Cardio Fitness Regression: Why Isn't My Body Responding?

Question
Hello,

I am 25, female. The last time I got good, regular cardio exercise was about 5 years ago. I used an elliptical in a gym, when i started I found after about 15 minutes I was tired and needed to stop, I pushed myself to improve and within a month I was able to go at a pretty fast pace for more than an hour every time. I kept this up a little under a year and then stopped. The last year or so I have tried to get back into it but my body isn't respnding like it did before. I can walk basically indefinately at a reasonable pace,  I routinely walk 3-5 miles. The thing I am questioning is this... while this level of cardio isn't really hard for me, I can not do more than this!! I can run maybe 45 seconds before I have to stop, I mean like jogging just barely faster than I walk, I just can't do it!  Also...when I walk up stairs, my heart pounds and I'm out of breath, I haven't noticed any improvement at all despite the walking. Is this normal? How do I progress with cardio like this? I'm sure I could not do 15 minutes on an elliptical like I could when i initially started working out several years ago, so I guess my cardio abilities have decreased? Also, it seems to take a long time for my heart/lungs to recover when I push myself to run, is this just because I am out of shape? I am probably 25 pounds heavier than I was 5 years ago, how signifigant is that for cardio vascular fitness?

Thanks a lot!!!

Allison

Answer
Hi Allison,
I'm glad to hear you're trying again to get in shape. While the 25 pounds doesn't sound like a lot, it is enough to cause cardio exercise to be noticably harder. Nothing that you are descibing sounds alarming, pretty common actually. Stick with it. Your heart and lungs will get stronger and you WILL be able to do more. One ting you can try is doing some intervals. Walk on the treadmill at an easy pace, then pick it up to a fast walk, not quite a jog for 30-45 seconds, then go back to an easy walk until you feel recovered, then repeat a few more times.
Good luck and please feel free to ask me any other questions you have.
Sarah
www.sarahpersonaltraining.com