Lungs.

[Kallisti]

In the interest of not having my heart explode on me in 20 years, I decided last week to replace my daily walk with a daily run.  i only made it about a block before I started having trouble breathing though, and i ended up coughing up mucus after the fact.

Is there something I can do to improve my airflow besides just keeping up with the running?

[liza123]

I am not an expert. But, I think that you need to take it slow. From a daily walk, try jogging for short distance, work on it for a longer distance. Did you do brisk walking previously? Pacing is important.

[Kallisti]

Fairly brisk, walking doesn't tax me though, no matter how much of it I do.

[liza123]

To improve air flow, you can try out breathing exercises. There are many simple breathing exercises based on yoga.

[liza123]

Fairly brisk, walking doesn't tax me though, no matter how much of it I do.

I got taken aback by your avatar for one moment. What does it represent?

It is good to know that fairly brisk walk does not tax you..or else, it might be an indication of your 'poor' health status. If you did fairly brisk walk, try a little bit of joggin befor eproceeding to 'running'. Step by step, kepp track of the distance and time spent, etc. Do not overstrain your self or jump into something(which could be the reason for your breathing problem).

But, whatever it is, keep monitoring to see if you still cough up mucus when you take it slow. 

[Kallisti]

The current avatar or the one I had while I did the resize?

This one is from an idea for a parody of Watchmen that got circulated around after Billy Mays died.  The old one was something labeled 'barbatos' which has some connection to gnosticism I can't actually remember at the moment.

[SWM]

props for the avatar from me too.

there are breathing exercise that you can do too increase lung capacity.

also with your run if you choose a route or distance that is just beyond your ability, do not push your self too hard at first, run half way, walk a quarter of the distance and run the last quarter. this will improve your stamina and when it becomes easier for you then you can increase your distance.

[Kallisti]

Do you have a link?  Or a name for them i can sink Google's teeth into?

[SWM]

pranayama is a good subject to research for understaning and improving breathing.

http://www.holisticonline.com/Yoga/hol_yoga_breath_home.htm

http://www.yogapoint.com/pranayama/deep_fast_breathing.htm

apart from that google for breathing exercises.

the basics is getting the action right, breathing into your belly form the top of your chest, then gradually increasing the length and depth of each breath.

it may go something like you begin to count your breaths with you heart beat, four heart beats in breath, four heart beats out breath, then you gradually increase, make it five in and five out or six etc,

when i practised this over a number of months i was able to go from four heart beats to ten and feel very comfortable and relaxed at that rate.  

it is worth looking into this yourself as there is a lot more to understand.

[liza123]

The current avatar or the one I had while I did the resize?

This one is from an idea for a parody of Watchmen that got circulated around after Billy Mays died.  The old one was something labeled 'barbatos' which has some connection to gnosticism I can't actually remember at the moment.

I was referring to the current one. Thanks for your explanation. It does seem like a 'Watchman'

[liza123]

Art of Living is a foundation that concentrates on breathing exercises and techniques. Just google Art of Living/AOL. There is one in US. It is based on yoga and was started by Shri Ravi Shankar.

As SWM posted, pranayama is the breathing technique that I was referring to. AOL tells you to breathe like 'a newborn baby'...

[Polly-Nicole]

I found swimming increased my lung capacity. I do not know if you smoke or have done previously, that may be an issue. Its always good to see your GP before starting a health regime. There could be further underlying probs ie: blood pressure or cardiac irregularities. However, your explanation does exhibit going from a low of physical exercise to a high without a steady increase in intensity.

Liza is on the money when.

Hope this helps to motivate you to see a GP,

Polly