I find that I am unable to increase the amount of running that I do during my workout. I usually do run at 6 MPH for 1 minute about 6 times but I usually take a break in between and the rest of the time I'll walk fast at like 3,8.

I find that I am unable to let's say run 3 minutes instead of 1 minute or I'll get really tired. I've been doing the same routine for weeks. What's wrong ?

Sounds like it is because you have been doing the same routine for weeks. Do you have a rest day? It also sounds like you are on a machine. I hate gyms and love to go to the track. It's great to be outside and run by the river. I jog very slow for four miles some days and other days I jog fast for a couple miles and walk briskly for the other two. I sprint during my softball games and that provides a great different workout.
I never eat right before a workout either. It makes me sluggish. I usually don't touch food about an hour and a half before. Maybe about an hour or two before a workout try an apple with some peanut butter or an apple and some LF cottage cheese.
One other thing, I try to pump myself up before a workout and some days music makes all the difference. I also have a pic of my favorite athlete on my fridge to motivate me, Lokelani McMichael. She is a supreme grade A bad$#%@!

To me it sounds like you are trying to run too fast. Try taking your speed down to something slower, like 5.0 mph, and see how that goes.

Don't compare yourself to how fast anyone else can go--just find a pace that you can sustain and stick with it. As your body becomes more efficient, and you become fitter, you will naturally find yourself able to run faster over time.

As for myself, I can run at 6.0 mph only for about a minute, too, since that pace is too fast for me to sustain right now. Instead, I cruise along at 4.2 mph for 40 minutes. That's up from the 3.5 mph I started at, and I am gradually getting faster as the weeks go by.

I know that in time I will get up there to the higher speeds, like 6.0 and so on. But for now, I'm content to chug along at the slower speeds and build up to it.

I agree about the speed. I think you need to consider it more "jogging" than "running". When I started, I was "running" at 4.2 and then 4.5 and then 5.0 for many weeks, with lots of breaks, until I could make it 5k without stopping. That was my distance goal. Only then did I try to very slowly increase my speed. 6.0 is pretty fast if you're a beginner. JMO - hope it helps.

I don't think the speed is the problem. I think you should push yourself a little at a time and take a rest day in between. Have you tried the Couch to 5K plan? I've successfully followed it before and running 3 miles at 6 miles/hour was easier than I thought.

I'm new here...

But, I was a runner for a time. I wasn't a runner, then I started running and loved it. Then I stopped and, well, here I am, 15-ish pounds heavier.

How I started running more and more was this way:

Week 1
Run 1 minute, walk 5 minutes
Run 1 minute, walk 4 minutes
Run 1 minute, walk 3 minutes
Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes
Run 1 minute, walk 1 minute.

This gives you a solid 20 minute work-out.

Next week, run 2 minutes and so on. As your lungs get better at dealing with the trauma of running that you haven't done, it does become easier. And, as my grandma told me "you never see a fat runner".

Lindsay

I hope it's okay that I jump in on this thread because I came to this board for exactly this problem.

A little background, I'm 39, 5'4" and 190 pounds. I've been walking outside 5+ miles 3-4 a week for a few months now. I want to make the switch to running so I can keep my outside routine this winter when it's cold. I also used to be a great runner, back in my 20's before the weight gain....

That being said, I can't seem to make the switch to running. My heart rate shoots up and I only last a short, short time. I am not willing to shorten my 5 mile walk to start running. My gut thought is that I'm just too heavy to be able to run yet. I have started to really work on walking as fast as I can and I plan on trying to shorten my walk every week hoping that will help me make the transition to running. Not sure if that will work though.

Suggestions, ideas?

www.coolrunning.com has a great program for beg runners. I am actually on week three day one today!

Ok, but that does not necessarily mean that if you could run 3 miles at 6 mph everbody can. Your tracker indicates that you needed to lose only 22 lbs or so, which is not that bad. We don't know how much Kaytlin weighs or in what physical shape she is - and she did indicate that she is taking breaks.

Kaytlin, IMHO you should not push yourself to run at 6 mph yet. I cannot do 6 mph for longer than 2 minutes or so and I have been running (well jogging) for months now. I am slowly increasing the speed (even though my goal is to last longer at a slower speed) and now I run at 4.8 mph. These days, I run for 42 minutes straight and when I started, it was hard to run a 4-minute interval twice during the workout. So perhaps try lowering the speed until you improve your cardio performance and then you can increasing.

CarpeDiem - you don't have to shorten your walks - maybe try inserting short jogging intervals, giving yourself sufficient time to recover in between? Even if you jog only 100 metres first, that's ok. Then back to walk, then another 100 metre jog, back to walk, etc. Good luck and remember - Rome wasn't built in a day (that's my motto )

You are right Tomato. Don't compare speed, you can always work that later. Get your distance in first.

Speed demon!



I'm still struggling with 4.2 mph! I'll catch up one day, though...

I do think that cutting the speed is a good start and could help both kaytlin and cdiem. I'm no expert but everything I have ever read or discussed with runners says that trying to go too fast too early in your training is what kills most beginners.

I think the problem is that we all want to "run" and we feel silly when our jogging pace is not much faster than our walking pace but it doesn't matter. A run is a run, no matter the pace and I guarantee the speed will come.

The C25K program is a great place to start but the theory is as Lindsay said, it's a run/walk interval that slowly shrinks the walking time and increases the running time. It works if you have the patience!

Good luck to all the new runners!

LOL! I almost choked on my salad (I had to pull out my salad as I am always ravenous on my running days [I ran this morning]). I will give myself a couple more weeks and then I will see if I can survive 4.9 mph. And then, one day - a big milestone - 5 mph.

Elisa - every time I see your avatar, I have a terrible to urge to have whatever it is in it. Something sweet and I bet very yummy.

Tomato - And I know that it's probably not the most appropriate picture for here but we all need a treat now and then! That picture, by the way, is of the yummiest cafe au lait and beignets from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!



ETA - yes, we could probably spend an entire thread on discussing NO and all of the amazing food that you can find there. My dh and I love to eat when we travel (who doesn't?) and that city probably provides us with more tempting and interesting options than any other city I've been to. If you ever decide to go, I can definitely make some suggestions....from all categories!

Oh I am not suggesting you should change it, quite the contrary. I do agree with you on the occasional treat. I have never been to NO (hanging my head in shame here) - hopefully one day! Although I am sure I would gain instantly - the restaurants in NO are legendary!