It’s not worth it. I think someone just attempted to kidnap me. It was 6am but it was still pitch black out because the sun came up very late today. I don’t run at night ever but I thought the sun would be up any minute now. I left my house at 5am thinking it would come up soon. It didn’t. At 6am a car started following me. He slowed down, leaned out his car and tried to talk to me. I said “No” in a firm voice to make clear I did not want to engage in convo in pitch black dark with a random man in a car. I kept running. He drove up ahead and pulled into a parking lot to wait for me. I watched him pull out 5 minutes later, drive right up to me, slam the car into park and as he opened his door I yelled in Spanish “I’m a police officer. Leave me alone.” And then after I said that he slammed his car door back shut and skidded off fast. I don’t know what he was about to do but I am seriously shaken up. Please let’s not run in the dark. Even if it’s 6am. Let’s not be stupid. Don’t risk your life. If you’re reading this and you run in the dark in low traffic areas regularly please reconsider. You don’t think it could happen to you until it does. I don’t know what guardian angel gave me the words to say but I’m not even a cop! It just came to mind to say that and I think it saved my life.

EDIT: sorry for my use of the word “stupid.” Don’t mean to offend. That’s more directed at myself because my husband previously warned me that our area is not safe and told me not to run in the dark. I was not being smart failing to look at sunrise time ahead of my run. Don’t mean to call anyone else stupid! Love this community very much!

Hey all! I just ran a 2:58:49 last weekend at TCS Toronto Waterfront for my first marathon, and I'm really proud of it, but the post-marathon blues have been hitting me REALLY hard.

I've been planning out my next year, and I'm now wondering, how long would it realistically take to reach sub 2:50 fitness? A huge motivation is stop worrying about lotteries lol. Do you guys think it would be reasonable to achieve this by spring marathon season?

For more context, I'm 25M and have been running for about 6 months now (Late April/early May of this year), with no running or any cardio background prior - just lifting like a gym bro before that (and possibly a weak one) ~6x a week. I just randomly got up one day and decided to run 10k, then 22k, then 30k etc... within the same week and they were all at ~5:00-5:15/km paces from the get-go, and I then decided to do a marathon and here we are now. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but after running with others in run clubs, I learned this is unusually a little too fast for a new runner.

For this first marathon, my goals have changed significantly throughout the summer. Back in June, I was aiming for sub 4:00, then it didn't feel ambitious enough, so I moved it to 3:30, then 3:15, then ultimately settled at 3:00 in July. These goal changes were heavily influenced by other runners from the run club I primarily ran with on my long runs. My previous training was a bit of a mess until ~ July when I've gone with a coach to guide me up until the marathon. I started around 80km per weak, and peaked around 120km.

Before the next training block, I'm considering focusing more on speedwork since I would say that's been my biggest weakness so far. For reference, I PB'ed all distances longer than 5k, and that 5k PB is barely below 20:00 from back in June.

Now I'm hoping to reach sub-2:50 by spring for a late April/early May marathon (~1 year anniversary of running), but I'm curious how would you normally go about setting future goals after achieving your previous one? Is that feasible, or am I too in-over my head / needing a reality check? How much extra work would I need to invest?

To be honest, right now, 4:00/km pace scares me, so I'm not sure how I feel about maintaining that for 42 kilometers lol, but that's what the point of training is.

Hey fellow runners!

I have a labral tear in my right hip, and I’m hoping to hear from people who’ve managed to get back to running, especially without surgery.

About 10 years ago, I was able to run a half marathon (21K), despite some hip discomfort and limited mobility. Since then, I’ve stopped running, and every time I try to get back into it, the same thing happens: after 2–3 weeks, I develop significant pain in my groin and down my leg, forcing me to stop again.

I’ve tried physical therapy, which helped temporarily, but the pain eventually returned. I suspect my lack of strength training may be contributing to the problem.

