Was just reading some of the forum posts on runnersworld.com and there seems to be a consensus that if you can't have a conversation while jogging, you're running too fast and you should slow down.
I absolutely cannot chat with my running partner while running (w5r1 completed yesterday), but if I slow down I'd have to walk because I cannot imagine running any slower than I already do! I really don't want to go back to walking. I have been walking for years and my heart rate does nothing on the flats (doesn't even break 100 bpm) and only just gets over 120bpm when I climb hills.
My resting heart rate is about 57bpm. Is it weird that I am getting so out of breath that I can't have a conversation during a 5 minute run?
Before I read those forum posts I figured I would carry on and that my heart rate would come down with time, now I'm worried that I'm pushing myself too much and won't be able to cope in the long run.
Alternatively, am I putting too much stock in heart rates? I recover quite quickly (am back to normal heart rate in about a minute) and am never stiff the next day.
Please help.
Written by
Be11adonna
Graduate
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Stick with it, it gets easier. A lot of posts refer to people who have been running forever. As long as you feel comfortable with what you're doing, keep doing it
I wouldn't worry too much about the heart rates. I don't even have a clue what mine is!
Definatley stick with it. I run really slowly, I've just run week 8 run 1 and i'm only running about 3k rather then 5! I'm concentrating on finishing the program and then building up my speed.
It sounds like you are fairly fit, from your recovery rate etc. I think the more you run the easier it will become and the more likely you could talk while running.
Thank you Nemi and Crox. I suppose because I have not found any of the runs particularly easy it's easy to get discouraged. I want to perverse though so I will!
Don't pay any attention to heart rate- it's different for everyone. Some people have a very low resting heart rate even if they don't do much exercise and some people who are very fit have a high one. It's just physiology. 57 bpm resting HR is fine, if it were 30, I'd be worried!
Concentrate on how you feel in yourself. I like to feel I'm pushing myself when I run but not to the point that I can't breathe or I'm in pain for hours afterwards. My breathing has definitely improved over the last few weeks. I read on the NHS website that moderate to vigorous exercise is when you can't say more than a few words at a time (rather than gentle to moderate exercise where you can talk in sentences but you can't sing the lyrics to a song). Running is definitely moderate to vigorous exercise so if you can't chat while you're doing it, you're doing it right! I suspect the people on the runner's world website are very fit but even they couldn't chat if they were pushing themselves at a distance/speed they found challenging.
Just keep doing what you're doing- you'll definitely see an improvement in your breathing as you go. Good luck! X
Oh heck, I certainly couldn't hold a conversation with anyone whilst running. It's as much as I can do to say hi to passers by! I've read about people on this forum singing along to their music whilst running & felt very jealous. However different people run at different paces. I personally like to really challenge myself but perhaps if I slowed right down I may be able to manage a whole sentence!!!! Lol. You're probably running a lot quicker than you think. As for heart rate, I don't have a HRM so wouldn't have a clue what mine is. As the others have said it will get easier so don't worry, you sound as though you're doing really well. Happy running. X
Thank you NMJB. It is reassuring to read that there are others out there who also huff and puff but have lived to tell the tale.
I was more interested in my calorie burn than heart rates but when I worked them out I found I was at the top end of the range most of the time. My doctor says not to worry and listen to my body.
I certainly can't hold a conversation whilst running, and that's one of the reasons why I feel more comfortable to running alone, with a podcast for motivation, than with a friend. You should definitely stick with it!
I mostly run alone cherimoya and this actually works better for me I now realise. My (sometimes) running partner is my husband who wants to be supportive. Problem is that I only end up feeling bad when he's chatting away to me while on a run and the most I can manage is a thumbs up to let him know I've heard what he's said!
I had to ban my lovely hubby from running with me as his 'encouragement' (and his much superior fitness - he does 50 mile cycles for fun) were too demoralising!
Pingle, I completed w5r2 yesterday (yay!) but not before telling hubby that I would prefer to run alone. So he went off and did his thing (lapped me a couple of times but I'm used to that!) and I went off and did mine. We met up at the end for a warm down and some stretching, all very civilised and pleasant Best of all I could concentrate as much as I needed to on my running.
