Breakthrough in breathing

I had a breakthrough today in running. Up to now, I've been very careful to not push myself. It's so easy to hurt yourself running, that I've just never tried hard. I've just run, walked when I was out of breath, and generally took it easy.

Lately I started pushing. Not hard, not stupidly, but just adding stuff to my run.

One thing is, I started running fast. I've always been able to run really fast, but whenever I'd go on my runs, I'd just jog.

Last time out, and today too, I ran as fast as I could. In spurts. I'd pick a nearby landmark, run to it as fast as I could, and then walk to get my breath back.

Today I added another thing. After the running burst, and the walk, I'd start jogging again *before* I got my breath back. Each time I'd run out of breath, I'd walk for a bit, but would start jogging while I was still a little out of breath.

And it helped! I suddenly found myself running more, having more energy as the run went on.

I think there's a psychological element in there, too. You know how sometimes when you run, you realize that some muscle or muscle group is tense? For a lot of people, it's their shoulders. For some reason, when they run, their shoulders tense so hard that they ache after the run.

Well, I've worked on that. I'm very relaxed when I run. But I suddenly realized, suddenly felt, that my rib cage was tense. Like a clenched fist.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

In any case, I ran a lot more today than I usually can, and I enjoyed it more. I can't want until I go out again!

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