One of the benefits of running every day is that I can try something different each time I run, or experiment with running differently, different shoes — or breathing differently.

I posted on running out of breath back on my old blog. When I first started running, nearly a year ago in December of 2008, I could make it about 100 yards before I ran out of breath and slowed down. It was hard. I was able to gradually increase the distance that I run before I’m out of breath, but along the way I made one major discovery: when I run out of breath depends on how fast I run. The slower I run, the further I can make it before I have to stop and breathe.

When I was very out of shape, small bits of jogging or running were very difficult. Even at a slow pace, I’d quickly run out of breath. I could walk for miles, seemingly indefinitely, but climbing stairs and slow jogging were both limited-time activities.

I’m still “out of shape”, but getting better. I can jog a mile continuously; that’s been my target for the past couple weeks and I haven’t pushed further. (I was thinking of doing another lap, which would have been 1.7 miles, but my legs hurt, so I stopped.) But it’s obvious to me now that running faster just wears me out. I’m chosing to jog slow enough that I can make a mile without running out of breath. Sprints will tear the wind out of me quickly, a run a bit less so, and faster jogging before I finish a mile.

My breathing comes hard in the first quarter mile, but by the time I end the mile I’ve found a rhythm to both running & breathing. I spend the run thinking about it; do I need to modify my footfall? Breathe differently?

One difference I’ve noticed lately is that I’m breathing deeper. Quick breaths means I’m quickly out of breath; deeper breaths taken “from the diaphragm” (rather than higher up in the chest) keeps me from feeling oxygen-deprived.

Mostly I’m blogging this as a record. How I felt about breathing a year ago, six months ago, now. I’ll be interested in seeing how I think in another six months.

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P.S. I blogged recently about sprints vs running vs walking, and these two have some interplay: I think running faster improves fitness more quickly. This implies that running, jogging, and walking are pointless from a fitness perspective. So why do I run? Hmm. I’ll think about it and post more later!