Has anyone had a silly “lightbulb” moment while exercising?

@leon007 How slow would you say you can go without it no longer being running? I've never been a runner but have tried a handful of times and struggled to figure out what the right speed is to build up a base. My perspective is the same as yours, I'm really not concerned about trying to be fast, so if there's something that really made it click for you that you were at the right slow running speed (without just walking I guess?), I'd love to hear it!
 
@redgr5 I'm no professional by any means, so take my point of view with a grain of salt lol, but running is just a type of gait-- technically you can even 'run' while standing in place. I feel like there isn't really a speed requirement, so long as you're able to maintain the running movement.

For me, I decided to run a distance I knew I could complete (5k), and ran it slow enough that I was able to breathe through my nose if I wanted to without feeling like I was going to die. Then I checked my overall pace at the end and used that as the pace to run my longer runs. I started out at a 7:30 min/km pace, but as my training has increased I'm now down to a 6 min/km easy pace. I retest this about once every other month during my long runs, usually by starting out at my usual pace and increasing by a few seconds. Sometimes I'll call people on the phone just to make sure I can maintain an easy conversation lol.
 
@leon007 This is how I became a runner! I had tried c25k before and always had burning lungs and just hated it. Told myself a narrative where I Am Not A Runner.

Then a pandemic started and I decided to build up my cardiovascular fitness just in case so I could give myself a fighting chance of staying off a vent if it came to it. Somewhere along the way I heard you should be finishing each run on the c25k feeling like you could do a bit more. You should be going slowly enough to finish with something still in the tank.

I finished the program and still run. I'm not fast, I've gotten sidelined by lockdowns, quarantines, a hip injury, a bad cold and I still go back for a run whenever I get the chance even though it sometimes feels like starting over again.

I'm now one of those people who runs to feel good. Going slow = going tbh.
 
@leon007 Thank you for saying this! I'm on week 7 of the C25k program where it tells you to run 25 minutes or 2.5 miles. I'm running at a slower pace than that, 4.7 mph versus a pace of 6mph that it recommends.
 
@neversadman I realized half way through the C25K program I was following that it actually had a goal of running a 30 minute 5k, which is honestly a completely different goal than just running a 5k or just running for 30 minutes straight.
 
@leon007 I had the opposite realization recently! For me, running slow was making it a slog to get through my run, but when I sped up my pace the rest of my run felt like a breeze.
 
@leon007 This could probably be an “ah-ha” moment for me too. I hate running because I’m always feeling like I’m out of breath/exhausted. I’ve read a few times on this subreddit to try running slower. I just need to get over that mindset hump of “I’m going to hate this”.
 
@m32s No pressure if you don't want to get into running, but running slowly and in intervals really helped me. I did a 12-16 (I forget) week couch to half program that started with like "1 minute slow run, 3 minutes fast walk" and built up from there.

It didn't even feel like I was trying because every week I'd just been running a teeny tiny bit more.
 
@m32s I had the same "ah-ha" moment a month ago. I thought about when I go on a bicycle, I'm not cycling hard enough to be out of breath all the time (except on hills) so why do I do that to myself when I run?
 
@m32s Yes! You can also run slowly and for only 20-30 min. Realizing that not every run has to be fast and super far (which I couldn't do, because I wasn't running) made me realize I can like running
 
@tuffbunny I have the galaxy active 2, it's part of the suite of exercises you can choose from. I only used it the one time because it was honestly annoying to have the app keep cutting of my music to tell me to slow down and ask if I really feel like running today lol. I think it was trying to keep me in a certain heart rate range.

But honestly by the end of it I was running slower than a pace I would have a brisk walk at, and I really didn't realize that was an option.
 
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