I’m training for a half marathon and I’m getting up to mileage where I need hydration. I’m stuck between getting a belt or using a handheld.

I currently wear a cheap Amazon belt to carry my phone & keys. It bounces a ton and I hate it but I wonder if a belt built for a bottle might be a bit more stable on my waist? I also don’t love carrying something while running but I push a stroller on a lot of my runs so I’m used to something in my hands & I can deal with it if it’s better than a belt. Any advice on which is preferable?

I'm a 46-year-old male runner, and I've noticed something interesting about how quickly my heart rate rises when I start running. I'm curious whether other runners experience this.

For context, I'm not a beginner or particularly out of shape. I train regularly for running and HYROX, including Zone 2 runs, intervals, and strength training. My lab-tested VO2 max earlier this year was 60.4 ml/kg/min, my resting HR is around 48–50 bpm, and my observed max HR is approximately 184 bpm.

I use a Polar H10 chest strap paired with my Apple Watch, so I'm not relying on wrist-based optical HR measurements.

Here's what I've noticed:

During recent 1 km intervals at approximately 4:25–4:35/km, my HR rises extremely quickly, even though I don't feel like I'm working particularly hard during those first 30 seconds.

For example, in one session:

• Starting HR: 108 bpm
• After 15 seconds: approximately 150–154 bpm
• After 30 seconds: approximately 166–168 bpm
• After 60 seconds: approximately 170 bpm

I've noticed this pattern repeatedly, including during shorter 400 m intervals. In one recent session, my HR rose from 125 to 168 bpm in just 30 seconds.

What's interesting is that I don't feel particularly breathless or strained during that initial increase. I generally feel like I'm just settling into my running rhythm.

I've had a normal exercise stress test and have been cleared for exercise by my cardiologist. I also have a known bicuspid aortic valve with aortic regurgitation that's being monitored, although I don't know whether that's relevant.

My question: Do other reasonably fit runners experience this kind of rapid HR increase at the beginning of a run? Is this simply normal individual variation, or is it unusually fast?

I'm not looking for a medical diagnosis, just interested in hearing about other runners' experiences, particularly those using chest straps.

I'm comparing the Amazfit Active 3 Premium with the Apple Watch because I want a watch that helps me follow my running progress over time. I'm interested in workout data, pace, GPS tracking, and being able to review how my training is going. Amazfit seems worth a closer look for its training-oriented approach, but I don't want to assume that more running-focused features automatically mean a better experience. The Apple Watch is still a contender, especially if its health and fitness tracking fits well into the rest of my routine.

For people who run regularly, which metrics or features have actually helped you improve?

Running my first half marathon this wknd!! How should I do gels? Are caffeinated gummies okay? Should I taper at some point and how? What should I eat before? If I normally run fasted, should I just do that?

Hi everyone,

So last week my friend told me my ankles roll inwards while running. I obviously never noticed it and I don’t think it causes me problems but I wouldn’t know if it’s how I have always ran.

Is this normal? Or do I need to fix it? I’ve attached some pictures of how my ankles look. Thanks

Hi, all!

Seeing all the advice on here, I was wondering if I could get some feedback.

I'm able to run 2 times a week, mainly due to family and work responsibilities. I do a loop around my house two times, totaling 5K and I my goal is to do this in 28 minutes which shouldn't be a huge ask with training and time.

There is one steep, long uphill. Another shorter yet steep uphill, and a long not as steep uphill so that's an added challenge, with a couple downhills to take advantage of along the way.

Currently I'm stuck at 30 minutes. The first loop I get done in 13 ish minutes, and it feels like I hit a wall. It becomes very difficult to push myself uphill the second time around.

I'm not quite sure how to train and speed up. I've been experimenting with Norwegian 4 X 4s twice a week but not sure if that's the move. Curious if there are recommendations on how to build endurance and speed.

Thank you in advance!

HELLOOOO RUNNER FRIENDS ALL OVER!!

