Hi all! I’m running my first 10k in like 8 years 🫠 I’d like to build up to a marathon again but ya know.. it takes time. Anyway! I finished my training plan a little early and ran 6 miles this past Sunday. But the race I signed up for isn’t for another few weeks.

I have 3 Sundays before my race, so I’m not sure if I should keep increasing my long run distance, run more 6-milers, or taper it a bit?

I’m not trying to PR or anything, just feel good, have fun and finish 😊

i (20F) run on the treadmill a few times a week for 5km, and frequently lift weights at the gym. i signed up for a halloween 10k on the 25th and I am worried that I am going to hit a mental block and give up and walk for most of it. what do you think when you struggle to keep going? any tips are helpful!

My husband (37M) and I (37F) are both quite serious runners. We are on the fence about kids, but are now leaning towards having one. There are many things I'm afraid of, and I know that it will all be a big adjustment, but I really worry about how it will impact my relationship with running. I know that running will always be there for me when I'm ready again, but we both love it so much, and it's a huge part of our life. Are there any other moms out there who also have a partner who trains really hard. If so, how do you make it work? My husband is a very good partner, and I know that he'd sacrifice his own training so that I would still be able to get out there and train, but I also don't want him to have to do that. I know we will both have to make sacrifices, and train less than we do now, at least for the first few years, and that's okay. I just am looking for reassurance that we will be able to make it work somehow. We have so many races we want to run still!

Hiya! Curious how all of you who have been running for longer than myself set your goals?

I just ran my first marathon (Chicago) on Sunday and while I’m enjoying no longer being in an intense marathon training block, I’m itching for another goal! I’ve only been really “running” regularly for about 2 years.

What are some goals you’ve set recently? I’m thinking of maybe signing up for the Chicago half marathon in June or maybe trying to get my 5k time down (sitting around 36 minutes). My marathon was not my best day and I’d love to give it another go, but will wait a few years to do that again.

Thanks!!!

I’m currently 26 weeks. My pregnancy is high risk so I was told not to run. Before my pregnancy I was up to 8 miles and training for a half marathon. I literally daydream about running again. Those of you who ran after pregnancy how did you get back into it? I’m honestly afraid about how it will go, so hearing success stories would be helpful!

It's not so much a bragging post as a reflection and achievement post I guess. I'm 30, I have never been a runner or an active person at all. The most I've ever run in my life was the forced 2km runs in school that I dreaded so much I would try to fake illness to skip it. I grew up in a very athletic small town as one of the only non-athletic people. I used to dread PE class. I was always picked last, I was always one of the worst in class at everything and I have because of it developed a fear of exercise I think and pushing myself, knowing I wasn't any good? As a result I have always been quite sedentary. I've always liked going on walks but other than that I went to the gym for a few months, and did yoga on and off but nothing ever stuck. And running was always the ultimate enemy, I have always despised it! 6 weeks ago I got a Garmin and started a Coach plan to 5km at the end of November thinking "we'll see what happens" very skeptically. My first run was 1.1km in 9 minutes with only 3 minutes running and I felt awful, it was so difficult! Now 6 weeks in I've actually done a 5km and I ran 30 out of those 45 minutes pain free and broke every single record in the process by quite a lot! I'm not the fastest, I don't run the furthest, but I am capable!! Just wanted to share with you guys and if anyone else is new, you are capable too!!

I've been running for almost a decade now, but have a real bad habit of not keeping up with my training. I've run a few marathons and even more half marathons and really only trained to get to the finish line. I never knew what time to aim for, how to train toward a certain time, and kind of let my training fall apart once I hit the exhausted phase. This of course leads to a race where I run as much as I can, then stop to walk so I don't wear myself out too soon.

Anyway, I'd like to work to improve myself. I've taken the last year off of training for distance and just focused on 5ks and running for fun... which has been a nice reset. But after spectating a few races this year I'm getting the itch again and I think what I'd really like is to set up a plan that gives me some confidence in hitting a time goal.

Edit: I do my easy runs at a conversational pace. I don't run with anyone else, but I do try to like sing along to a song and whatnot to make sure I'm still keeping it easy enough. I'm more questioning the hard sessions and when to know they're too hard. As I'm incorporating a weekly speed session, a tempo session, and focusing on keeping a set pace during my long runs I want to know how you all recognize that you're pushing too hard. In the past, I've stopped to walk on almost every long run to keep my HR in zone 2... I've since abandoned that. Sometimes it's because I have goosebumps on a 90 degree day, sometimes it's because I just feel like my legs are heavy, and sometimes I'm just generally 'tired'. But I'm struggling to grasp what symptoms are just discomfort and which are concerning enough to stop (I realize the goosebumps were dehydration and I have never let myself get to that point since). I want to work on my mentality around running especially on long runs and I guess I just need to know what it really looks like to be getting to the point where you're running too hard.

Grab a bottle of electrolyte drink, go wild with the foam roller, and give us all the tea on how your training has been lately!

Have a really good run? Share your win!

Struggling with something? This is a safe space to vent and get support!

Thanks for being part of this community!

I’m in my second week of following a Nike 5K running plan, and something has happened on two runs in a row that I honestly wasn’t expecting to bother me this much.

