How to Breathe While You Run
My little sister asked how she should breathe while she runs. The answer I gave her was that she should try not to think about it too much and that as she continued to train, it would come naturally to her. I explained it that way based on my own experience.
If you try to force yourself to breathe a certain way, it likely will be less efficient than if you just let your subconscious mind figure it out. Breathing too hard can actually make you less efficient. You’ve been breathing your entire life without thinking about it very often, and your body just knew what to do. In my opinion, there’s no reason to change that when running.
So the key is to train consistently and to practice running at different paces (including your goal race pace). Then it should come naturally.
On the other hand, one technique that can be valuable is to observe your breathing while you run. Notice that I said “observe” not “control” your breathing. By observing your breathing, you allow yourself to focus on something other than your running form or how much your legs are hurting or how tired you are. This technique is called dissociation and may help you perform better because you keep your mind on one task at hand but avoid overthinking the entire process. It’s a way to help your subconscience take over. (These methods are partly based on a book called The Inner Game of Tennis.)
I have been working on this technique in my own running and have found that it also helped me in difficult parts of a run because I was only focusing on one aspect of my running—my breathing—and trying to get through (but not forcing myself) the heavy breathing, without focusing much on the other discomforts I was feeling.
Anyway, give it a try and let me know how it works for you.
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