My name is ashley im a personal trainer and lifelong runner!! I recently quit my corporate job in construction sales to become a personal trainer and persue a passion in fitness! I also am now doing content creation full time to help inspire, and motivate the younger communities to find joy in movement :) my page is ashleyydesantis_ if you are in Florida, I am trying to start up my very own run club collaborating with cooldown running. In order to do so, I need 100 signatures on a new city request form and I’m currently at 20. Seriously ANY help with this would be so beyond meaningful to me and if you are local to the brevard county area and follow me on Instagram, you can be apart of it once it comes to life!! request form is right here to click! Thank you in advance ily all 🤗🤗🌟🌟🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Context

Some Experience with running (13:30 2-mile, 5:48 mile, sub-35 5-mile, 10 miles at 8:00 pace with no shin pain). Shoes are under 200 miles, bought in July(Asics Novablast 5). Shin pain has been recurring since early August and keeps getting worse under certain loads. I do have flat feet with essentially no arch. I need help figuring out what this is.

Timeline:

Aug 8: first solo run, noticeable tightness, no stop

Aug 18: 3.33 mi ruck. Pain at about 0.7 mi going downhill, had to fall out for 4-5 min. Pain persisted afterward.

Aug 21: 4 mi run (no notes)

Aug 22: 4 mi ruck, shin issues at 1-1.5 mi, kept going

Aug 24: track intervals, no pain

Aug 25: 2.12 mi treadmill, tightness. Same day a 4.35 mi assault pack run: pain began around mile 1, peaked around 1.5 with throbbing and swelling, eased after mile 2 but stayed present

Aug 30: 8x400m, tightness but ran through it

Sep 1: 3 mi run, tightness after a downhill at 0.6 mi

Sep 2: 5.24 mi zone 2 run, tightness but completed

Sep 4: 8x400m, tightness. Cooldown mile was painful even at a very slow pace.

Sep 5: 4 mi ruck (no notes)

Sep 7: 4 mi easy run, stopped at 1.06 mi from tightness and sat down. Poor sleep the night before.

Sep 8: ruck, stopped at 0.74 mi, pain peaked and I couldn’t continue

Sep 23: ruck, very severe pain in the first mile after a downhill, calmed after mile 2, finished fine

Oct 12: first run back, 1.25 mi on the track (planned 2), stopped due to tightness. An hour later the pain is gone but they still feel tight.

* Worst with downhill sections, rucks, and speed work. Long flat runs sometimes cause no pain. Pain once appeared at a very slow cooldown pace. Swelling and throbbing once (Aug 25).

About 5 weeks off running (Sep 7 to Oct 12), calf raises, tib raises, muscle scraping. Saw a trainer at school after the Sep 8 ruck, who gave me nothing useful. Watched as many videos as I could to find a solution. Losing a lot of confidence in my running ability despite my efforts.

An ultramarathon podcast just wrapped its first season. Here's a conversation with the creator.

I recently had the chance to chat with Orsy Szabo, creator of Hurts So Good, an ultramarathon podcast that has just finished its first season.

One of the things I loved about her approach is that it's not just about running incredible distances. It's about hearing what other people have accomplished and asking yourself, "If they can do that, what can I do?"

We talked about why she started the podcast, what she's learned from interviewing ultrarunners and what it's like to put yourself out there as a new podcast host.

If you're interested in ultrarunning, endurance sports or the stories behind the athletes, you might enjoy this conversation.

Here's the episode:
https://youtu.be/tK9zOi0aV94

Curious to hear from other runners: Do you listen to ultrarunning podcasts for training advice, athlete stories or motivation?

I’m training for my first marathon in April, and I’m currently following a 26-week training plan.

I live in a country with cold winters, and since it’s autumn now, the temperature is usually around 6–10°C. I find it difficult to warm up properly in this weather, and running outside feels challenging. I’m worried it will be even harder during winter, so I’ve joined a gym to continue my training on the treadmill.

