7 Comments

"The hard breathing, the strain on your lungs, is a feature of running, not a bug."!

This is exactly the piece I've been wanting to read! Much gratitude for creating this and sharing your runs with your dad. That's pretty impressive that you started at age 8 just because. I don't think my mind made healthy decisions like that at 8.😅

I grew up in NC and currently live in the DC suburbs of Northern VA. This summertime heat is no joke!🥵 But now that it's cooling down this is motivating me to do more outside running instead if a boring gym run. I'm gonna try this counting technique - thank you!🙏🏽

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The heat is so real! Like a wet, wool blanket wrapped around your face. But it’ll get cool soon, like you said. Glad you vibed with the post :)

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P.S. Sia is incredible!

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"Feature not a bug" is so crucial with any running conversation. Thanks for this. There is not "right way" and that sometimes gets lost in our modern, click-and-like-driven world. 'm guilty of only considering my breathing when a sudden lack of oxygen causes me to gulp for air. But I'm trying to tune in more mindfully. Wrote a lil' something about it: https://runninglightly.substack.com/p/do-we-sometimes-forget-to-breathe

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Thanks for this, Mike! So glad we’re in this community together, where we can talk about the realities of running, even when (especially when?) we’re not perfect 🙌

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I’m a counter, too (and not just for breathing — no matter what else is happening, or how bad you feel, you can always count steps). The variation that I use (I think it’s from Dr. Phil Maffetone) is to give the out breath 1 less step than the in — so 1-2-3-4 in / 1-2-3 out (or if you’re working too hard to hold that 4/3, you gear down to 3/2, or when you get to panting speed it’s 2/1).

Also, thanks for sharing Sia, so nice.

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I’ve never heard of Maffetone! Thanks for the tip @jeff!

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