Losing Stamina
I’ve been jogging every day since early summer — so about six months now. Things were going well at first, but I seem to be regressing lately! I don’t know why, but for the past six weeks or so, my runs have been harder and harder to finish. I’m doing the same route and distance, so I can’t figure out what the problem is. Could the colder weather be having an effect on me? I wear Under Armour gear and make sure to warm my muscles up with a brisk one-mile walk before running, so that shouldn’t be affecting me too much.
In the summer, I got to the point where I could jog 2 miles at a fairly decent pace without getting too winded. But now jogging even one mile takes nearly everything I’ve got.
Anyone know what the deal could be?
December 4th, 2009 08:55
I run as well. (treadmill) When I start to slip or hit a wall, I vary speed.
My normal run was to go 1/2 mi warmup, then 9 miles at 5.5MPH, then cooldown 1/2 mile.
After a few weeks off due to a bad cold, I was struggling.
This past weekend I went 1/4mi 4.5MPH, 1/4mi at 6.5MPH, and kept alternating for the whole run. I made it for 2 hrs.
Some variation on this might help you.
(I am a personal finance blogger, don’t look for running posts on my site.)
JoeTaxpayer
December 4th, 2009 15:41
Thanks for the tip. Someone else emailed me with a similar suggestion, saying that “interval training” is a very important component of building/maintaining stamina. I always go at the same pace, so that’s likely my problem.