What’s the deal with those people who are gasping (ie. breathing really, really loud and fast) on the run. I’m a slow runner so despite their gasping they are usually passing me but I can hear them coming for like 20 yards. It sounds like they could only sustain that type of breathing for another 10 feet yet they might have half the race left. Is it just a matter of pushing yourself harder?
Pushing harder and maybe slightly out of shape. I’m in the best endurance shape I’ve been in this year and I still breathe pretty hard in short races but definitely not as hard as I did in prior years. My feeling is if you don’t feel like you’re going to collapse at the finish line then you didn’t leave it all on the course!!
I ran with a friend one morning this summer and was gasping the whole way - I had a cold, and we were running a 5.9 mile loop at just about my 10k pace. He looked over at me and asked “do you always run like this?” I think the wheezing scared him. It was just because I had a cold.
People who are not sick? Running too fast a pace for them and panting like a puppy dog.
One of the better runners I’ve ever known (he’s still sub 3 marathon at age 61) always sounded like he would fall out at any second…he’d reel me in after the bike constantly and I could hear him from 50’ behind.
People who are not sick? Running too fast a pace for them and panting like a puppy dog.
…minus the ability to cool off and sweat with their tounge.
i call it the “death whistle”, and i hear it every time i really push on a run. my lungs can’t keep up with my legs.
cheers!
-mistress k
To me when I “gasp for air” I’m running at a heart rate that is right on the edge. Normally when in a race cresting a hill or a 5km race for the last couple of km. 99% of the time I’m not gasping.
i call it the “death whistle”, and i hear it every time i really push on a run. my lungs can’t keep up with my legs.
cheers!
-mistress k
I hear smoking will do that to you…what? who said that?
I have actually heard that heavy breathing is not necessarily a sign of being out of shape. When you are well-conditioned and training regularly, your body will anticipate the need for increased O2/CO2 removal and thus start breathing heavy in anticipation of this need. This may all be urban legend or just us fatties justifying being out of breath at the mere thought of exercise.
i call it the “death whistle”, and i hear it every time i really push on a run. my lungs can’t keep up with my legs.
cheers!
-mistress k
I hear smoking will do that to you…what? who said that?
never said i didn't know why, nor was it a complaint. i'm probably not the one passing the OP, either! *lol*
cheers!
-mistress k
To me when I “gasp for air” I’m running at a heart rate that is right on the edge. Normally when in a race cresting a hill or a 5km race for the last couple of km. 99% of the time I’m not gasping.
What does “on the edge” mean? The edge of going anaerobic, 100% Max HR, a sustainable pace? Thanks.
i think i know what you mean
these people are usually passing me on the run by a good margin and i expect them to blow up but they dont
i think they may just be really tough, fast runners =)
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I do that…and can now maintain max HR for the last 5 - 6 miles of a race, while running negative splits. Did mile repeats on the track yesterday, could tell some of the slow joggers were wondering what was coming up behind them. I place in the top 3 in my AG (45-48) and top 20 overall in races.
If your gonna run hard, you gotta breath. Not necessarily a sign of being out of shape, but being able, and willing, to go hard.
x2
When I exceed my lactate threshold for more than 30 seconds my breath starts to whistle and it almost sounds like I’m barking - it’s actually one of the ways to tell if you have reached your ventillatory threshold when self-testing lactate threshold without taking blood (since the two typically occur near the same time). Not a sign necessarily of being out of shape, especially if you can keep it up for several minutes or more. The length of time you can hang in that zone, and the speed you attain while in that zone (when running, or power when cycling) is determined by your fitness and your HTFU factor.
Of course, if I’m racing I’m typically going to puke at the end of a sustained effort like that. I’m good for a 5k race right now, and working the fall run challenge to make it my 10k pace by the end of this year.
On the edge for me is probably 90% of max heart rate or more.
During an Oly earlier this season, within a fifteen minute period during the bike leg, I was passed by two guys. What makes it stand out so vividly in my memory was that not only could I hear them panting and gasping over the “whoosh whoosh” of their rear discs, right from when I first heard them, but both of them were quite literally frothing at the mouth. I’m talking serious froth goatees.
They sure were moving fast, though.