Mark's Blog

Since you talk about oxygen processing capacity, I have to ask if you watch your breathing when you run? In a way it seems trivial, you breathe naturally, the way your body needs to, just as you put one foot in front of the other. But then you realize that just as there are many running styles, so too are there many breathing styles.

Your guru Hal Higdon doesn't say much on the subject, perhaps purposefully so that people do it naturally instead of trying to get caught up in controlling it. Then there are the people who think that how you breathe is essential, and probably want to sell you on something to improve it.

I'm interested in the topic because in the year I was jogging regularly (but not following any training program), I experimented with nose breathing while running. Close your mouth, breathe regularly through your nose and work up to see how long or how fast you can go like that.

My rationale was this: nose breathing reduces air-flow and thus oxygen to mimic high-altitude training and hopefully increase my performance/endurance for hiking at high altitudes. I have heard that high-altitude athletes have an advantage at processing oxygen at lower altitudes, so the benefit should aslo be noticeable in the lowlands.

I never really analyzed it beyond that. I did get to the point where I could jog almost an hour at a moderate pace or hike at low elevations while breathing through my nose. And I do feel it helps my altitude performance, as I've never had altitude sickness symptoms when hiking above 4000m.

I only found one search result dealing with running and nose breathing: http://www.mindfulness.com/mrb2.asp. I like the idea of mindfullness, the idea is not to control your breath or your body when you run, but to be aware of it and use your influence over it to reach a state of relaxation and also better performance. I wonder if any research has been done on the topic, or if there are any other "nose-runners" out there.

Danny Dreyer doesn't dwell on it too much in ChiRunning, but does mention breathing naturally, which means breathing from the diaphragm rather than puffing your chest up and down.

I've never tried running with my mouth closed. I'm amazed you can run for an hour breathing through your nose, and even more amazed that someone could run 10 miles in an hour, a 3:17 marathon, or an 83-minute half marathon breathing through the nose. Sounds like it's worth trying.

The Pranayan technique Perry Fields writes about is something I encountered in a short book of relaxation techniques authored by a yoga professor. I've only used it for relaxation, once or twice before running, but not during the run.

My breathing approach clearly has room for improvement. The most I do right now is try to keep my head up and front straight to allow maximum air flow, and to breathe using my gut rather than my chest. I sometimes consciously breathe faster or deeper when getting ready to do an interval or a sprint, or when recovering from one. Thanks for the tips.