Some good advice on here, two things stand out that i would suggest checking, firstly Asthma, im lucky and dont suffer from it but my son does he now has a preventative inhaler twice a day and the difference it has made to him is huge. Secondly your comments about your heartbeat.

I would strongly advise that you see a medical bloke and ask him to check your heart beat and at the same time discuss asthma with him. You may find that a minor amount of medical intervention may make a huge difference.

Regarding the running im new at it so i cant offer the depth of experience that a lot of others can (and have) however i found a month ago that i could not run for more than 3-4 minutes until i had to stop. What i do is run the same route and remember where i stopped last time and set a goal 100 metres further on when i reach that i set another goal 50 metres on and so forth. In four weeks (running 2-3 times a week) i am now stopping once in a 2 mile (roughly) circuit. In fact last night i only stopped because i got a stitch, i was so annoyed about this that at the end of the run i added 500 metres on and still felt like i could go further.

My point (other than self gratification) is that setting lots of little goals and making them progressively harder works for me and may work for you. One other thing i find running with music really helps me to focus on something other than the voice that says "thats enough have a break now".

Keep at it and good luck.

Hi
Just my two penneth as I work for the ambulance service and know a little about stuff....Go to your GP and insist on a 12 lead ECG. You may have something called AF (Atrial Fibrillation) or Atrial Flutter. It's quite common, usually in older folk but people in their mid twenties can have it too. It's nothing to worry about too much, but it tends to raise it's ugly head during exercise or when you begin to push yourself. Hence the 10 minute 'wall' you are hitting. It also may explain the chest pains and irregular pulse. A 12 lead ECG will pick up any abnormality. Definately see a Doc before you set off again. As it's not a one off and this problem re-occurs every time you attemp running, you need to be seen by someone.
Good Luck
Chris

I agree that you should seek medical advice primarily, just to rule out any undiagnosed condition which may be affecting your stamina.

But once you get the all clear to go, which I'm sure you will, it might be worth exploring the experience you had on the track when you was young... I strongly suspect that that is a factor.

Do you wear an Ipod or listen to music when you run? Maybe listening to something relaxing as you run could help, or maybe have a 10 minute meditation before you go out?
I do think that there is something in this... the mind/body experience is so powerful

Hey Amybird,

Interval training can be very helpful for you.

Basically what you can do is jog for a few minutes at your desired pace and then walk for a few minutes to recover.

This is a great to develop your cardiovascular capacity while getting your legs used to running for longer periods of time.

Try this one to start:

Run for 4 minutes, Walk for 2 minutes - repeat 4 to 5 times for a total of 24 to 30 minutes.

You can also check out a great set of running workouts called the Treadmill Trainer. Just do a google search and you'll find them. They're based on interval training and are great for beginner runners as well as advanced runners.

I'm currently using the Treadmill Trainer workouts in training for an upcoming 5k in April.

Hope that helps.

cave girl has said it all don't ignore these exertional irregularities!!!!!!

Thanks - yeah it's crossed my mind now and then that I might have something like that. I know atrial fibrillation can significantly increase stroke risk. meh.
Ummm, do you reckon the increase in heart size and strength that comes with training would help it in any way, or sort of exacerbate it as there'd be even more muscle to beat wrong?

Thanks - as I said before it was interval training I did....otherwise I'd just be going out, running for a minute then going home!. Makes me laugh a bit you say start with 4 minutes running.... 4 minutes of running is what I might vaguely hope to achieve after about 4 weeks of trying to run more than 2 minutes if I started training again! haha

Reading all the advice has got me thinking a lot, and recalling my original reason for wanting to run: enjoyment. I think happiness is probably the most important ingredient in achieving health. Miserably running along in agony, taunted by distances and stop-watches, followed by days of agony, is not very happy-making.

When I do feel ready to take up running again I might use enjoyment as my measure. Run for as long as it's fun; stop when it stops being fun; run a bit more when happiness returns; go home when I feel like it. All I want to be able to do is run comfortably and enjoy it. No marathons. Don't care if the distance is called a mile or 10km. It would be nice to run for more than 10 minutes one day. But that's it really.


P.S.
As far as anyone knows...if it does turn out I have an atrial flutter as was suggested...does that put a firm ceiling on my stamina, or should I just expect to double the amount of time in which I might expect to get fit?

Hi
As far as my knowledge allows - I'm not sure that AF is related to strokes ( CVA - Cerebral Vascular Accident - think I got that right...) which is a neurological event rather than cardiac. AF is a cardiac irregularity. As for how it affects your running and exercise, you will need to see your GP about that. IF and only IF this is your complaint (it may not be remember) then there are drugs you can have to help the condition. Staying fit is definately a benefit to your health and a totally sedentary lifestyle does not aid heart problems. However, neither does trying to run marathons. On your GPs advice, I suspect he/she will probably suggest that you do as little or as much as you feel comfortable with without pushing the boundaries. Over time, you will probably find that those boundaries are met after longer and longer runs, but this will likely mean that it will take you longer than most people to get to your desired fitness / running level. But please see your Doc first - you need to know whether there is actually a problem there or not first.

Hello again.... I know strokes are neural but I think with AF, blood can tend to clot arount the atria, so I presume it's the clots that can potentially lead to strokes.
I'm definitely going to have another go at running and will see a doc eventually too (some time after my Norwegian lessons have started probably. No NHS here either, so gotta pay for doc. meh)

Hi
You are right. Strokes can be a more serious, though not certain, complication of AF. But this doesn't mean that everyone with AF will have a stroke. I really wouldn't worry yourself about this sort of thing at this stage of events. Especially as you do not yet know if there is a physical problem or not.