The Trick to Breathing When You’re Running

Let me start with an apology because, like so many things that are worthwhile in life, you have to work hard to achieve this, but it is so worth it. However, if I titled this, “Work Really Hard and Then Your Breathing Will Get Much Easier When Running”, no one would read it! So, for the record, I’m sorry. Ok, let’s proceed.

When I was 330 pounds and started to run, I could barely get 50 feet before I started to huff and puff heavily. We’re talking loud, with stuff coming out of my nose and mouth. My heart would beat so hard, I could feel it in my head. It sucked… BIG TIME. I’m not going to sugar coat it, if I walked up a flight of stairs, I thought I was dying. And the sweat! Oh my god, did I sweat. For no reason! Well, being 330 pounds was the reason, but you get the point.

When I would see runners go by smiling and talking, I would grow jealous. I wanted what they had. That seemingly effortless glide with barely a bead of sweat or a wheeze to be seen or heard. How did they do that? Hard work, that’s how. Breathing comes down to two things. Cardiovascular fitness and effort. When we start running, most of us have little cardiovascular fitness and the effort required to move is on the high side. That combination equals huffing and puffing and a pounding heart. What to do?

Beginner runners need to do something that they probably don’t want to hear, but that is to run slow, very slow if necessary, and carefully increase their weekly mileage. That is how you will build a cardiovascular base. Initially, worrying about “speed work” is just not necessary. Focus instead on form, running slow enough that you can hold a conversation, and increasing your weekly mileage. That combination will build your cardiovascular base and you will actually notice your speed increase over time. This requires patience. Running slow requires patience and when I say slowly increase your weekly mileage, I mean no more than 10% increase per week. PATIENCE.

However, the reward for your patience will be that your breathing will become more controlled AND your speed will increase. Once you have built that cardiovascular base, then you can focus on some specific speed sessions that will push you to the next level.

Now that I have my cardiovascular base built and my cardiovascular fitness is at a high level (my resting heart rate is 42 to 44), I focus more on my breathing pattern and do speed sessions. Regarding my breathing pattern, I prefer a two breaths in; two breaths out pattern, synchronized with my steps. So, imagine as my left foot lands I breath in, as my right foot lands I breath in again, then as my left foot lands I breath out, and then as my right foot lands I breath out again. Repeat.

I am a mouth breather. What I have observed is that breathing is a very personal thing, so I wouldn’t say that there is a “right” or “wrong” way to do it. I would say that most people who are looking for a “trick”, probably haven’t built that base yet and do not realize it. They are probably doing most of their runs at too high of an effort level. I like to say that your easy runs should be EASY, and your hard runs HARD. And most of your runs should be EASY. And EASY will get faster and faster as the miles start to stack up.

I’ll share a story with you to end this post, and when this happened, I kind of just smiled inside. Last week I was running and I was about to pass these two ladies that were conversing with each other on the sidewalk. As I approached them I said, “Good morning ladies.” And they jumped shouting “My lord, you scared me!” I stopped and apologized because I didn’t mean to startle them, but; they never heard me coming…

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4 Replies to “The Trick to Breathing When You’re Running”

    1. Yeah Joe, that is the right thing to do in my opinion. Build that cardiovascular fitness and everything else will improve. Pace, breathing, form… PEACE Joe the Runner

  1. Love your story & blog! Good to also note sometimes difficulty breathing is not just a question of building endurance, it can be exercise induced brochoconstriction (formerly known as “exercise induced asthma”). I thought I just lacked “good cardio” when I would get out of breath quickly and couldn’t run very far. Long story short, if I go hard and ignore the early symptoms of fatigue, mental fog, and breathlessness, I eventually hit the point of wheezing and coughing. If anyone has experienced similar, they might want to talk to their Dr. as there are meds that can help manage the symptoms. (Hope you don’t mind the PSA/hijack). ?

    1. Anastasia, this is an excellent point and I totally agree. If you have a history of this type of issue in your family, or you seem to not make progress, definitely have it checked out by a physician. My opinion is based on a “healthy” person who is beginning their journey to better fitness and running. Thank you for bringing this important issue to light! PEACE Joe the Runner

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