cs to breaking through the wall
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MireyGal76
Posts: 7,334 Member
Hey everyone! So this is my first "informative" post... so I'm gonna start with a few disclaimers...
Disclaimer 1: I am not a professional fitness anything. I don't have a degree, I haven't written any books, or done any crazy research - so take what I say as such, an amateur's observations.
If, after you read what I say, and you think it's full of crap - well then write it off as a few wasted minutes of your life. If you even get one good thing out of it... YAY
Disclaimer 2: further to the above, get your doc's permission before doing anything crazy - I'm not a doctor either!
Now that I've got that shtuff out of the way... here goes.
*****
I never used to run. I used to say "I only run when I'm chased, and even then, only IF I don't think I could take em down"
I hated it. It hated me. I couldn't run more than a block without being out of breath, and having cramps in my chest. It was like that in school, high school, for as long as I could remember. I adopted the belief that "I can't run, I guess I just wasn't built for it".
What's funny is that I COULD swim. I used to swim three times a week, a mile each time. In a regular pool, that was 64 lengths. front crawl, non stop, in about 34 minutes. In the pool that I used to workout in close to work, it was 107 laps (yeah it was a tiny pool).
Now, was it easy? no! But it was COMPLETELY a mind game that I learned to overcome.
*runners - stay with me here please*
when I started swimming, around lap 4, I'd start to get breathless, and my mind would kick into defeatest mode...*you cant do this, maybe you should stop, you're not getting enough air, YOU'RE GONNA DROWN!* From laps 4 - 12, I had to fight the game... I would speak to myself in my head and say things like *YOU CAN TOO, one more lap, you are going to get more air in this next stroke, don't be stupid you're not gonna drown"..
Laps 4 - 12 were my WALL in swimming. Over time, I began to use my Bs and Cs to get me through it, and every time it came back, I'd bring them out again.
I'll explain them in a minute, but will now tie it to running... after the birth of my second child, I decided to start swimming again, and went from no swimming, to 3 miles a week right off the hop. (Yeah - I'm not so good at easing into things). I ended up hurting my shoulder, and couldn't swim for a while, so I took to the elliptical. Now THAT I could do for 45 minutes.
I'd be going hell bent for leather on the elliptical and watching the glorious runners on the treadmills, all svelte and trim, ponytails flapping in the fan breeze, and I could hear the machines calling out to me... YOU SUCK! We've Beat you! You can't run. You never will! Neener neener neener!
*note to self - perhaps I should get these voices in my head checked out*
So I decided to prove them wrong. The next day I got on the treadmill and started to jog really slowly. Sure enough I started to hurt and really wanted to quit, but I told myself - you have the cardio, hell you can swim a mile! you have the strength - you can do the elliptical... one more minute, just do one more minute. and before I knew it... I had run 5 km.
NOW, I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING 5KM ON YOUR FIRST RUN! I couldn't walk for about a week! My legs and hips and back were so sore, people thought I was dying from all the moaning and groaning (and I wanted to die)! But I was hooked and have never turned back. (I signed up for the marathon relay the next day)
This is a lot of writing, and for that I'm sorry - I am very wordy.. so I'm gonna cut to the chase now.
MY Bs and Cs to breaking through the wall:
1) BREATHE: DO NOT PANT... when you feel like you need air, fight the urge to breathe faster - instead do the opposite and breathe slower. Take deep breaths. Breathe through your nose if at all possible... slow your pace a little and take back control of your breathing.
2) BURP: lol - ok this sounds funny, but when I have that cramp in my side, or pain in my chest, it's often alleviated by burping. Now be careful, you don't want to push it out too hard, or whatever you ate last is going to burn your nose something fierce (and it will totally throw off your stride, if not make you yak entirely). I just make a point of relaxing my airway and letting the air up and out... after a few tiny burps, the cramp will often subside.
ON a HE SAID SHE SAID note... my friend told me that oftentimes a cramp is from super oxygenating - breathing too fast an getting too much oxygen... (see 1 - above). I don't know if that is fact, or fiction, but it sounds plausible.
3) COUNT: when 1 and 2 don't work, and i can't get my breathing under control, or the pain in my side makes me want to stop running entirely... I start to count. Every left footfall. from 1 - 10. and repeat. I tell myself, just ten more, just ten more, just ten more. and a few of those later, I remind myself I've just run 60 more steps. I keep counting, until it becomes a mindless rhythm and I realize... *hey, I don't hurt anymore!!! I've broken through the wall*. When I was swimming, I'd count my lap with every breath... breathing in "20 down" breathing out "87 to go".
Try it... counting helps! (I learned that from the book Zen and the Art of Running)
4) CONTINUE and CONQUER: If I make a point of doing the above... the walls I hit are breakable, manageable, and when I'm done my run, I feel like I can take on the world! I just KICKED SOME *kitten*
***
That's all I have... I am sorry for the length, but really hope that it helps someone!
Disclaimer 1: I am not a professional fitness anything. I don't have a degree, I haven't written any books, or done any crazy research - so take what I say as such, an amateur's observations.
