pausing while running can make it difficult to see your progress towards your set goals and will start you off with bad habits for the future<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe key thing is to keep improving. If you feel like you have to stop during your run, then perhaps give yourself 60 seconds before continuing, and then next time give yourself 50 seconds, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tips To Avoid Stopping While Running<\/h2>\n\n\n\n You might think running is not for you after many months of training but no progress, but you could be pleasantly surprised by looking into aspects that could be halting your training or force you to think you are in a rut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don’t Overlook Mental training<\/h3>\n\n\n\n One sign of feeling an intense urge to pause during runs could be due to your mental training, which is just as important as the physical training itself. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPain and boredom are some of the significant hurdles while running; what <\/strong>will keep you moving? How can you distract your brain from thinking of something else? How do you resist the urge to stop? Your brain will try to get you to stop; when these thoughts creep in, but the trick is to calm your brain to resist the urge to stop and find a way to embrace the discomfort of running. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThere can be times when mental training overpowers physical training; your brain and body need to be working simultaneously. Explore ways that could train your brain to accept and deal with discomfort and pain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAre You Running Too Fast?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n One sign of feeling the urge to stop is that your pacing could be all over the place. Your pace might too fast.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nEven while doing tempo runs (running at a difficult but sustainable pace) and pushing yourself to your limits, you shouldn’t be running so fast that you feel exhausted, resulting in taking a break during your run.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you feel the urge to stop mid-run to catch your breath, try slowing down your pace for the subsequent few runs and see if this helps you defeat the desire to stop.<\/strong> You can use a reliable running watch to track your progress and keep your pace on track accurately.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLearning To Control Your Breathing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n If you find your pacing is not the problem, but you still need to stop mid-run to catch your breath, the fault could lie in your breathing techniques. We have all been for a run where you find yourself gasping for air and focusing on those strange noises you are making to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding a rhythmic breathing pattern can not only minimize the frustration caused by shortness of breath mid-run, but it could also increase speed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI find for myself that depending on how hard I’m running I can find a different rhythm. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBreath Rhythm<\/th> Run Intensity<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Out for two steps, in for two steps<\/td> Low<\/td><\/tr> Out for two steps, in for one step<\/td> Medium<\/td><\/tr> In and out on every step<\/td> High<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>These are my breathing rhythms as I’m running–you have to find what works for you. There’s no “correct” breathing rhythm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOxygen is the critical ingredient for our bodies to function not only correctly but at its best; without it, we wouldn’t last long at anything nevertheless running. As we learn to regulate our breathing, we provide our bodies a way to use oxygen more efficiently; so our bodies reward us by working more efficiently we perform better.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nGetting Accurate With Your Stats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n If you’re a stats runner, you might be thinking about how you can track your pacing and mileage when you need to stop in between. Depending on how many times you need to stop during a run, it could significantly affect your stats overall. Don’t stop if you are trying to get an accurate sense of your true running capabilities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can only track your progress if your stats are accurate; this is crucial to your future goals and pacing. Heading into a race with high expectations can be disappointing if you think you are faster than you are.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTaking those breaks can lead to bad habits and something you rely on. If you’re not hitting the right pace, take a break and get going again fresh and faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No Excuses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n It’s true, there are reasons to stop, and as a beginner (especially), it’s totally okay if you have to. But back to the mental part of running:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Human beings are so good at creating excuses; they help us avoid hard work and put our minds at ease when not in the mood to do something. Ask yourself if you are getting in your way? Stopping can be easier than exploring your pace or breathing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe only way to fix your running habits is, to be honest with yourself; whether you are stopping due to excuses or having other running issues, it doesn’t mean you are failing, it just means that there could be room to try something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n It is not bad to pause during a run; there could be various reasons you are stopping in the first place\u2014looking at your pace, rhythmic breathing, and posture, which can be adapted to enhance your running abilities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIt’s possible to use pausing to your advantage if you combine it with high-intensity running (essentially interval training).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exercise in general, including interval and continuous training, increases growth hormones within the bloodstream during the activity.<\/strong> Apart from increased performance gains, there is no other significant difference revealed. Regardless of the short or long pauses during your run, the hormonal benefit is similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKeep your motivation high and your excuses low;<\/strong> it doesn’t matter which running plan you begin with; as long as you improve your techniques along the way, the urge to pause will diminish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Obsessed with my running stats, I need to pause my running watch every time I need to pause during a run; whether it’s 30 seconds or two minutes. Going through<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":36,"label":"Running"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pausing-during-run-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Peter","author_link":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/author\/outsidedecider\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":36,"name":"Running","slug":"running","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":36,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":52,"count":38,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":36,"category_count":38,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Running","category_nicename":"running","category_parent":52}],"tag_info":false,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7103,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions\/7103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}