Kiss of life required !!!!!

[Deleted User]

At age 64 I am running 40 kms a week, comprising 4 x 10 kms. On my rest days I usually cycle around 10 kms each day. Up until year 2000 I was runnning 7 minute miles as my normal pace for any distance that I ran,up to 15 miles, never having ran farther than that. Then I had a medical problem, ( prostate. ) and had to stop running for almost a year. I am now almost 2 years back into my favourite pastime, but cannot, without tremendous effort, get better than 9 minute miles,and then I have to stop and walk for a couple of hundred yards every 2 miles or so. I have used the walk / run routine and can manage some fairly good speeds for a hundered yards or so, and then slow jog again. My problem is shortage of breath, I just cannot seem to get sufficient air into my lungs to sustain the required effort to attain 7 minute / mile pace. Is this purely down to my age now, or is there some way in which I can improve my lung capacity ? Incidentally, I am also, at 85 kilos,about 10 kilos heavier than I was before my enforced lay-off. Is this the cause??
Any responses will be appreciated.

Roz

I'm glad you are back running again. It looks like you have got into a rut with your pace. When you do your 10kms, do you inject a bit of pace or just plod round? I would suggest playing 'games' when you are out on one of your runs. For example aim to run to the corner shop at a smartish pace, then drop down to a slower jog to the train station then up the pace to the chippy...that sort of thing. Don't run flat out, just up the pace a little so that your body can learn to cope with it. Each week, do a little bit further with the pacey bits. Your weight wll be a factor but not a lot. Maybe you are a little uptight about your loss of fitness/speed? Try to relax, have fun and maybe run with someone a bit fitter than you on occasions. Let me know how you get on.