If, after you read what I say, and you think it's full of crap - well then write it off as a few wasted minutes of your life. If you even get one good thing out of it... YAYDisclaimer 2: further to the above, get your doc's permission before doing anything crazy - I'm not a doctor either!
Now that I've got that shtuff out of the way... here goes.
*****
I never used to run. I used to say "I only run when I'm chased, and even then, only IF I don't think I could take em down"
I hated it. It hated me. I couldn't run more than a block without being out of breath, and having cramps in my chest. It was like that in school, high school, for as long as I could remember. I adopted the belief that "I can't run, I guess I just wasn't built for it".
What's funny is that I COULD swim. I used to swim three times a week, a mile each time. In a regular pool, that was 64 lengths. front crawl, non stop, in about 34 minutes. In the pool that I used to workout in close to work, it was 107 laps (yeah it was a tiny pool).
Now, was it easy? no! But it was COMPLETELY a mind game that I learned to overcome.
*runners - stay with me here please*
when I started swimming, around lap 4, I'd start to get breathless, and my mind would kick into defeatest mode...*you cant do this, maybe you should stop, you're not getting enough air, YOU'RE GONNA DROWN!* From laps 4 - 12, I had to fight the game... I would speak to myself in my head and say things like *YOU CAN TOO, one more lap, you are going to get more air in this next stroke, don't be stupid you're not gonna drown"..
Laps 4 - 12 were my WALL in swimming. Over time, I began to use my Bs and Cs to get me through it, and every time it came back, I'd bring them out again.
I'll explain them in a minute, but will now tie it to running... after the birth of my second child, I decided to start swimming again, and went from no swimming, to 3 miles a week right off the hop. (Yeah - I'm not so good at easing into things). I ended up hurting my shoulder, and couldn't swim for a while, so I took to the elliptical. Now THAT I could do for 45 minutes.
I'd be going hell bent for leather on the elliptical and watching the glorious runners on the treadmills, all svelte and trim, ponytails flapping in the fan breeze, and I could hear the machines calling out to me... YOU SUCK! We've Beat you! You can't run. You never will! Neener neener neener!
*note to self - perhaps I should get these voices in my head checked out*
So I decided to prove them wrong. The next day I got on the treadmill and started to jog really slowly. Sure enough I started to hurt and really wanted to quit, but I told myself - you have the cardio, hell you can swim a mile! you have the strength - you can do the elliptical... one more minute, just do one more minute. and before I knew it... I had run 5 km.
NOW, I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING 5KM ON YOUR FIRST RUN! I couldn't walk for about a week! My legs and hips and back were so sore, people thought I was dying from all the moaning and groaning (and I wanted to die)! But I was hooked and have never turned back. (I signed up for the marathon relay the next day)
This is a lot of writing, and for that I'm sorry - I am very wordy.. so I'm gonna cut to the chase now.
MY Bs and Cs to breaking through the wall:
1) BREATHE: DO NOT PANT... when you feel like you need air, fight the urge to breathe faster - instead do the opposite and breathe slower. Take deep breaths. Breathe through your nose if at all possible... slow your pace a little and take back control of your breathing.
2) BURP: lol - ok this sounds funny, but when I have that cramp in my side, or pain in my chest, it's often alleviated by burping. Now be careful, you don't want to push it out too hard, or whatever you ate last is going to burn your nose something fierce (and it will totally throw off your stride, if not make you yak entirely). I just make a point of relaxing my airway and letting the air up and out... after a few tiny burps, the cramp will often subside.
ON a HE SAID SHE SAID note... my friend told me that oftentimes a cramp is from super oxygenating - breathing too fast an getting too much oxygen... (see 1 - above). I don't know if that is fact, or fiction, but it sounds plausible.
3) COUNT: when 1 and 2 don't work, and i can't get my breathing under control, or the pain in my side makes me want to stop running entirely... I start to count. Every left footfall. from 1 - 10. and repeat. I tell myself, just ten more, just ten more, just ten more. and a few of those later, I remind myself I've just run 60 more steps. I keep counting, until it becomes a mindless rhythm and I realize... *hey, I don't hurt anymore!!! I've broken through the wall*. When I was swimming, I'd count my lap with every breath... breathing in "20 down" breathing out "87 to go".
Try it... counting helps! (I learned that from the book Zen and the Art of Running)
4) CONTINUE and CONQUER: If I make a point of doing the above... the walls I hit are breakable, manageable, and when I'm done my run, I feel like I can take on the world! I just KICKED SOME *kitten*
***
That's all I have... I am sorry for the length, but really hope that it helps someone!
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Replies
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***high five***
I have ADD with ranting and this was good stuff and it does work... I COUNT a lot and I talk myself into continuing... thanks for sharing this with other people! xo p.s. YOUR ABS ARE AMAZING0 -
Thanks so much for these tips, will try them during my next run.0
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nice post!0
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I just wanna say..............YOU ROCK!!! and you seriously KICK *kitten*. Very good info to keep in mind 0
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Funny, you just reminded me i used to swim 3 miles a week too - i should get back to that...
for now i am a runner, and i used to have the same problems - feeling like i wasn't getting enough air. with swimming it's easy - just breathe in when your head is above water, breathe out when under. i kept thinking i must have asthma or something, since i couldn't even run for 5 minutes straight without coughing and getting a sore throat which would last a week.
