It’s taken me nearly 5 years of very gradual endurance building, to be able to do the following exercise routine. Of course, all of this depends on how I’m breathing on a particular day. My exercise tolerance can vary sharply from hour to hour, and I usually don’t know how my lungs are going to react, till I get out there and try. Sometimes I’m so short of breath, I have a difficult time walking from my bedroom to the living room. Other times I can walk 10 miles without taking a break.
Additionally, suffering a mild flare-up can put me out of commission for a week or more. And severe exacerbations that land me in the hospital, can result in missing an entire month…or more, of training. When that happens, I pretty much have to start all over from scratch….very frustrating.
Even on “good” breathing days , any type of prolonged exertion can make my breathing worse, but over the years Ive learned not to let my breathlessness control my life or stop me from exercising. I pace myself and try to employ proper breathing techniques.
*Gym twice a week —–2 mile racewalk on treadmill, ab and core strengthening drills, light weight training. Total = 90 min.
*5 mile walk routine , 3 days per week.——-1 mile of racewalking broken into small intervals. Then 4 miles of regular walking.
*Rest days, 2 per week.
*5 mile walk routine , 3 days per week as above, with the addition of a 5 mile tempo walk on one of those days.
*Cross training, 1 day per week,usually at gym. Core strengthening, bike, treadmill and light weights.
*Long slow distance walk, (LSD) one day per week. Alternating a high mileage walk one week , with a slightly lower mileage recovery walk the next week.
*Rest days, 2 per week. Usually the day before the LSD and the day after.
I’ll generally spend about 3 months training for a full marathon and 2 months for a half marathon. 5 and 10 K races, one month.
I use a modified standard walk training schedule, similar to the one shown below.
