I've been LCing (again) for about 7 months now, but didn't exercise much until this week. I was just so heavy it was uncomfortable. That said, I'm gradually introducing exercise into my routine now because I don't have knee problems anymore now that I've lost as much as I have. So I have some questions as to what I should be aiming for with using my treadmill. I'll be introducing other types of exercise in the future, but I'm trying not to go overkill with too much too soon. One thing at a time.

About a week ago I got my treadmill and found I was only able to do 2.9mph for about 30 minutes. Today I was able to go about 45 minutes with a max speed of 3.4mph, but I couldn't maintain that for more than a few minutes. I probably averaged about 3.1mph for the 45min.

I'm just looking for suggestions as to what I should be shooting for. I've never been able to run, not even when I was a kid. I think I have some kind of exercise-induced asthma, but my parents always told me even at 7 years old that I was just out of shape. But when I try to run it's like I'm gasping for breath and no matter how much I try to breathe and focus on my breathing it's like I can't. Whenever I've gotten to that point it can take me 30-45minutes to get my breathing back to normal.

Suggestions, advice would be much appreciated.

From what my daughter tells me, high school p.e. requires them to walk 1 mile in 20 minutes, so 3 mph is good. She's been out of h.s. since 2008. We walk a mile each morning and we're gradually pushing our pace up.

I used to power walk. I tested my speed on a treadmill one day and found I could maintain a 4.8 mph pace. Oh, to be back to those days!

As for running, like anything else, you have to build up. Use the same techniques as the couch-to-5k-in-6 weeks folks and it will come naturally with practice. One thing I was told was to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Like you, running would make me short of breath, but when I combined the two pieces of advice, I was able to run the 1-1/2 mile fitness run in 13.5 minutes (military - I was 32 at the time). I had never in my life been able to run that fast until I trained.

I think if you think you have exercise-induced asthma and can see a doc, it would be a good thing to know for sure and maybe treat. I think you are doing great with your pace - I walk 3MPH on the treadmill for the chiro sometimes and it's a challenging pace, although some power walkers get times close to 12 or 13 minute miles (very difficult)! I think you will see alot of improvement very quickly. There is nothing wrong with going as slow as you need to go. You mentioned running - which I always take as a sign someone is interested in running but needs someone to tell them that it is not a crazy dream. You can learn to run. I weigh almost exactly what you weigh and I ran a 4 mile race today at 10:20 minutes per mile pace. If you want to run and can get your exercise-induced asthma managed, it's really fun.

jschwab, thank you. Honestly running was never something I considered until recently. I got so used to my parents telling me as a kid that I was just too out of shape... which I guess in hindsight it's hard to imagine a legitimate reason for a 7 year old not to be able to run. Any time I ran, I would end up with a very sore throat for about the three days following. I will consider seeing a doctor about it.

katoman- I tried that breathing through my nose and exhaling through my mouth thing on the treadmill today and it definitely helped. I did a quarter mile at 3.4 while trying to focus on my breathing like that and I didn't notice the usual beginning of an asthmatic reaction like I did yesterday. It's definitely hard to keep focus on my breathing like that though. I lost focus a few times. I assume this is something that takes practice?

So today I walked just for 30 minutes instead of the 45 I did the last couple days, but I focused on increasing my speed. I did the first .25mi at 3.2mph, second .25mi at 3.3mph, third .25mi at 3.4-- Lowered back to 3.0mph for 1/8 of a mi and then the rest of my 1.61mi was at 3.1 (The last 12 minutes or so).

I'm glad to hear that 3.0mph isn't bad. I don't feel so out of shape now. I also noticed that even with increased speed, I didn't start sweating until 12 minutes in whereas a week ago I was sweating like a pig 5 minutes into my walk at 2.9mph. Definitely an improvement. Keep in mind though, I'm not walking on an incline. I'm going to tackle that later on.

I think I read somewhere yesterday that working up to a speed of 4.2mph for an hour is optimal. So I guess I'll go for that. That's probably going to take awhile though. I think the highest I was ever able to do in the past was 3.5.

It seems to me that you're doing great! I got one of those inexpensive ellipticals at a local thrift shop, got it home, dragged it into the house, and was devastated to find that I could only go about 90 seconds before my back felt like it was going to break -- and we just won't talk about how winded I was. I'm really impressed with what you're accomplishing!

Aw, thank you! That makes me feel very good! I'm definitely a novice with exercise, so I'm very glad to hear that I'm doing well. I really had no idea if I was doing it right or not.

Exercise-induced asthma is super-common and needs to be ruled out. Some people even are literally allergic to exercise and have exercise induced anaphylaxis. Many people over on ther Runner's World forums had to get inhalers and deal with it before they could start running, and now they are running all the time, so don't give up if it is a dream of yours. I hated running when I was a kid and was always more winded than the other kids, but I've run many, many races now, including 2 half marathons. If you can figure that out, you can build your endurance.

I am a slow walker. Usually takes me about 50-55 minutes to do my 2 miles every morning. I could probably do it faster, but the dog likes to spend time sniffing, and I am inclined toward introspection while walking.

I suspect 15 minute miles are about the best most of us can hope for, if speed is the goal.

I did an 18 minute mile today! That's progress!

Awesome, and don't discount it. Awhile back be had a transit strike and I was trying to keep up 18 minute miles walking home from work (I was running 11-13 minute miles at the time). It killed me, it was so hard. I was exhausted.

Sounds like everything is fine except possibly your attitude. Go easy on yourself. Baby steps are sometimes all we can do and your already past that stage, rejoice that you can do what you can it's actually very good for a beginner.
be well
Art

Another thing to get checked, I had the same problem. Even walking leisurely had me gasping for breath like I was trapped under water you know? Turns out I was anemic. Started on iron pills about a month ago and I am not gasping anymore, breathing heavy during fast walking ( for me ) but no more " I can't breathe!" feelings. Seems when you are so low on iron, the reason you gasp is that your body is trying to get oxygen to the muscles, but it's so low in the blood that it tries to compensate by taking in more air. Be sure to get tested first though, as taking iron when you don't need it is a very bad idea.