Hi there! I graduated early September and have been running 3 times a week most weeks since then. My initial goal was to continue on the 3x30mins until I felt comfortable enough and then to gradually extend to a 10K programme. I imagined that if I persevered, eventually a 30 min run would feel relatively easy and pleasant. Alas not so! While my speed has picked up so that I can now do 5k at 32 mins approx, it feels more and more strenuous and unpleasant. I love running in the park and observing the autumnal changes but it is still very hard to keep going, the first 10 minutes are tortuous and the rest is not great either, although oddly enough running suddenly becomes easier after about 26 mins. I have tried switching between shorter (20min) and longer (40min) runs but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I think the main problem is my breathing - my legs are happy but my lungs feel constricted and painful - although I am healthy and fit. In my first month I managed to overcome runner's knee through assiduously stretching and icing etc. There must be some way to also overcome this breathing issue? Have other people experienced this?
Progress stalling how to improve breathing tec... - Couch to 5K
Progress stalling how to improve breathing technique
You might benefit from reading the FAQ Posts about breathing and getting faster, which you can find here healthunlocked.com/couchto5... alongside lots of other useful information.
You are probably running too fast, which is the main reason for difficulty.
Counterintuitively, it is easy conversational pace running that builds your stamina and endurance, not fast running.
Say this sentence out loud to yourself "Am I going slow enough to enable me to speak this sentence in one out breath?" If you cannot, you are going too fast.
ah - problem is the moment I do anything other than walk I am going too fast to speak. But yes point taken and thank you for all the links!
So slow down. ............
Slowing down to the recommended easy conversational pace makes it more achievable and for most, more enjoyable, as well as being the most beneficial.
Your breathing would be absolutely fine if you slowed down to a nice and gentle jog.
Your runs are feeling this hard because you are simply running too quickly.
If you running a fixed distance, e.g. 5k, then try getting your device to display just 'pace' and slow down to about 7 min/km (35 mins for 5k) and see how that feels. If that still feels tricky, try 8 min /km (40 mins for 5k).
You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Yes I see. I am currently at 6.31 per km. Weird thing is though I wasn't trying to get faster - I started very slow precisely for this reason and bc I got runner's knee when I did C25k years ago. Somehow after graduation the pace kinda picked up by itself almost to my surprise. But yes burning lungs are not fun at all so I will def try to slow down before I speed up again. Thank you
You do realise that 6'31"/km isn't at all slow for a new runner. You can definitely go slower than that. There are folks here who would be amazed if they could reach that speed.
Sorry I didn't mean that it was slow and wasn't trying to be cocky: I was running at 7min 40sec per 1km when I graduated but somehow in the coming weeks the pace picked up without me consciously trying to run faster. I was amazed frankly. But clearly I need to slow down
It's quite normal to speed up naturally as you get fitter. That happened to me, too. My pace has picked up from about 6'30"/km immediately after re-graduating following an injury, to about 5'30"/km (faster on shorter runs) a year later.
However, you do need to keep your legs from literally running away with you. If you're out of puff during or after a routine run, you're going too fast.
Another thing to look into is "exercise induced asthma". I had that a couple of times during school cross country runs, long long ago, with the PE teacher showing no sympathy at all.
"My initial goal was to continue on the 3x30mins .... then ... extend to ... 10K programme. I imagined .... a 30 min run would feel relatively easy and pleasant"
Nothing wrong with that. All sounds very sensible.
Your speed is actually fine in itself, but I'd reserve that for perhaps 1 run every fortnight, on a 3 run/week plan.
What's happened to you is very normal. You've sped up as you've got fitter but now you're pushing against the ceiling a bit.
Time to step back a little and reset.
Have a Google of 'Rating of perceived exertion' (RPE) with respect to running and see what you think.
I can only agree and echo what others have said !If you can't speak full sentences whilst running without gasping for breath then it's too fast
Yesterday, I was so happy running, (in the cold and rain), that I was singing, out loud, (rural section - where I hoped no-one could hear) with the music. 
Wow
Definitely a conversational pace then 😁👍
I did a bit of singing this morning too! I stopped before I got near anyone who might hear me.
