Week 9 Disaster!

[Rowena04]

I'm at w9r2 and instead of the treadmill I thought I would run by my house again now that the temperatures have dropped. I managed EIGHT minutes and had to stop! Normally it's my knees that would go but this time it was my chest, I couldn't breathe. What's wrong with me?? Is it harder to run in wind or something? Other than that it was the worst run I've ever had and that's saying something as I used to run by my house each run until the heatwave! I have a race at the end of Oct!

[jlw34 Graduate]

Hi Rowena I do a weekly mixture of outside and treadmill and find the outside running raises my heart rate more. I do enjoy running outside more though.

Could your pace have been too fast after running on the treadmill? Maybe you just need to slow down but I’m no expert 😊

[Rowena04 in reply to jlw34]

Yes I think I was so excited I shot off!

[Hidden]

Running into a head wind is definitely harder work, free resistance training I guess ..

The transition from treadmill to outside or visa versa can be difficult one so it is difficult to say what the root cause of your breathlessness is, usually it would be pace and or going off to fast, hopefully it was just a one off and your next run will be much better 😊

[Amandana]

Woohoo, week 9, not long to go now!!

There is definitely a transition from treadmill to outdoor running. Have you been using the incline on the treadmill? To simulate running outdoors there is a recommendation to use 1-2degrees of incline on the treadmill. Perhaps finish off the programme on the treadmill and then work on getting outdoors?

There is also a bit of a mental bit to it... you can stop anytime you want when you're outdoors, there is no belt moving your legs along even when you're at a point of thinking "ugh I just want to stop", but it doesn't sound like that was a problem for you.

[Rowena04 in reply to Amandana]

I said exactly this to my friend, the treadmill almost forces you to keep going whereas it's easier to stop outdoors.

[rocket999 Graduate]

The wind makes a big difference, so I'd suggest you might need to go slower and shorten your stride length when going into the wind, compared to being on the treadmill. I try to make sure I have a tail wind for as much of my route as I can, which I justify by telling myself I am consolidating!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Wind is a... err, female dog... to run in, messes with the breathing and the balance, which then mess with the rhythm, and all that messes with the head... takes some getting used to. Well done getting out there, you’ll have it next time out.

[Rowena04]

I knew you all wouldn't let me down with the support, everything you've all said is pretty much what I thought. I've put it down to the wind (shakes fist angrily at the sky) and probably going too fast because I was so excited now I've reached w9 and can call myself a runner! I'm going to take myself back to w5 and start from there outside only and no treadmill, hopefully I should storm through it. This should give me enough time to build up something decent before the race next month as I think some of the hardest work has been done already (building up strength in my knees and calf's and getting in the habit of running in the first place!).

[sigasiga Graduate]

Week 9, you're nearly there! Why not finish it on the treadmill, celebrate and then move outdoors, preferably on a non-windy day? I've never used a treadmill so can't compare, but I know running against the wind is hard going.