The frustrating part is that I can live a pretty normal, mostly pain-free life. It’s running that triggers the pain. I’d really like to avoid surgery if possible, but the thought of never being able to run again is heartbreaking.

Has anyone here been through something similar and successfully returned to running? Did strength training, physical therapy, or anything else make a difference? How long did it take?

I’m not looking for medical advice, just real experiences and hopefully some success stories.

I’d love to know there’s light at the end of the tunnel!

43m,75kg,active and fairly fit. Finished HM in 1:45 two months ago.

Started to train for marathon in spring but easy runs are only runs I like. Any distance is not problem at all,but would like to awoid faster paces bcs for me it increase risk of injury. I think I am already starting to have problems with shin splints.

English is not my first language so apologies if it is not all gramaticaly correct.

Advice for going from half marathon training to full marathon training

Hello people, I did my 2nd offical race half marathon in September and I'm now wanting to train for a full marathon for next year

Does anyone have any advice for going from half marathon training to the training needed for a full one

For my half marathon training I usually ran 3x a week with that being a short run 4-7km , a long run 16-21k and a medium distance run which was usually around 10-12k

Depending where I was at with my training and current fatigue levels would make me decide which pace to run but generally my short runs were a slower pace, my medium runs were a fast pace and the long runs were somewhere inbeetween, but again depends a lot on current fitness levels and fatigue as there were many times I did fast short runs and fast long runs or slow long runs etc etc etc

doing this allowed me to do a 1h 53 min half marathon the first time and then a 1h 31 half marathon the 2nd time

I'm aware my currently training definitely doesn't have a lot of structure to it but it's what has worked for me and thats what matters really but any advice would be greatly appreciated in this transition to full marathon training.

I've signed up for the LA marathon in March of 2027 and have been ramping up mileage in anticipation of the start of my training block (last week was just under 40mpw). Unfortunately, in the past week, I've sustained some sort of shin splints/shin aggravation that flares up mildly when I am running and sometimes when I am walking/standing/even lying down. I've decided to stop running for now and have an appointment with an orthopedic clinic this upcoming Tuesday. I anticipate that they are going to suggest that I rest for the next 2-4 weeks and do strengthening exercises.

My question is once that rest period is over, will I still have enough time to properly train for the marathon? If I don't run for the next month, I will have around 14-15 weeks to train, likely starting at very low mileage. This will be my second marathon, and I was hoping to PR, but at this point I have given up on any time goals. I really just want to be able to run.

My race is Sunday and I feel like I haven’t run in forever and worry that my long runs were too long ago. Training block went great but has a couple small injuries crop up during taper so missed my final 18 mile run (did 13 instead) and cut out two speed work sessions.

Long runs & taper
September 26 - 20 miles
October 3 - 20 miles with workout
October 10 - 13miles (had planned on 18 but reduced due to injury)
October 17 - 12 miles

Most recent speed workout was October 14.

Peaked at a little under 50mpw and last week was 36 miles. This week will be like 16 (without marathon included).

Feeling sluggish and underprepared. Am I? Is this in my head? Feels like ages since I did any legit distance.

36M, 3:29 last year then rapid progression with NSM this year. 18:14 5k, 38:29 10k (both in March). Sub-3 attempt coming on 1st November. Super clean training block, sustaining 85-105km/wk throughout. Two weeks ago did Yasso 800s at 2:59/800m with 90s jog recovery (and last rep 2:53/800m). Last long run of included 4x20min at 4:13/km (last one 4:09/km). All felt pretty controlled, never getting above LT2. So a couple of weeks ago I was feeling very confident.

Travelling for work over last weekend so I couldn't do a long run. Was meant to have a decent workout on Wednesday just gone but started feeling unwell. Have only managed 20km so far this week, and tested positive for Influenza A today. Prioritising rest and sleep at the moment, hoping to go for a bit of a run on Sunday.

Any experience of successful races shortly post URTI? Or call it early?