I am so grateful to you all for such collective wisdom and generosity. Thank you!
I had the same experience and was grateful for the advice to slow down. I thought I was running slow but wasn’t. This week I have slowed right down and enjoyed my three runs of 35-37 mins. Next week I am going to increase the time a little bit maybe 40 mins. This week on my runs I was saying out loud Iannoda’s sentence and that has helped a lot!
This used to happen to me - anything up to a 10k distance, and I was pretty miserable. It wasn’t fun and it hurt! Sure, I could do it, but it was such an effort. I slowed right down and all of a sudden I started enjoying it again. I also think that a more enjoyable faster pace (but not speedy fast) comes with leg miles, and that takes a bit of time. All the best! 😊😊😊
Going all out certainly sucks the fun out of it. My enjoyable pace these days is around 7.25 mins per km. At that pace I can trot along fairly happily. I seem to have settled into a position where I start a 5 km run at around 8.40 and finish on 6.25. Win win for me, I minimise the toxic ten, have a nice run and that final faster km reassures me that I can still go faster if I want to 😊
I think if I hadn't made these changes I would have stopped running by now, as it is it's an easy way to tack on extra kms if you feel like it.
Echoing everyone else, slow right down, especially at the start of your run. My Garmin has a Pacing thing, you can set a distance and time then play around with what pace you do throughout the run. So you start around 6'46" pace and work up to 5'19". Or start at 7'12" and work up to 5'00" minutes per km. You get the idea. This way you're giving your body time to warm up slowly during the first 10 minutes. My natural instinct is to run as fast as I can when I start but I'm much more comfortable forcing myself to slow down at first. Plus doing runs where I'm forcing myself to be slower for the whole thing.
Speed isn't the only indicator that you're improving...and believe me you will
When I did C25k all those years ago and then started going to parkun (now done 240xparkruns) - both the C25k and parkrun installed a very bad habit into me - concentrating on pace. Even the name of C25k implies that we should be able to run 5 K in 30 minutes - and for many/most? parkrun is all about PBs But then I discovered "Slow Jogging" and also the 80/20 training philosophy and now my pace is no longer relevant to me, except when I am doing the 20% part of the 80/20 . I have recently spent some time and effort training myself to be able to jog and walk at the same pace on a treadmill - I can walk and then transition to a jog and then back again to a walk without changing the treadmill speed. Of course , my HR goes up when I jog that way, but my breathing remains much the same as when I was walking. NIKO NIKO has helped me to run EASY outside on the roads - easy means effortless, without stress .
Well thanks to all of your brilliant advice, there is already an improvement: did a bunch of glute exercises today and then set out at a pace of around 7mins per km. This suited me fine: no 10 minute horror no painful lungs and I could speed up for the last km. Wouldn't exactly call it pleasurable but it was ok - this is very hopeful so many thanks
7 minutes per k might still be too fast for you for a daily "easy" run. Easy really does mean an effortless conversational pace, with a smile on your face , able to breathe solely through your nose (at least for a few minutes) . Why don't you do a 1 mile time trial - as fast as you can go - to be able to calculate your maximum aerobic easy pace.
To follow on from the advice of Bazza1234 if you put your 5k pb into this calculator, runnersworld.com/uk/trainin... it will estimate pace for different elements of your training.
I think you will be surprised how slow you are recommended to run for most of your running.
wow - yes this is very very surprising indeed! So according to this calculator, I have been doing 'tempo' runs all this time, running at the threshold of speeding for my present capacity and therefore not really improving my aerobic fitness but instead becoming injury prone. These are only meant to be 10%-15% of total training. Given that I should be running btw 3-4 times a week at most, then there should only be one of these every 2 weeks no? And very occasionally try an interval VO2-max? This explains why I have been getting faster but feeling like death every time
Sorry. This made me smile. Spot on. A lot of us go through this until the 💡moment.
If you slow down a touch you won't feel like death and will enjoy it more. Win, win 👍
ha ha yes. I have slowed right down and now run without feeling like death. In fact it really puts a smile on my face - and today my first run in the rain and STILL pleasurable. And all thanks to this lovely community and your generous advice. I never knew running could be such a pleasure!! Still a lot to learn...
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