Fortunately, I’ll be traveling to a tropical country for a month in December, so I’ll have the opportunity to run outdoors during that time.
My current plan is to:
- Spend the first two months training exclusively on the treadmill.
- Run outdoors for one month while I’m on vacation.
- Spend the remaining three months training exclusively on the treadmill again until race day.

Would this be okay for preparing for my first marathon?
I’m also not a particularly fast runner. My usual outdoor pace is around 6:30 min/km, but on the treadmill, I run at around 7:10 min/km. I find treadmill running much harder, and I seem to get tired more quickly.

Do you have any advice on how I can adjust my training, improve my endurance, and prepare for race day despite having to do most of my training indoors?

I’d really appreciate any tips or advice. Thank you! 🙏

I have my next half marathon coming up this weekend. I completed my first on the 13th of September and since then I have only ran twice (a 10km and a 7km). Should I go and do the race this weekend? I just run for fun and don't care about set times or PBs. My goal is just to finish

Hello there, I am new to this and I want to build it as a hobby and a sport for my health. I am 32F and I have flat feet.

What should I know ?

What should I get? What type of shoes?

Anything you think is worth knowing from your experience?

Photo credit: Pinterest

I have been dealing with the symptoms of Achilles Tendonitis for about 3 months now. It started with playing volleyball and got a mild pain on my tendon. The pain is mainly on the insertional part. I thought it was just a normal pain . But soon still after a couple of weeks' rest the pain was still there. Went to the doctor and then a physiotherapist, got diagnosis for achilies tendonitis through the symptoms but not the ultrasound. Then I started doing the exercise for its treatment for about 45 days with not a good level of recovery. Then went to the same doc to get a proper diagnosis through imaging. Then the results showed no signs of achilis damage or even any strain of the same

Now I am so confused and irritating on what to do now and what is causing the actual symptoms

Has any one had the same problem of imaging showing nothing but symptoms are so related with achilies Tendonitis?

Right then, having finally caved and signed up for my first ever marathon, I'm quickly realizing how out of my depth I am with kit. Between the long weekend road miles and trying to mix in a bit of strength work and treadmill sessions at the gym during the week, I'm completely lost on what footwear I actually need.

Everyone at my local running club has a totally different opinion, with some swearing how Saucony makes some of the best running shoes for hybrid training if you're chopping and changing between tarmac and indoor sessions.

Before I drop a ridiculous amount, what are you lot actually wearing for a first marathon prep that can handle a bit of everything?

hey! :)

i’m a UX design student working on a project about getting people into running and actually sticking with it.

if you’ve ever wanted to start running, tried it and given up, i’d really appreciate it if you could fill out my survey! it’s only around 3 - 5 mins and you definitely don’t need to be an experienced runner lol

survey link: https://tally.so/r/5B6LbN

thanks so much!! even a few responses would help me out a ton 🫶

I've been running for a little over a year, and I'm currently preparing for my first half marathon. I usually run around 30 km per week, sometimes a little more, but I'm gradually increasing my mileage as I'm training to complete the half marathon in under 2 hours.

However, I'm concerned about the clicking sound my knee makes in the video, along with a sensation of pressure whenever it clicks, almost as if there's a bubble inside the joint.

Interestingly, the clicking doesn't occur while I'm running or after a run. It disappears completely, along with the sensation of pressure. I also do lower-body strength training at the gym, and the clicking stops as soon as my muscles warm up and get some blood flowing. I've also noticed that stretching seems to help.

I'm suspecting it could be the IT band or some other tissue snapping or rubbing around the knee when it's bent beyond 90 degrees.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Should I be concerned about this?

Every time I read race reports here it’s the same story. felt amazing for the first km, crowd going, everyone flying past, so you go with it. then km 3 hits and the rest is just survival

what seems to actually work for most people: decide your pace before the race, check the watch after like 500m and just back off if you’re way under it. if the first km feels a bit too easy you’re probably doing it right

also worth doing a few easy runs where you finish the last 5-10 min at goal pace, so race pace isn’t a shock on tired legs

anyone got a trick that actually stops them going out too fast? I feel like knowing it and doing it are two different things

Hey everybody!