Now I didn't jump into a 5k like you did, i actually followed C25K, and learned within the first few weeks how to time my breathing. and yes, i count. 3 steps breathing in 3 out for slow runs. 3 in 2 out tells me i am pushing too hard unintentionally. 2 in 2 out, when i am pushing it a bit intentionally. Music still throws me off, but i am happy just listening to books.
Got a long ways to go still, but am getting there :happy:0 -
Aw thanks!!! I'd love to hear if any of them worked for you! And I totally recommend "zen and the art of running"0
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I do that counting thing too! - I count up to 30 over and over again. Another trick I will do, if I'm running with my ipod and want to stop is to tell myself "you just have to run to the end of this song & then you can walk" . Usually by the end of the song, I feel fine and keep going b/c I got over whatever mental block made me want to stop. It is almost ALWAYS mental - because I know my legs can take me pretty darn far.
I am the reverse of you - I run & I am thinking about trying swimming laps... kind of nervous about it but I think your tricks would work for me in the pool. Thanks for taking the time to share.0 -
@sneaky... I do the tunes thing as well! :-). I am huge into tunes when I'm running, to the point where I found a song that was the perfect beat for my pace, figured out how many beats per minute it was, and then I analyzed every song in my library. I made a running playlist that contained songs all within that range, so that I had music that kept me at the pace I wanted! *yeah, kinda silly, but it worked wonders for me!*
The thing about the counting to 30, I only do ten because I find it easier to zone out with a shorter number. I also find I will start counting in 4/4 time (I.e. 1 2 3 4, 2 2 3 4, 3 2 3 4, etc... Likely because it fits with the music!)
Thanks for the feedback!0 -
This is great.
I also have voices in my head that tell me I can't do things. :laugh:0 -
This is great.
I also have voices in my head that tell me I can't do things. :laugh:
Hehe - sometimes I yell at mine to shut the f*k up! I've also been known to talk out loud to my body - telling it to suck it up, don't be a wuss, and quit complaining to me!0 -
Got feedback that some of the stuff shared here was helpful :-). So I figured I would *bump*.0
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I wrote this nearly three years ago, and I still come back to these Bs and Cs.
Some other things I've found...
Mint gum. I chew it before the run, and then just tuck it in my cheek, or chew while I'm running... I don't know if it's the mint, or the saliva (I used to get really dry mouth)... but I LOVE having mint gum when I'm running!
Use your calves! I started running on the treadmill, and when I hit the road, I realized that I wasn't using my calves much. It's easy (for me) to be lazy on the treadmill and just pick up your feet... but when you're on the road, you need to engage your calves more to propel yourself forward. Be aware of engaging your calves when you run - your effort is not much more, but it is a positive impact on speed!
and reinforcing counting...
COUNTING counting counting... When I want to stop... I count. When I feel a mild pain in my knee, I count. When I feel out of breath... I count. When the run is hard... I count. That act of counting takes my mind off my problems and focuses it elsewhere... and it REALLY is HUGE.
music If you like music... take the time to find songs that fit your running pace. Create an initial playlist of upbeat songs you like, and then run to them... be aware of which ones match your running pace - then make a playlist of others that are similar. THis helps keep you on pace.
Oddly enough... three of my all time fav running songs (and I ONLY listen to them when running) are:
- All fired up - Pat Benatar
- Call Me - Blondie
- Jumpstart - These Kids Wear Crowns
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And I thought I was the only person in the world who had Pat Benatar's All fired up in my running playlist. And it is a song me too ONLY listen to when I am runningMireyGal76 wrote: »I wrote this nearly three years ago, and I still come back to these Bs and Cs.
Some other things I've found...
Mint gum. I chew it before the run, and then just tuck it in my cheek, or chew while I'm running... I don't know if it's the mint, or the saliva (I used to get really dry mouth)... but I LOVE having mint gum when I'm running!
Use your calves! I started running on the treadmill, and when I hit the road, I realized that I wasn't using my calves much. It's easy (for me) to be lazy on the treadmill and just pick up your feet... but when you're on the road, you need to engage your calves more to propel yourself forward. Be aware of engaging your calves when you run - your effort is not much more, but it is a positive impact on speed!
and reinforcing counting...
COUNTING counting counting... When I want to stop... I count. When I feel a mild pain in my knee, I count. When I feel out of breath... I count. When the run is hard... I count. That act of counting takes my mind off my problems and focuses it elsewhere... and it REALLY is HUGE.
music If you like music... take the time to find songs that fit your running pace. Create an initial playlist of upbeat songs you like, and then run to them... be aware of which ones match your running pace - then make a playlist of others that are similar. THis helps keep you on pace.
Oddly enough... three of my all time fav running songs (and I ONLY listen to them when running) are:
- All fired up - Pat Benatar
- Call Me - Blondie
- Jumpstart - These Kids Wear Crowns
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Thank you for bumping this post, I'm just starting out & I feel like this will really help!0
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