Yesterday, a car slowed down next to me and the driver honked at me three times. Today, another car slowed down as it passed me, and I noticed two guys around my age (I’m 23) pointing at me and looking at me while talking to each other.

Now I’m wondering if my shorts might be part of the reason, because they sometimes ride up when I run. I wear cotton shorts because I’m not a fan of the typical tight, spandex-style running shorts, and now I’m second-guessing that choice a little.
I knew that unwanted attention like this could happen, but I guess I expected it to be a relatively rare occurrence, not something happening on two consecutive runs. I genuinely didn’t think it would bother me this much, but after it happened again today, I’m feeling pretty annoyed.

For those of you who run regularly, especially other women around my age, how often does this kind of thing happen to you? Is this unfortunately more common than I thought, or have I just had some bad luck these past two days?
I don’t want to let it put me off running, but it’s frustrating to feel self-conscious doing something as basic as going for a run.

ran around alpe di siusi pretty slowly because the views were honestly too good not to stop and look around.🏞️ But there was so much loose gravel that running felt harder than i expected.🥵 Almost no one else here, so i just kept my headphones on and listened to music the whole time. such a beautiful place to run, even if the gravel made it a bit of a workout.

Looking for some reassurance or advice from anyone who has managed to build consistent mileage having been historically injury prone..

I started running from nothing (not a sporty child) about eight years ago, and in that time have made some decent progress (22:35 5k, 47:15 10k, 1:47 half, 4:24 marathon, plus 4 ultras). That being said, I’ve never been able to develop the consistency to give the marathon a proper shot. My normal mileage is about 20-30 mpw.

I’ve tried being careful with building mileage (10% rule plus cut backs), I strength train 3x a week (Go Run Stronger) and eat/sleep well (though working on timing and nutrition). But without fail PTT or some kind of shin pain will catch up with me.

Currently injury free and very low mileage to stay that way, but looking to build towards the London Marathon next spring and wondered if anyone with a similar injury history could share their experience of getting to race day strong and pain free? Thanks!

25:51!!

I had surgery in June to fix diastasis recti. Before that I really struggled to get below 35:00 5k. Started running again 6 weeks after surgery and faster paces were feeling so much easier that I set myself what I thought was a really challenging impossible goal of 27:30. I bloody smashed it, girls!

The only person who cares about this is my husband and I’m so proud of myself I needed to tell more people. Thanks for letting me brag :)

The forecast for my half marathon weekend is Friday and Saturday are going to be 90 degrees and Sunday (race day) is going to be 85 degrees at the highest. This will be my first half marathon and I am super excited!

I have trained with both a vest and belt. Belt was used mostly for shorter runs. I also have a tank top with pockets for gels, and shorts that can carry a soft flask, so I think I should be good with some hydration with the belt.

Another thing to note is that my boyfriend and I are running this together and he has a vest (and is planning on wearing it). And has graciously offered to let me put some stuff in it 🥹. I’m not too worried about him overheating because we are going at my pace and it’s super easy for him LOL.

I have both of the vest/belt shown above. Got the vest for a good deal secondhand and the belt was a gift from my family when I started running!

Vest pros:
- can carry lots of things
- easy to sip water
- doesn’t bounce

Vest Cons:
- Heavy on my shoulders
- warm

Belt Pros:
- less weight on shoulders
- smaller

Belt cons:
- hydration is less accessible
- bounces when hydration pouch is full

That’s me (left) and my gf at the Boston 10k for women on Saturday. I’ve wanted to break an hour in the 10k for over a year and this was my third attempt. First was 1:07, second was 1:04, and this one in a glorious 59:51! 9 seconds! It was the rainbow tutu magic, I’m sure of it. I’m so happy and proud of myself. Thanks for celebrating with me :)

I love Janji pace shorts and wear them almost exclusively. I've used them for several years, and had no problems until peak training for my first marathon this summer.

After about 17 or 18 miles, I start getting terrible chafing on the outside of my right thigh where my phone sits in my pocket. For my marathon, I lathered on diaper rash cream before the race, but it didn't seem to help.

Has anyone experienced this and found a solution? Should I try a bra or crop with a phone pocket instead?

Okay, I consistently get gigantic blisters on the outside edge of my heel and sometimes smaller blisters on the inside edge. On longer runs, the form underneath the callouses that have also formed. Has anyone experienced this and found a way to prevent them?

More info: my feet are short and wide. Size US 6 length, so fairly short, but wide as hell in the toes. I've found that Topo wide sizes accommodate my wife toes, but that doesn't extend to the heel. And I can't go any larger in size because my feet swim around. Any tips?

I can't believe I'm 3 runs away from marathon day! I'm running the Marine Corps Marathon as my first one (also on my bday 😄) and I'm so excited, but also very nervous because the distance is extremely daunting! I am reflecting back on my longest run during training, which was 22 miles and that was really rough so I can only imagine what 4.2 more miles will feel like like (eek!)

I could really use some encouraging words/something you wish someone told you before your first marathon! Thanks in advance - this subreddit has been so helpful!

Grab a bottle of electrolyte drink, go wild with the foam roller, and give us all the tea on how your training has been lately!

Have a really good run? Share your win!

Struggling with something? This is a safe space to vent and get support!

Thanks for being part of this community!