Ask The Coach Weekly QnA: breathing through mouth while running; developing speed and endurance at the same time

Coach Atul Godbole answers your training related questions…

Q. Anjali asks: “Is it OK to breathe through the mouth during running or should I restrict myself to nasal breathing only”

A. You can definitely breathe through the mouth as well. Typically at higher effort/pace, you will need to breathe through both the nose and mouth, while at lower/easier effort/pace, nasal breathing should be sufficient. In fact, a good test of whether your are running at the right pace for your easy runs is to determine if nasal breathing is enough. Too many runners do their easy runs too fast!

Q. Madhu asks: “Is it possible to develop both speed and endurance at the same time?”

A. Its tricky to try to do this, and often counter-productive and leads to injury or burnout. Instead the best way is to train according to the requirements of your goal race, and take whatever concomitant improvements that come your way. Let fitness and speed/pace come to you via structured consistent training, do not try to force things.

 


Runners and triathletes, have training, diet, nutrition related queries? Send email to askthecoach@motiv8coaching.com 

 

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