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Old 06-05-2013, 02:16 AM
 
Location: Valdez, Alaska
2,758 posts, read 5,255,167 times
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I can't run. I'm in pretty good shape. I have a very active job, ride my bike 22 miles round-trip to work a few days a week, hike in the mountains on weekends, and am quite fit in general. Certainly not overweight. But I get side stitches like crazy every time I run. And I have bad knees and don't want to destroy them. I have runner friends who would really like me to do the races they organize in town, and I'd love to go running with my dog, but I just can't, and I'm not going to hurt myself in order to try to prove something.
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Old 06-05-2013, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Old Bellevue, WA
18,782 posts, read 17,278,583 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4 View Post
I used to run all the time, including off-season cross country and track (up to 6 miles a day).
I ran charity races in college (5k/10k).
My knees always sucked (thanks, basketball!).
But now it's really hard. And it is NOT an issue of aerobic stamina at all (as I can sprint on the elliptical and I can do Insanity like a breeze, etc). My back hurts. My left lower back eventually cramps up (about half a mile to a mile in) and my legs feel like lead (it's almost like they go anaerobic).
Even just a few years ago, I would warm up for my weightlifting regimen by running 2 miles.
I can do sprints, I can play tennis, etc, but long distance running seems to be out now.
Have you tried doing back extensions? I used to have problems w/ lower back muscles, especially when trying to run at a fast pace. Every now and then I would pull that muscle (lumbar muscle, I think) on either side of the lower back.

I started doing back extensions and it seems to have cured the problem.


Back extension / Hyperextension ( lower back exercises ) - YouTube
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Old 06-05-2013, 01:56 PM
 
Location: At the corner of happy and free
6,452 posts, read 6,610,032 times
Reputation: 16229
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4 View Post
In the beginning, nose breathing.
As demand requires/increases, switch to mouth breathing.
I never meant to imply that you ONLY nose breathe.
But you don't have to start off panting right off the bat.
OK, that makes sense, and that's how I've done it. Unfortunately it doesn't take me long at all before I have to start sucking in air through my mouth, and it's all downhill from there....even if I am barely jogging. Then I have to walk, and it takes at least 10 minutes to recover enough to start jogging again.
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Old 06-05-2013, 02:01 PM
 
Location: At the corner of happy and free
6,452 posts, read 6,610,032 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David910 View Post
You are going to call me out? Tell me why. Are you telling people just can't run. I find that ridiculous. If you can't run then get in shape. But unless you are bedridden or have cancer, in my opinion, there is no reason why you can't train yourself to run. I came off a little blunt and rude, I agree. But my premise remains unchanged. There is no reason, other than a serious illness, that someone should be unable to run two miles after slowly building up your milage. Sorry if you don't agree.
It doesn't take a "serious illness" to keep a person from running. This thread has posts from people with anemia, side splints, back and leg pain, etc. that prevents them from running very far. Are you saying we should ignore what our bodies are telling us? That's like saying you could hold you hand on a hot burner if you just had the will power. I'm going to listen to my own body instead of a stranger on the internet. If YOU can run, I can understand how you might think that anyone else could too. But that doesn't make it true.
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Old 06-05-2013, 04:01 PM
 
933 posts, read 1,471,578 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kayanne View Post
It doesn't take a "serious illness" to keep a person from running. This thread has posts from people with anemia, side splints, back and leg pain, etc. that prevents them from running very far. Are you saying we should ignore what our bodies are telling us? That's like saying you could hold you hand on a hot burner if you just had the will power. I'm going to listen to my own body instead of a stranger on the internet. If YOU can run, I can understand how you might think that anyone else could too. But that doesn't make it true.
And those are all injuries that would prevent running, I totally agree. You should absolutely not run under those circumstances. I have seen many runners not be able to run due to shin splints. Of course it isn't a "serious" injury, but would prevent running. You don't get shin splints from sitting on the couch. Every case of shin splints I have seen is from long distance running. But that is besides the point.

What I'm not buying is that the OP claims he doesn't have the lung capacity to run. Unless he has a serious medical issue, like lung cancer, I just find that a lame excuse. I just wonder if he was trying as hard as he claims he was to run. I just don't buy it. And, yes, I realize a lot of people on here are sympathetic and so forth, but I will be the first to question the OP. I just don't think, under the circumstances he described, that
not having the lung capacity" is a valid excuse.

To the OP:You do have the lung capacity, it is your attitude holding you back. If you don't believe you can do it, then you won't. But, it all starts with having the belief and willpower to do it. If you have that, then it will remarkably become easier to run.

