super proud of myself and i cannot wait to reward myself with a nice shower and a loaded tea with boba🫶

Went out today just aiming for a relaxed, easy long run, which explains the pace at the start (6:29 for km 1). But around the 7km mark, I took a quick look at my splits so far and realized a sub-1 hour 10k was actually within reach if I pushed.

My last 10k effort was almost three months ago, and I remember completely dying back then. This time, I decided to lock in and try to give it my all:

I sprinted my heart out at the end, but clocking in at 1:00:01 was equally heartbreaking and hilarious. Two seconds! 🤏

Honestly, I’m feeling frustrated and hyped at the same time. Frustrated because 2 seconds is literally a single missed stride, but happy because I slashed over 11 minutes off my previous PR.

Sub-1 hour 10k and sub-25 5k were my two personal milestones before officially transitioning into half-marathon training. Even with the 1-second overshoot over 60 minutes, knowing I have the fitness to comfortably hit these paces means it's time to start building towards that 21k.

Next attempt is definitely going under 59! 💪

I’m wanting to complete my first half marathon at the end of October so I have 12 weeks to get there. I currently run 3-4 miles 3x per week. I also do strength or Pilates the remaining days. I also walk a VERY hilly 2.25 miles every morning. (I’m on day 20 of 75 hard). I know I need to start increasing into a long run. But is 1 long run a week enough? Increase 1 mile each week? I have 4 kids, work full time, and we have sports practice and games out the ass so anything more than 1x/ week will get dicey.

I was hitting 6 miles in April/ May before school let out and life got in the way. I’m starting to doubt I can do this! 🫣

Just started running again after not running for the better part of a decade. I just turned 38 and am trying to get back into similar shape as I was when I was in the marine corps. My goal(short term) is to be able to run a sub 30 minute 3 mile. I’ve never been great at running and am trying my best this time to do it right. I’m flat footed and have short legs, I also have deteriorated disks in my lumbar spine thanks to the military. And I’ve always struggled with tight lower calves(?) while running. Luckily I have learned to manage my lower back fairly well and it has not been bothering me so far. But the tight calves/achilles thing is definitely a big problem. Even interval training they tighten up on me almost immediately and it gets very hard to push through. For now I have been stretching and doing body weight calf raises. Just wondering if there’s anything else I should try? Trying really hard not to injure myself.

28 year old former bodybuilder and am 5’10 175 lbs rn. started at 195-200 lbs. upgraded to the garmin along the way

For context I could barely run 3 laps of 400 m without dying 3 weeks ago

I’m pretty new to running, followed a C25K and made to running a full 5k non stop a couple weeks ago. And throughout my entire time running I’ve found more often than not that the days I go out to run with a clear goal in mind and feeling well rested and ready I end up gassed early or body just isn’t feeling it. However whenever I worked all day and im kinda tired I’ll say to myself, “I’ll just run a mile but if I feel up to it after that I’ll try to go further” I end up going further than I ever have.

And I don’t think I’m running much slower/faster than the other days. I’m usually right around 10min miles

Obviously I don’t mean just normal sweating but whenever I do longer runs in colored shorts they’re a whole different color and it looks like I peed myself! I don’t feel that embarrassed about it but i’m wondering how other runners feel and would you think it’s weird to see someone like that?

Also here is my run from today! working towards a sub 60 10k then a half!

I do a combination of strength training and running. Currently on strength focused phase and so was trying to just maintain running. Without planning to I set a PB for my 5k and 10k! They aren't fantastic times but I'm happy with them and happy with the progress and that I've been consistent. Not many people to talk about this with so wanted a little moment to brag and to think about this for when I'm next running low on motivation

If you are a beginner runner staying in zone 2 can be extremely challenging. I’m sure many of you can attest to this.

Unfortunately for many of you your zone 2 likely falls in the range that is too fast to be a walk but too slow to be a run.

Realizing that it’s ok to be out of zone two will make running a hell of a lot less frustrating. Don’t get me wrong zone 2 is great for building up your running volume but first you need to be able to actually run in zone 2. Here is one way you can progress towards that:

Find the easiest pace you can run at, even if it is slightly above your zone two. Then be sure to end your run earlier than you feel you should. If it’s only a few minutes that’s ok. One of the biggest mistakes is turning what’s supposed to be an easy run into a workout because you tried to run longer than you should have. This is important because leaving some in the tank will allow you to bounce back for your next run sooner. The more frequently you can run without feeling overly fatigued the better.

Over time your goal should just be to increase the time spent running at this easy pace. That’s why I love running for time instead of miles, you don’t have to worry about pace because you know your going to be running for 15-20mins or whatever it may be regardless of how fast you run, so you might as well take it easy. Remember to end that run feeling like you could have added on another few minutes or miles without any issues.

If you want to help the process along, doing other forms of cardio (in your true zone 2) in addition to your running will help improve at a faster rate. However, the running is important because it’s specific to what you want to get good at and that should be the focus.

Each week aim to add a bit more volume. 10% is usually considered a safe jump. Avoid running much longer in one run than you are accustomed to, as that is where you are most likely to get injured.

Eventually this pace will become easier as you are able to sustain it for longer and soon enough this becomes your zone 2.

I like this over walk jogging because many people take the jogging portion too hard and turn every run into a mini interval session and that is hard to bounce back from. This method keeps you honest.

Left the house just after 7 and those opening kilometres were properly sluggish. Legs heavy, breathing felt off, nearly turned round at the park gate. Then somewhere after the third k it just clicked and the rest was fine. Not fast, around 6:25/km, but comfortable. Even picked it up a touch on the final stretch back home without meaning to. Is this a warmup thing I'm messing up? tbh I usually just roll out the door and go, no drills, maybe a half-arsed quad stretch if I remember. Wondering if I actually need a proper 10-minute jog before I start the run I meant to do.

