Troubile breathing?

Tuesday, July 03, 2012 · Mike Davis

Last night was Monday night training sessions at the track in Dover. A bit of a disappointment that I was on my own until my wife showed up, but nevertheless, I pressed on and did the workout.

On a given day I may be out for a training run of just about any distance and I start breathing much harder than I think I should be for someone of my running condition. A couple factors may be the reason. One I may be running up an incline that didn’t appear to be a hill or two, my ability to process oxygen (VO2 max) may be lacking. Both reasons are somewhat similar in that my training or lack of has not prepared me for stresses on my heart and its functions. In many cases runners either slow down considerably or even take a walk break and really there is no need to do either.

Our heart pushes out blood and oxygen to our muscles and our respiratory system allowing us to function and even elevate our performance. However without proper regular training we are not improving the rate in which our bodies require increased blood and oxygen. Steady running is great for strengthening the heart and improving our cardiovascular system and in many cases that may be sufficient for some people. For others that either struggle with breathing or are trying to increase their performance, they will consistently struggle if all they do is run steady runs. Initially we see great improvement in our running and can even get faster just by running steady with picking up the pace as we get in better shape. However, once we get to a certain level of efficiency our heart is stronger, but our ability to get it to increase the rate of blood and oxygen is pumped out is now somewhat limited.

Okay, that’s a lot of technical physiology that basically means that the same pace even with some increase to it, eventually levels off your ability to pick up the pace without huffing a puffing or likewise going up a hill. Instead, we need to train our internal system by such workouts as I did last night at the track. Running intervals in a controlled manor will help to build your VO2 max (breathing ability) and that will reflect in your overall running. Intervals and other similar workouts also helps us to burn more calories than a typical longer run. Our bodies adjust to the same long run approach eventually and our goal of burning calories or improving our breathing ability diminishes.

I will be conducting Monday night training sessions pretty much through the summer and into the fall depending on the participation. Come on out and you will not only be a better and more efficient runner, but also have a lot of fun! Check out the website for more information.

Have a great 4th of July! I will be on vacation for the rest of this week, so it will be quiet here at No finish line running!