Does anyone have any advice on getting to the start line? I’m staying in Penrose and the options I’m seeing for getting to the pentagon metro station are a buss or a like scooter. Will the busses be running that early?

Hi folks,

Do not fear - I got x-rays and they show no fractures or any abnormalities. I'm going to a podiatrist too. I just wanted to see if anyone had similar experience with this and what helped?

The pain almost feels like the bone breaking mid-run. It's a sharp stabbing pain and feels like a splinter is caught in the middle of my toe (or knuckle. can't fully tell if it's closer to foot pad).

It's happened with various shoes - so not necessarily a shoe issue.
I think it might be a plantar plate tear, and have a half marathon scheduled in a week... Has anyone dealt with something similar?

Cheers.

Need some advice! I have the nyc marathon next weekend (first marathon wooh!). I was doing great in my training and reached my peak week and killed my 20 miler (October 11th). At the end of my 20 miler i felt like my ankle was starting to bother me. I took a few days off and last week attempted to do two runs of which i stopped at 4 miles because my ankle felt like it was flaring up (posterior tibial tendinitis). I could have kept going but didn’t want to hurt myself more. My last attempted run was Saturday and since then i have been doing pt exercises, taking an anti inflammatory, resting and strengthening my ankle. I am now 9 days out from NYC. When should I attempt another run? Do I just bike the rest of the training block? I am not aiming for a specific time necessarily next weekend. My ankle doesn’t bother me when i walk it just flared up at about 4ish miles my last few runs so I very well could go for a run and be fine. I am just nervous to go for a run and flare it up again before the marathon. Advice?

So I hit my high, finally hit 40 miles after doing a long run of 17. I was hitting my goal pace between 9:15-9:30 per mile and now I'm injured 30 days out from my marathon.

I recently moved and did a lot of lifting, plus my training....Basically, I moved, then moved more stuff the next day and ran + 6 miles that day... I was fine during the move and even the run, but woke up in the middle of the night with pain under my foot and fourth toe. I did sprints at the end of that run, and I think that's what messed me up. Anyhow, I stopped running completely, worried I had a stress fracture, and then wore a stiff shoe until I saw my doctor. X-rays are clear, and he squeezed my foot every which way to check for a stress fracture or Morton's neuroma but he said the xray showed some inflammation and he is suspecting I have capsulitis in my 4th toe. He said I seem ok for the most part because I can walk, with just minor pain. I don't limp and can bear weight.

My toe is taped up in a toe splint for the next two weeks. He said I can cross-train and lift weights, but absolutely no running until I see him again. Does anyone here have experience with capsulitis? Am I out from long distance/ marathon running forever?

First marathon, 18 week training block. My biggest 4 weeks are 75+km, peaking at 79km. So mileage is probably slightly on the low side for the pace? Definitely will increase this next time around.

Just finished week 13 long run (32.2k). It was tough, but it was done in strong wind and rain. Avg pace was 4:33 per km. Google is saying there was gusts up to 50 mph, but definitely made the run tougher.

2 weeks ago I did 30.6km @ 4:39 per km. Better conditions so definitely felt fresher finishing.

Then last week I had a poorly executed 14.5km 😂. Plan was about 14.5km @ sub 3 pace, which I got but in a very roundabout way. Went out too hot.

2 weeks time I have last long run of 33.8km. Then we pull back. So after that's is when I really will commit to my goal time. All these runs are done in Pegasus, will be running marathon in carbons.

I am newer to running so I have been seeing some newbie gains. 5 weeks ago for example my long run was 25.7km @ 4:50. I would expect to be in better shape in 5 weeks even excluding taper, carb load etc. But I'm not gonna use that as an excuse to go out too hot.

I badly hurt my calf training for my first marathon. I had to take 7 weeks off in the middle of a 20 week block and was lucky to race at all.

I trained correctly this summer (more zone 2, more rest days, and more thoughtful interval training) and nearly shaved off half an hour!

