First time posting... 20 minutes? I was terrified but I did it! Advice on breathing, please.

[JSnaps]

Hi all, first time poster here.

I started C25K in October. Haven't done any serious exercise for such a long time. I got very good at convincing myself that 10,000 steps and walking very slowly with my old choccie Lab was enough. But one day I guess you just wake up and decide the time is right.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Looking back to Week 1, oh how I struggled. And the weeks in between have been a mix of elation at getting through it and terror at what was to come next.

Seeing 20 minutes looming in the distance as I started Week 5 was scary; I checked several times that I hadn't missed a Run... 8min to 20? Was it a sick joke? But I've got to try, I thought.

And try I did. And much to my amazement I completed it. I kept telling myself, it's only 6 songs worth. I have struggled mostly with my breathing but when Sarah said '2 min left' my legs felt like dead weights. But they weren't broken and I wasn't dead. So I carried on.

During the run advice was given to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth... this was when I realised that I'm entirely breathing in and out through the mouth. Is this bad? Should I try to change it? Any tips?

Thanks if you got this far x

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great job on the run.

I can’t breathe like the app suggests. However, and you commented on this, you weren’t dead at the end of the run, so you did breathe enough! Slowing down helps, I can now run 5k at 3 paces, one hurts, one is ok and the other my breathing hardly changes... it’s worth finding those gears. The thing I did was trusted my subconscious to breathe for me and distracted my conscious brain by going from music to spoken word, so I had to concentrate on that... worked like a charm. I still do all my breathing through the mouth, and it just works.

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks for that, I like the trusting my subconscious to breathe. 😊

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to JSnaps]

Well yeah... it does it all day every day! Hope it works for you... I find if I think about breathing it gets worse!

[alisonx Graduate]

Hi JSnaps

Congratulations on completing the run!

I don't breath like the app says either, i breath through my mouth & it works for me what i did at the start was use a counting rhythm to breath so i breath in to the count of 4 (or 4 steps starting from left foot) and out for 4....in the beginning this might seem a little weird but it really helps focus on the breathing technique and then before long it will become second nature and you will be powering through those runs. Hope this helps x

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to alisonx]

Thanks Alison, I did try the counting method but I couldn't get comfortable with it. Maybe now I'm further on in the programme, I'll give it another go.

[Hidden]

I can't even think about the breathing the way the podcasts says, I just get confused. I breathe through my mouth too and every now and then just open wide and take a good deep breath into the chest, almost as if I was going to hold my breath under water, and then immediately relax the chest and breathe it out again ( hard to explain, but particularly useful going up long hills). But otherwise, I just adopt a natural breathing rhythm, our bodies are not stupid!

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Good tip on the deep breath, thanks for that. I'm happy that I'm not alone in non-podcast breathing techniques 😁

[OKES Graduate]

Well done on getting there. I don’t really know how I breath so not sure if it matters that much. I’ve gotten to 5.5 k now and in about 40 mins - trying to extend but finding it difficult but so happy I can run 5k 3 times a week having never run before May this year - this app really is a miracle- keep running 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to OKES]

Congrats on what you've achieved - I'm definitely going to keep on keeping on.

[blackcatgib Graduate]

If I try and breathe like on the app I get all out of breath !

I just don’t think about it, and let my body sort itself out !

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to blackcatgib]

Thank you - I think I just needed that bit of reassurance 😊

[Jell6 Graduate]

My breathing takes about 10, sometimes 15 minutes to settle, but it's better to go nice and slow at the start, then those difficult starts aren't as bad.

I still breathe in through my mouth, and I can't see that changing.

Well done on the 20 minutes 😊

[JSnaps Graduate in reply to Jell6]

Thanks for that - I'm definitely taking it slowly 🐌😊

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done on your run.

Please read the guide to the plan healthunlocked.com/couchto5... it has advice on many issues, including breathing.