Hubby tells me that once he gets to a certain pace he tends to go into a trance and his mind drifts and he thinks about all sorts of things. I on the other hand have to stay very focused on my breathing otherwise it gets all out of wack. I hope this will change one day. I am really looking forward to being able to drift off on a run!
Its going to be 3 years at the end of August that I started running (alone). I'm still running alone and don't therefore talk to anyone. I do sometimes sing along to my music, bit embarrassing when someone appears around a corner though!!! Its early days yet but it will get easier so just relax into your comfortable stride and enjoy your running. Good luck
Don't quit!!! You've come so far, it would be such a shame to stop just because you don't feel you can hold a conversation when you run. I started this 7 weeks ago and still find it difficult and really have to concentrate so tell my running partner I'm not going to talk until the walking bit at the end, maybe just a quick check to see how we both are but definitely not a conversation. I'm also aware that I'm very slow and I'm usually one of the first people to give up at things but I keep listening to Laura when she says that building up stamina is important, not speed. So go the speed that is comfortable for you, save your chat for the end and enjoy your running - you're doing great
You are definitely not alone, because there's me who is just the same (and quite possibly lots of others) but I'm not giving up! I hope you don't either. This site has been a great support to me when I've panicked about things and what has really helped me from here is other people telling me to listen to my body, not worry about doing things a 'right' way, and just taking it steadily without putting any unnecessary pressures on myself like speed/rates/distances at the moment. For now I just want to be able to run, something I have never done in my life before, and I hope the rest will come in time. If I don't ever manage 5K in 30 minutes or to hold a conversation or to not look like a beetroot when I finish my run I really don't care - I have gone from couch to up and running, albeit at my slow pace, and I'm not quitting just because I can't do what others can do.
>... there seems to be a consensus that if you can't have a conversation while jogging,
> you're running too fast and you should slow down.
I think you are confusing 'jogging' by an experienced runner who is choosing to run slowly (or 'jog') for whatever reason, with a beginner runner who is running at the only speed they can.
Don't worry about whether you can or can not chat while you run - just keep running.
You are still a beginner runner; the conversation thing will come when you're more experienced and have a range of running speeds. JogScotland talk about having four running speeds:
"The Blether Zone: As the name suggests this zone enables you to easily run along and have a good blether with your running buddies. This type of running is appropriate for warming up for a harder run or race, or for a recovery run the day after a hard run/race....
The Puff Zone: This is a gradual step up from Blether Zone. You should still be able to chat to your running buddies but it may not be as easy to get your words out...
The Pant Zone: If you start to feel and look like a Husky pulling a sled then you have probably entered The Pant Zone! ...
The Gasp Zone: this is not a place that you want to be in too often! It would really only be entered at the very end of a full out training run or race, even then only over the last few hundred metres as you try to coax a final sprint out of your weary muscles! ..."
While working through the C25K programme many of us were running in the Puff zone and often in the Pant Zone. It is only after completing C25K and building up stamina and experience that we learn to run at a range of paces.
Swanscot, the idea of being able to choose the speed at which I run is hilarious! It just goes to show what a beginner I am Very encouraging though to read that this will change with time.
I think my biggest problem is expecting too much too soon.
Before I started C25K I had been going to the gym twice a week for a year. I thought that, because of that, I was already pretty fit. Imagine my horror when I couldn't even jog around the block with my husband! I think there is still a lingering idea somewhere in my head that, because I'd gone to gym regularly (and still do go regularly), this running lark would come easy. That has so not been the case!
If you think it's doing you good, ignore what anyone else says, and carry on doing it!
My running is still very slow, four months after graduating, to the extent that yesterday in the Race for Life 5k, I was 'running' alongside other women who were walking at the same pace (though I could briefly speed up to overtake them if I wanted to - but I couldn't keep going faster). But I don't feel exhausted when I stop, and my heart-rate recovery is much faster. Also, if I walk, it is now so much easier than it used to be, because walking is a doddle compared with running. So even though competitive runners might see my running as not worth the effort, I know it's got me much fitter, which is all I was aiming for.
That said, I have always aimed to run slowly enough to be able to talk - but I do run very, very slowly (slower than my brisk walking, when I was doing c25k). So you might find you can actually go slower - but you don't have to if you don't want to.
Yes, keep going! For most of the program I could not talk at all, and was running very slow. Now I can just do 5k and am able to gasp thank you or excuse me (to passers by) or 2k (at hubbie to tell him how far we've gone) but I couldn't chat!
