93. Breathing While Running: Why Is It Hard Sometimes?

Ever finish a hard interval during a workout or a race and have to catch your breath? When you run up a hill do you notice your breathing is labored? We often get asked how to breathe while running and how to improve your fitness to the point where breathing becomes easier while you run. Have you ever felt like you cannot breathe while you are running? What physiologically is making it feel like you cannot breathe while you run? Humidity, altitude, extreme cold/shivering, being sick, being dehydrated, running too fast Is there a sort of rhythmic breathing you should be doing like in swimming? Should you just breathe whatever is natural and as much as possible? Do you ever get panicked when you breathe heavy during a run and it causes you to breathe even heavier? Can meditation or breathing exercises help runners learn how to relax? I notice when I am more relaxed, my breathing comes more natural when I am running but when I focus on it too much, it feels harder Do you think the bottom line is that people who can’t breathe while running are just going too fast? How can you figure out how fast to be running? How do you talk while running?