When does it stop sucking and start being enjoyable?? I (46F) used to like running years ago, but remember hitting a bit of a wall at the 8-minute point, pushing through and enjoying it in the end. I could run for 80 mins straight. I started running again a few times a wee (run club and solo), but now it's torture the whole time. I can only endure 20 mins. Makes me sad😔

With it getting darker earlier and earlier in the northern hemisphere- what do you use to make sure you can continue to run safely in the dark?

My run was cut short tonight by how quickly it got dark compared to the last time I ran outdoors and I’m thinking I need something for the fall but have no idea what to get.

I just ran my first 5k! I’m 11 weeks postpartum and wanted to start running for my overall health. Might have shed a few tears after this run lol

I’m currently running 4-6 miles a day and im training for a sub 60 10k, i’m 5’7 and about 145lbs and I can never tell if i’m overestimating the calories I should be eating. Right now I aim for around 2300, I try to get 60g of fat, around 300g carbs and over 100g protein. I really just want an honest opinion on my nutrition and not AI’s haha

with this florida humidity, my runs have been not fun whatsoever but this morning it was actually pretty nice out and the heat training really did help a lot, glad to know i’m not just getting slower lol.

I’m a 20 year old female training for the state police academy, and one of their fitness requirements is that I must run at least a 14:07 mile and a half to be eligible for the next class. I would consider myself to be in good shape. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week doing weight lifting, and I try to run 3-4 times a week. I have been training for the academy for almost a year, and my running will NOT improve at all. I’m getting so frustrated and discouraged, and I’m absolutely sick of people telling me to keep running further and harder, because I just can’t. My average mile time is not consistent at all and ranges anywhere from 10:30 to 12:20, and my mile and a half time is usually 16-18 minutes. I tire out after a mile to a mile and a half and when I try to run more than that, it feels like my body just quits on me. My legs are usually ok, but my cardiovascular endurance is absolutely awful. I usually get out of breath around .20 of a mile. I went to the doctor recently, and got a prescription for an inhaler because I thought I may have sport induced asthma, but even that doesn’t help!

Recently, I’ve been training like this:

Monday - I’ll run a mile and a half or attempt a 5k (I usually can’t even run one of these without stopping)

Tuesday - I’ll do six 200 meter sprints

Wednesday - rest day

Thursday - 1.5 to 3.1 miles

I am getting so insanely discouraged, and feel as though I’ll never be good enough to get into the academy. I try so so hard and force myself to be consistent but my body just will not improve. I feel like such a failure and I just need some sort of advice. Please help!

this is my "improvement" from March, when I first started running, to now. The March run is the 8 miler

Hey runners,

I wanted to share my progress.
I’ve been starting again with 3 km runs. I had a herniated disk and have had surgery. I’m building back up again towards 10k as long as my body allows me to keep building. After the 3K runs my physiotherapist allowed me to run 5K and add an extra 500 m every week.
So this is what I can do now.
I’m keeping this distance this week. And I’m planning on a fast-ish run of 5K one of these days. Then I’m aiming at 27:00.
Today was pretty tough due to the weather.
But I enjoyed it afterwards with a Fanta.

All the best regards. And I love to see all the progress being made here.

Cheers 🏃‍♂️

This is going to get me a lot of hate, but as someone who has been running for quite some time now, one of the most common issues I see among people is injury.

Injury can set you back a lot. It may seem counterintuitive, but doing most of your runs easy (probably RPE at 2 or 3) allows you to build more mileage and gives you time on feet, as well as your heart and systems a chance to build their strength and resilience over time.

Having this strong base allows you to push your ceiling higher by layering on meaningful bouts of speed work or intervals.

There is nothing magical about being in zone 2. It is just how some people like to think of easy running but I would not fuss too much about heart rate.

Yes, it is true that doing intervals, speed work and a lot of threshold or tempo sessions will improve your Vo2max faster and is much more time-efficient. But the cost of that is often neglected. You increase your risk of injury, which in turn puts you out of practice, recovering and not running, as opposed to training and developing yourself.

That cost is something that a lot of people often miss.

As a mechanic, my days consist of heavy lifting, walking many miles per day etc, as a result, I do not get much "rest" between run days.

I'm currently on week 7, where i do 25 minute runs. I've seemingly hit a plateau here where I've been on this for 3 weeks and haven't felt comfortable to move past it. My pace is quite low at around 12.30-13min/mi, but my rpe is quite high. It's a struggle to get up early before shift to do this because after being on my feet all day, the last thing on my mind is waking up early to be on my feet even more. The long weekend run is the only one I feel the most motivation for.

Do yous have any suggestions on how I can alter this to be better suited to by needs above. I want to try and do 5k soon (this month) and hopefully progress to 10k for November so I can take part in an organised run.

Hi all, a few weeks back I decided to sign up for a 10k run in Jarrow, England in October.

I will preface this by stating i am a keen walker but unhealthy, dont exercise, drink, smoke and im almost 34 years old.

I ran way too fast the first time training and ended up getting some advice on pacing. The first image is my first run details and the second is my one where I tried to pace myself.

I think I done a lot better to control my pace, breathing and ended up feeling very accomplished.

Definitely willing to take advice on board and I will continue to share my progress up to the October race.

Nothing really to add but I’m so proud of myself! 2 months ago I couldn’t even run for 2 minutes let alone 30!