Help!?? I can't Breathe

I try & think of my breathing like lamaze (you know pregnancy breathing "he he hoo hoo") and do that each time I step when I'm first starting out. You have to be conscious of it at first but soon it becomes 2nd nature. Also my husband says he counts when he runs to stabilize his breathing so that might help too. Good luck, running is the best!

I also find it easier to run inside. I have asthma and the pollution from cars and all that really bothers me. I found this video series. MIGHT help I dont know Good luck!! http://www.ehow.com/video_4978322_breathe-correctly-running.html

I have the same problem when I run.

I'm an asthmatic too, and I completed the C25K last fall.

To be honest, the breathing problem has more to do with being out of shape than anything. Once your vascular health improves, so will your breathing, but in order to improve you have to train. I agree with Dan, I noticed a vast improvement in breathing once I was half way through the program. Not just in running, but with my asthama too.

I do agree that having a breathing rythym helps a lot with running.

As far as outside vs treadmill? Of course outside is tougher. There is wind resistance, and your core and legs constantly have to adjust to un-even surfaces. Unless you are on a track, even the most even outside surface is not as even as a treadmill. Then there is the weather. Races are run outside....so I run outside. Also, I am more afraid of the things in the inside air than I am of things in the outside air. Humans were just made to be outside.

I'm currently repeating Week 1 because my muscles were handling it fine, but my lungs were dying by the end. My 2 runs so far this second week have been much better, since I was concentrating mostly on my breathing. Here's a couple things to think about:

1. Breath in and out with your steps. It tends to change throughout the run, but I think about inhaling (through my nose) for x number of steps and then exhaling (through my mouth) for x number of steps. Don't try to force "x" to be a certain number - it should happen fairly naturally. Also, my number isn't always the same for inhaling and exhaling, but I don't worry about it as long as I'm feeling good.

2. Keep your muscles relaxed. I've been noticing that if I scrunch up my face or tense up my arms, it feels harder to breathe, no doubt because these muscles are now using more oxygen. Try to keep a calm face (it also makes you look way cool, like running is no big deal :happy: ) and let your arms stay fairly loose. I keep my elbows around a 90 degree angle and let them kinda bounce while I run, and keep your hands open. Making fists tends to make you tense up.

3. Slow down. It sounds counter-productive to what we're doing, but when I did Week 1 the first time, I was going kinda all-out at the beginning and then crawling by the end. As I started my repeated Week 1, I kept my pace slower so that I could breathe better. I decided I could work on speed/distance after I can actually make it through my workouts. And even after just 2 more runs, I've already noticed my pace picking back up without nearly as much trouble breathing.

Hope this helps! Good luck! :drinker:

Oh, I am a former smoker, and a mile-high here in Colorado!

I have heard of this and read an article about it on chirunning.com http://www.chirunning.com/shop/pages.php?id=23&pageid=18

Also, are you running at no incline on the treadmill? I find if you set the incline to 2-3%, you get a similar running experience to outdoor running.

Wow, all 3 of my tips were in there! I'm good! :laugh:

Sorry Pixie - we must've posted at the same time. :flowerforyou:

No no, I just found it amusing that the things I was doing were right and had medical significance. Go me!