Not much to say about last week’s training. I was supposed to take it easy and I did. I will say when you have a run scheduled for the next day, maybe, just a suggestion here, maybe don’t drink so much alcohol the night before. We were celebrating my daughter’s birthday, so, I didn’t get drunk, but I did feel sloppy on the run.
I do have something to say, actually. I have been reading these books on breathing. I started off with Breath by James Nestor and tumbled down a rabbit hole of follow-up books. I ended with The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown, and yeah, interesting and very helpful stuff for general health and runners.
I was really interested in the recommendation to run (if fitness level is appropriate) with my mouth closed and to breathe only through the nose. It seems counterintuitive. Run with mouth closed? Wouldn’t that limit the intake of oxygen and absorption? There are a lot of science and practical experiments conducted in the book to demonstrate that nose breathing is the BEST way to breathe all the time. I can’t recommend both books enough. That 8km run posted up top? The one right there? I ran it with my mouth closed. The one 5km run earlier in the week was also completed using nasal breathing. It was a struggle at first. It didn’t feel right, and sometimes I didn’t think I was taking in enough air, but I was, and once I got over it, I felt good… energized even. And the interesting aspect, the one that made me think, hey, this shit works, was my heart rate remained consistently lower during both runs, I drank a lot less water (I guess open mouth running dries it out), and I was less tired. Science, right? So, yeah, start reading.
Here are the resources I use. Check them out.
Resources on YouTube for health and fitness: Will Tennyson, Greg Doucette, Joni Shreve, More Plates More Dates, and Knees over toes guy.
Resources to check out on YouTube for running: Aravaipa Running, Confidence in Chaos, Dr. Mark Cucuzzella (for form), and Billy Yang for inspirational ultra videos.
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