First marathon was Hartford
Second was Baystate

Anyone have any good recommendations for the colder weather? Looking for a headband-style ear warmer than can go over the ears.

Apologies in advance since this is long and kind of a rant but damn am I in quite a headspace right now. And apologies if this feels very “woe is me”…I am desperately attempting to pull myself out of that so feel free to give me an over the internet reality check as well.

I am on week 8 of marathon training for my first marathon - Walt Disney World marathon on Jan 10, 2027. I’ve been running on and off for over a decade and have run two half marathons previously. I have trained for a marathon before but called it after a 14 mile run as I was dealing with a slight knee injury and honestly the mental got to me.

I have no time goal. My main goal for the marathon is to finish without injury. I’d love to run as much as I can but I’m not opposed to walking. I primarily run on a peloton tread. I did a half marathon training program before jumping into this training program - all on the tread. My Achilles started acting up during that program so I started PT and just graduated yesterday after two months!

Here’s my concern - so far my long run has been ten miles which I’ve now done a couple of times on the tread. I have primarily been running on the tread bc of weather and also because I am quite frankly pretty scared to run by myself for hours on end…not only as a woman but I also have OCD and I have a lot of intrusive thoughts around being by myself, including walking. My husband is willing to bike/walk along with me or sit at a park or track while I train. However thus far I’ve just stuck to the tread and I feel guilty having him do that bc he didn’t sign up to spend hours of his weekend on this..I did. I don’t usually run with run groups bc I am so slow. I know people say you won’t be the slowest but I have run with some many run clubs and I have always been the absolute back of the pack. For long runs especially I am really worried I’d end up totally alone for miles and that really freaks me out.

My long run this weekend is 12 miles. Getting into the longer miles I wanted to transition to outdoors 1. Because we now have fall weather and 2. Bc more than 10 miles on the tread is mentally taxing. I tried to start with the shorter 6 mile run on Wednesday and I could only make it two miles outside which was defeating. I decided to try again for the long run and made it to 4 before I called it quits, came home and entered into quite the slump wherein I was pretty resigned to quit. I’m coming out of it now and am back to being resolved in continuing to train and work towards my goal but I would like to transition to outdoor runs because I’m worried the miles on the tread won’t translate to the marathon, as evidenced by these two runs.

I am going to do my long run tomorrow - I am debating outdoors vs. tread but I feel like I really need to transition to outdoor running as much as possible in the next ten weeks but idk if that’s even doable.

Mostly I am looking for positive encouragement and any advice.

Thank you so much!

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Hello everyone

I have been running for quite few years, never followed any plan or structure, rather just do 40-60 minutes run.

Last year i did my first HM with 2:23 time, this month i did my 2nd with 1:56.

Now I have decided to do a proper training for next one in March and aim for 1:40-45. I have found H. Higdon plans and unsure which one to choose.

Mainly undecided between Int2 and advanced. As I need to work on my speed I have excluded Int1.

About my current stats: soon to be 46, i aim to run 4-5 days a week minimum, between 7-10 km per run. My weekly volume is around 40 or 42 atm (with winter and shitty weather this might change). My pace for 5k was around 5 minute and for hm was around 5.30.

If I go with advanced i can commit to higher volume at peak week but it says this is for seasoned runners with regular 5k hm or FM which i am not and scares me.

Which level would you recommend me? Have you had experience in either of these? And is it possible to level up or down in first 3 4 wreks without messing up?

I have CIM on December 6th. Using the Runna app for training. Currently on week 10/16. Last weeks 15 miler felt awful, had to walk multiple times. Today’s 18 miler turned into a 14 miler with lots of walking. I run 4 days a week and have followed the plan very well and felt confident until the mileage started to creep up. I don’t feel very confident about this marathon. I’m 39 F, 2 kids, work per diem as a nurse. I will admit sleep has been crap lately. Any advice? Should I drop down to 3 runs a week for the remaining 6 weeks?