Part II of my response to friend J's email (see yesterday's post) was in reference to her comment that she was running till she couldn't breathe.

Here's what I said:

"If it's to the point where you can't breathe -- you are running too hard. Slow down and take it easy. You should be able to carry on a conversation (granted, probably a strained, breathy one) while you run. If you cannot talk, you're probably running too fast for you, right now.

"If you want to get faster...the best way to do that is to intersperse your run with a few bursts of speed. So, say you're running along normally & you feel good, pick a point in the distance -- a mailbox, a tree...whatever -- and say...OK...at this next driveway, I'm going to charge to that tree. Then, run full out to that tree. Stop when you get there & walk or slow back down and recover. When you feel recovered, do it again ...and again ... and again. These shorts bursts of speed will condition your heart and body to accept more without it being the strain of a long, hard effort."

Again -- veteran runners if you want to chime in on this topic -- send your comments to me at heather.cass@timesnews.com and I'll post them for you (or, heck, if you're one of those go-the-distance people who enjoys a marathon challenge... go ahead and try to register to post your own comments). :-)