[fandango]

Ok, it's daft, but quite simply I can't do it, not properly anyway! I know I can run faster (given my current pace it's not that much of a statement :embarrassed: ), but one of the things holding me back is my lack of ability to breath properly. It's always shallow, heavy and uncoordinated, almost gulping the air in.

Are there any really obvious and basic hints and tips to help me out? Do you regulate your breathing? How have you found your breathing pattern?

 

[Trinity]

When I first started running I had a mantra which helped to regulate my breathing pattern.

It was...

'nice and ea-sy'

If you can get something like that going and set your out and in breaths with the words then eventually it will just happen naturally

 

[dicksmith]

I use my foot falls as a kind of metronome to regulate my breathing, so at a steady pace two paces inhale and exhale on the third. but this only works for me if I force myself to breath deeply. I have found as the months have gone by that my breathing has improved from the struggle you are having to some thing more controlled, though I am still not much quicker

hope this might help
smithy

 

[jammidodgr]

I'm like DS, i inhale 2 steps, and exhale 2 steps. But i only conciously do it when i feel like i'm struggling.

I find it a good universal technique for all runs because your breathing is synchronised to your speed.

J

 

[fandango]

Thanks for the tips. I tried jammidodgr's 2/2 on my long run today, but 2 miles in I realised I stopped paying attention

I think I'll try it again on a shorter run when I can concentrate on it.

 

[littlered]

I found my breathing is hard at the beginning of a run then it settles it's self.
I would try not to think too much about it just breath and be relaxed.

 

[Squint]

I use a 4 and 4 when I feel like I'm struggling. The rest of the time I tend to just relax and not think about it to much as this is when you start to over analyze and it all goes wrong.