I shouldn't worry too much about heart rates etc., it's about getting fitter and not being at a particular level. Listen to your body. If you are getting too breathless to talk, maybe slow down a bit? It is not a race LOL.
I did get myself a heart rate monitor and a step-based tracker because I like gadgets and graphs but I ignore them while actually running, just striding out here and there for a little push, but only when I feel I want to do it, slowing down if I get at all uncomfortable. My aim is always to get home feeling I've done something good, feeling good and have enjoyed the run. The graphs show my heart rate dropping significantly (maximum and average) while my speed is increasing and I really, really enjoy it.
In the beginning the HRM said I was burning a lot more calories than the step counter but the two now give near enough the same result. I think this is because my heart and lungs are fitter now so working more efficiently. It certainly feels like it.
They say no pain, no gain. I say no fun, no run. Oh, and I've lost weight but gained lean tissue. (My scales measure %body fat. Well I did say I like gadgets, but I like running even more!)
While I was doing C25K I read those same sites and thought they were talking gibberish, I'm sure it will come in time but for now I'm content with just making it around while being able to breathe.
I've got a HRM and have seen it go up to 195 bpm and regularly at the end of my 5K at 177bpm (my supposed max heart rate for my age).
My lowest resting heart rate has been 51 bpm and is getting lower as I build more kilometres up.
At first I was worried like you but I finished my graduation Parkrun in 30:45 and could barely make understandable moans at the end. Today I did 5K no problem (in about 33mins) and felt as if I could continue for another 500m-1km, as the others have said, your body will tell you when you're going too hard by not being able to continue.
I tend to refer to my heart rate records after the event and can normally see why I had to walk when my heart rate got in the 170+ region.
On the good news I'm now getting to the point where I can say "thank you" when someone steps out of my way without collapsing.
In the running world there really is no concencus I think the nearest thing is in the running world where the training is for a specific purpose they describe jogging as an easy pace.
In their world this is at the low end hence being able to talk in full sentances. They will then have race pace different for 5k 10k etc, tempo runs, recovery runs similar to easy pace.
This only applies if you have been running for several months and wish to progress in running different races and longer distances, None of that need to concern you.
swanscot is spot on about the different zones. Also it sounds like Be11adonna the cardiac function exceeds currently the ability of your lungs to reoxygenate the blood.
Your years of walking have adapted your heart to deal with the demands of walking, Stick with it and you should adapt and find the breathing gets easier. You might find as you are not stiff you could push yourself slightly harder!
The running requires a more rapid exchange of gases than you have required with walking.
You will be fine in the long run - it maybe doing this week again will allow your lungs a chance to catch up with your heart and joints no needto even consider quitting.
Many beginners suffers with joint and muscle soreness as they adjust so you are streets ahead in 2 ways already.
Hi, I don't know about heart rates or stuff, but I do know that being fit is all about how fast your body recovers from exercise, so count yourself very fit
If you are still happy running, carry on, it really doesn't matter - I know for myself that I sound like a steam train huffing and puffing and I know that I could possibly walk faster than I run, but hey I am enjoying it and I know from past experience that after about 20 mins of continuous running this improves dramatically (I can breathe whilst running and talking), at the moment though I am back to week 3 Run 3 due to health problems so still sounding like a steam train, lol, onwards and upwards
Don't stop running..... I had my heart rate measured at a thing at work last may (2012), they looked at me and said it was one of the lowest resting heart rates they had seen - akin to that of a top class athlete.... and I really truly honestly hadn't done any exercise since school - so about 22 years.
I started running in April this year... I run really slowly... today was 7:15 kph and this is getting slower but my duration is getting longer -but - do you know what - I feel good after my runs - and I enjoy going out and getting that lovely 45 mins of peace and switching off from the world.
Don't worry about what other people post / have done / do etc - its what you do that counts... although I have one good tip which helps me... I have been very very guilty of watching the floor when i run - I've started watching the horizon instead - this improves posture and allows more air to the lungs and hence makes running easier - and concentrating on watching he horizon means that I'm not worrying about the actual running and that just happens.
If you enjoy it - keep on with it - we all have to start somewhere xx
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HR in excess of 80%
Can you go too slow?
Please. Tell me not to quit.
