running and breathing

[Bazsam]

hey I am doing couch to 5k and really struggling with getting to 3 mins running. I am an experienced runner who got covid last year and since then I can’t breath whilst running.. anyone out there give me any advice ..I have signed up for a 10k end of April and am getting desperate ..Tia..

[ChannelRunner2 Graduate]

Oh, I feel you, Bazsam ! I struggled to get back into running after Covid, too. The strange thing was that the infection itself was a breeze (in fact, I was taking care of my parents who had Covid as well, while I was sick). So, I figured I'd get into running fairly easily. I was still careful because after my first Covid infection, I ended up with heart palpitations... I took a look at the literature and thought I'd be smart this time! Wrong! My body had other plans. The first week of really easy running was exhausting. I ended up taking another week off running. Then decided to start very slow again (I could outwalk myself 🤣 if I could pass myself...). I very gradually built up again and kept my heart rate really low (below 75% of max HR). I did that for six weeks! Only then did I feel up to speeding up. It worked 🥳

Here are some resources I found helpful (although I ended up modifying the heck out of this...):

The original return to running protocol: bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/19/...

Updated protocol (after more research): blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2022/04/...

And a Runner's World article: runnersworld.com/uk/health/...

Wishing you good luck and loads of patience!