Best of luck to you.
David
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Old 06-05-2013, 08:11 PM
 
18,073 posts, read 18,688,177 times
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Past a medical issue, everyone can run.
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Old 06-05-2013, 08:20 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,638,372 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boxus View Post
Past a medical issue, everyone can run.
Anyone with a total lack of grace - will have trouble running. Some of us lack the mechanical ability to coordinate the movements. In other words - some of us are klutzes, and in OTHER words - some of us are just plain flat out not athletic.

There is no reason why anyone should feel like they SHOULD run. Running is not a medical, or physiological, or dietary necessity. There is nothing magickal about running, that everyone *should* feel obligated to do it. And there is no reason why anyone should feel like they have to keep pounding their "well everyone can run" malarchy on those of us who find it difficult to do.

There is no shame in not being able to run distances. And there are LOTS of other ways of getting a good cardio workout, that no one should EVER need to run, in order to get it.
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Old 06-05-2013, 10:01 PM
 
18,073 posts, read 18,688,177 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick View Post
Anyone with a total lack of grace - will have trouble running. Some of us lack the mechanical ability to coordinate the movements. In other words - some of us are klutzes, and in OTHER words - some of us are just plain flat out not athletic.

There is no reason why anyone should feel like they SHOULD run. Running is not a medical, or physiological, or dietary necessity. There is nothing magickal about running, that everyone *should* feel obligated to do it. And there is no reason why anyone should feel like they have to keep pounding their "well everyone can run" malarchy on those of us who find it difficult to do.

There is no shame in not being able to run distances. And there are LOTS of other ways of getting a good cardio workout, that no one should EVER need to run, in order to get it.
Not buying it. Running is as natural as walking and breathing. You cannot tell me you, or someone else, are so clumsy that you cannot simply run and you will trip over your own feet. If you or someone are that clumsy, that would be a medical condition.

There is no reason a person cannot run unless there is a medical reason for it. That is not implying a person has to run.
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Old 06-05-2013, 10:05 PM
 
Location: Folsom
5,128 posts, read 9,787,125 times
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Our local running club has special programming that requires jogging & walking, depending on one's mile test times. I was shocked that I qualified for a mid range group, " the rowdy reds". We jogged at a set pace for 3 minutes, and walked for 1 minute. The time/ distance increased each week for 3 weeks, then decreased on the 4th week, then increased again. My first time out for a 4-mile run, blew my socks off! I was shocked that I could even do it as I hadn't jogged since college. Unfortunately, I got put on the sidelines by my doctor when I was diagnosed with a medial meniscus tear from running drills at bootcamp. I would like to return to jogging following their programming and with their groups (I wont do it alone, too boring), but the only problem is that they don't have groups doing short distances...it's all marathon prep. and my doctor highly advised against it due to the accumulative stress, especially with my history of 2 back surgeries. I'm doing other cardio training now.

Last edited by caligirlz; 06-05-2013 at 10:15 PM..
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Old 06-05-2013, 10:07 PM
 
18,073 posts, read 18,688,177 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kayanne View Post
It seems I simply do not have the lung capacity, or something, to be able to run. At one point in the past, I was so determined to build up my stamina, that I tried jogging nearly every day for 9 months. I was never able to even jog a half mile without feeling like my lungs were filled with concrete (that was always the best way I could come up with to describe it).

At another point in time, I worked one on one with a running trainer. He had me do a combination of jogging and walking. I would jog fairly slowly for a certain amount of time, then walk for a minute or so, and repeat. But always, after a few cycles of that, I'd be so out of breath I just couldn't jog any more.

I even went to a doctor to check my pulmonary function. She didn't find anything wrong in the tests she gave me. That was a few years ago, and I'll admit, at that point I was just so frustrated that I haven't tried running or jogging again. It's not the end of the world; lots of people claim that running is too hard on the joints anyway, so I don't mind just being a walker. But it has always perplexed me why I could never run without becoming out of breath, gasping yet feeling like I wasn't even able to get any air in.

Have you ever known anyone like that, or know what causes it?
Your lung capacity is just fine, you even stated the doc did not find anything wrong. There are people with one lung that run.

You state you tried jogging nearly every day for nine months; was it quality jogging? A person can sit at the same level for any physical activity if they are not doing it right. I see this all the time in the weight room, month after month, people not gaining any strength because their routine sucks. If you do not run correctly, you also will not make gains.

Have you set up a baseline and measured your progression? What is your mile times? your 1.5 miles time? If you do not know your times for whatever distance you are setting a goal for, how do you know you are not making any gains?
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