@Tami

First--I'm definitely no expert but I will give my thoughts anyway. With feeling winded, I really think that is mostly just to do with the crappy air quality we have here during the winter and the fact that we are running at 4500 feet. Especially since you are just getting back in to running after a 6 month hiatus, I think it is just one of those things. Stick with it and it will get better and/or go away. Especially during a speed work out. Remember that one of the main purposes of doing a speed work out is to increase your max oxygen capacity. There is a term for this... I can't think of it right now. In a few weeks after a few more hills and a few more speed workouts you will be better. I honestly think this "winded" feeling is what stops a lot of people from sticking with running. It's a pretty crappy feeling for a while. Stick with it and it will get better. Did I say that enough times? Stick with it! :)

Then, feeling like you are going to throw up. My guess is this has to do a little bit with eating habits while you train. I run early morning for a lot of reasons but one being that I know after a long night sleep all my dinner has digested. I will eat a small meal and then run. It is one of those things that is a very fine balance. You do have to have something in your stomach to have energy to burn but you don't want to have so much in your stomach that you still have food actively being digested. I actually learned something really cool this month about running and digestion. So the body is a pretty amazing little machine right? Well, when you run hard or run long your body signals distress and your body will stop sending blood through your gut and will instead pump it to your vital organs. You can probably run a nice easy run without this change but my guess is if you are only feeling sick during a speed work out then your body is trying to protect itself and (assuming you have food in your stomach) your stomach is saying, "hey, how am I supposed to function here?!?" Anyway, what to do: 1) Try to eat small (100-200 calorie) meal about an hour or two before you want to start running. Then nothing. 2) Try a high glycemic food for a quick energy source that is easily digestable. 3) Run on a schedule. The body will adapt and move food through the system like clock work if we will get it on a schedule. So eat at the same time every day. Run at the same time. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time.

Does this help? Or, do you do all this and still have problems? Let me know!!!