Running Too Fast

Back in April I tried moving my running from the (relative) comfort of the treadmill to the open road and met with great unexpected difficulty. I could barely run for 2 minutes without having to stop.

This really put me off. I tried outdoor running a couple more times and then gave up. I did a bit on the treadmill but found that I just couldn't seem to do what I had been doing before in my old gym. I'm sure this was partially psychological, but it was my reality just the same.

Then last week I managed to get an idea inspired by motivational speaker, Tony Robbins. In one of his books he had a chapter on exercise, (most of which I disagreed with!) and in there he said that most people do not take the time to build an aerobic base and they push themselves into anaerobic levels too quickly. The trouble I have with running is that there doesn't seem to be a way for me to make it aerobic because I just find it so difficult. As soon as I break into a run my heart rate just shoots through the roof.

Then I thought about it some more. Am I just running too fast? It never crossed my mind before because I see so many people in the gym running a LOT faster than me. But it made me wonder just how slow I could go. Perhaps I could find a speed that was barely above a walk that would keep my heart rate in the aerobic zone and allow me to keep going longer.

I tried it out on my next session. Success! I ran 15 minutes straight on the treadmill going about 20% slower than usual. It felt weird going that slow but I kept checking my heart rate and it was quite high but not too high. My stopping point was the pain in my lower legs - I can't stand that burn! But it was much slower to develop and I had no soreness afterwards where usually I'd have a sore calf for a day or two.

This morning I put my theory to test back on the open road. It was still way harder than on the treadmill but I made progress. I ran in blocks of five minutes with a 1-2 minute break between them. Once again it was my legs that let me down but I figure they will strengthen quite quickly. My route allowed me 3 little blocks and I could have gone longer so I'm going to plot out a new one that should add on an extra 5 minutes.

It's still not much but its progress just the same. My mantra with fitness and weight loss has always been "Take Baby Steps" and until now I hadn't realised that the steps I was taking with my runs were simply too large.

If you have hit a wall with some aspect of your physical exercise, scrutinise it and see if there is a way you can cut back on the intensity / difficulty and still make progress.