Why Can’t I Run???

[Anonymous]

OP here - this is the greatest thread!

Follow up, I took all this to heart, slowed down, and gutted out a longer overall distance last night. Better, I pushed myself to go on a long stretch without stopping which is my longest distance yet since getting back in shape!!!

I think the psychological aspect is definitely weighing me down plus probably running too fast. I also fully agree about the benefits of running in a group but I don’t have the time or schedule predictably to do that right now.

Cycling really has shown that my cardio is far better than my dismal runs would suggest, so here’s a nod towards serious cross training. It works! I’ve had *real* cyclists draft behind me on trails and I need more gears!

Thank you guys so much. Plenty of us out on trails last night in the rain! Good to see everyone.

[Anonymous]

That's a good update from the OP.

Running is hard for most people. Sure there are some natural runners who make it look easy, but for most of us, it's hard. If it wasn't there would be a lot more people doing it.

For me, after 25+ years I'm down to run/walk intervals a couple times a week. I focus more on HIIT, strength training, and aim to walk 10,000+ steps/day.

[Anonymous]

Big boobs, too much bounce, except with the most severe of sports bras. I'm also impatient and have a hard time trying to slow down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to run farther, you need to slow down. OP, try slowing down 10-15%. Try to cultivate calm and distract yourself with music or a running buddy.

This. Most people run too fast. Do a light jog. Start walking and keep increasing the pace until you switch from a walk to a run. That should be the pace you do on an easy run.

Agree -- you need to slow down. Like so slow, you will be embarrassed for people to seek you. So slow, that you could probably walk faster.

I'm going to echo this, I'm the pp who said you just need to run more. But agree you need to make a LOT of those miles REALLY slow.

I posted here awhile back about feeling like my max HR was too high. That exercising in 'zone 2' felt like doing literally nothing to the point I didn't do it because it literally felt like, a waste of my time. I was just thinking, my zones are different and zone 2 for me is 170. Because I would occasionally get max HRs over 200, like 205 (I'm 39).

The last few months I made a concerted effort to do true like, zone 2. I still think my max HR is a little higher but I started literally making some of my miles like 15 minute miles, SHUFFLING miles. By trying to follow the rough 80/20 model (80% TRUE easy miles, 20% harder miles) I have gotten faster and I have gotten my HR down when I go faster. Which actually seems like more of an accomplishment. That 29 min 5k I did last week would have, in previous months, EASILY gotten me over 200 for at least a portion of it, instead I did it, on a treadmill with the first 18 minutes at a 1% incline and had an average HR of like 185. That is high of course but it was manageable, I could talk, and a significant reduction.

Anyway, agree, even if the zone calculators feel like they're telling you to walk, shuffle along at those slow paces and you will see improvement faster than you think.

This is great. Do you have a watch? What kind? You should try running with a heart rate chest strap since they are more accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried running with a friend? I was talking about this with my friend who runs marathons and she convinced me to go running with her to see if she could help. As a side note, due to pretty bad childhood respiratory issues, I never ran. I did other sports that didn't require running and did other cardio.

I started running and she immediately knew what was wrong. The way I bounced on my feet was completely off and my breathing pattern related to my running pattern was completely off. She worked with me for awhile to figure it out. I still can run far but did do a 5K over the summer without walking.

I am so glad she helped you. One good thing about running with a friend is that it helps you determine what "zone" you are in. In zone 2 or 3, you should be able to talk in paragraphs. Zone 4, sentences (I can go faster, but I don't want to). Zone 5, single words (too fast!).

[Anonymous]

I find running incredibly boring. Also don’t enjoy being leered at by the general public.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad you had a good run, OP! Fall is here! That should make it feel a little better, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to run farther, you need to slow down. OP, try slowing down 10-15%. Try to cultivate calm and distract yourself with music or a running buddy.

This. Most people run too fast. Do a light jog. Start walking and keep increasing the pace until you switch from a walk to a run. That should be the pace you do on an easy run.

Agree -- you need to slow down. Like so slow, you will be embarrassed for people to seek you. So slow, that you could probably walk faster.

I'm going to echo this, I'm the pp who said you just need to run more. But agree you need to make a LOT of those miles REALLY slow.

I posted here awhile back about feeling like my max HR was too high. That exercising in 'zone 2' felt like doing literally nothing to the point I didn't do it because it literally felt like, a waste of my time. I was just thinking, my zones are different and zone 2 for me is 170. Because I would occasionally get max HRs over 200, like 205 (I'm 39).

The last few months I made a concerted effort to do true like, zone 2. I still think my max HR is a little higher but I started literally making some of my miles like 15 minute miles, SHUFFLING miles. By trying to follow the rough 80/20 model (80% TRUE easy miles, 20% harder miles) I have gotten faster and I have gotten my HR down when I go faster. Which actually seems like more of an accomplishment. That 29 min 5k I did last week would have, in previous months, EASILY gotten me over 200 for at least a portion of it, instead I did it, on a treadmill with the first 18 minutes at a 1% incline and had an average HR of like 185. That is high of course but it was manageable, I could talk, and a significant reduction.

Anyway, agree, even if the zone calculators feel like they're telling you to walk, shuffle along at those slow paces and you will see improvement faster than you think.

This is great. Do you have a watch? What kind? You should try running with a heart rate chest strap since they are more accurate.

I have an Oura ring, which is, transparently, not great about workout HRs but I can see the trends declining with it calculating average HR in a workout. I can't really handle something on my wrist, some sensory thing. I also think it would turn me into kind of a psychopath about it which would burn me out. I look at average HR and I have gotten pretty good about being able to gauge based on how I feel.

If I can talk normally I must be in Z2/3 but I think that is just maybe not true for me, or I really needed to do more work on my aerobic base. Who knows.

It might seem contradictory but despite getting more specific and intentional about my zones I generally try to run with less metrics because I just have a personality that can get super obsessive about it and don't want to let myself go down that road.