I need some help please. I’m an 18 yo female distance runner. My PR’s are 3000 10:08; 5K 17:50; 10K 36:51; HM 1:22. About a month ago, I got an illness that I suppose was a cold. I had a runny nose, a cough and a fever for 4 days (2 of those were around 38-38.2°C and 2 around 37-37.5°C). I usually train through small illnesses so I did a 1h easy bike on the 1st fever day since I wasn’t aware of my elevated temperature yet. The 2nd and 3rd fever days I didn’t exercise because to me fever=rest. I already noticed then that my hr spiked walking upstairs, brushing my teeth etc. but I think that’s pretty normal when you’re sick. On the 4th day when I hit 37.0°C I did an easy 7k run, since I was feeling human again and I had a race planned in 3 days, which I really wanted to do. I would have given it an extra day if I didn’t have that race coming up. My heart rate was obviously elevated during that run. The next couple of days I tried to get ready for my race, but me and my coach ultimately decided to skip it, because I was at like 170+ at 5:00 min/km pace (before the illness I used to run that pace at around 155bpm). I ran the 5k race just for fun and the next day I also participated in a 10k. Both races I did at around 4:30 pace with my heart rate obviously high.

So I kept training because I had a half marathons coming up in 3 weeks. In the weeks leading up to that my volume was similar to pre-illness training, but heart rate wouldn’t come down and even though I slowed down during easy runs, it was still high (e.g. 5:30 pace used to be <140bpm and now it’s around 160bpm). During my first threshold workout post illness, I still had an elevated heart rate (182 pre-illness -> 190) and it also didn’t recover in between reps. But the next threshold workouts were pretty much normal again — hr recovered well and wasn’t higher than usual. Although one strange thing is that I still always finished my warm ups at 170bpm, but during cool downs it pretty much didn’t go over 160bpm at 5:00 pace. I was hella confused.

I ran the half marathon, didn’t PB, but that’s not the issue. Before the race I really hoped that since my heart rate was normal during threshold work, it would always be normal during the race. That wasn’t the case. At around 3-4km in I was already at 190+ which isn’t very good when you still have 18k to go😀 I had to lower my pace and from there until the end my heart rate was lower, but so was my pace.

I took a rest day 2 days pre-race and the next day post-race. No changes. I’ve taken this whole week easy without hard workouts, but still nothing. This week I even got my bloods checked and did a VO2max test with an ECG to see if I have myocarditis or sth. During the test my heart rate still skyrocketed, but everything else was normal. No anomalies, bloods were pretty much ok with some stats a little elevated though (I will put some values, maybe they are useful: Troponin 14.1 ng/L; CK-MBm 6,66 micrograms/L; Myoglobin 62 micrograms/L). I was scheduled for an echocardiography in 2 weeks time, but right now the doctor concluded that it is just stress and I can continue training, but I just need to focus on recovery.

One thing I’ve also noticed is that my heart rate reacts VERY quickly during my runs. A small hill and it goes up right away. Or even at a steady pace it goes for example from 162->170 or 145->152 so quickly that I feel like I am not in control of it. Also, during some of my easy bikes/runs I feel the need to yawn or get a satisfying deep breath of air, but I can’t do it. I don’t have any breathing difficulties though. I can also chat at a much higher hr than before (did a run with my coach and was able to talk at 170bpm).

I wear my watch 24/7 and my resting/sleeping hr + HRV are normal. Sleeping/resting hr is a few beats higher than pre-illness (\~45-48 -> 48-52), but that’s nothing that would catch my eye right away. HRV is also quite okay my normal range was 115-130 pre-illness and right now it’s mostly at around 112-118). This also frustrates me because usually my resting heart rate and HRV correlate SOOO well to my physical state.

I know that I’m more of a higher heart rate runner in general, but this has just gotten out of hand. I am very very stressed out about this because I’m trying to prepare for a championship race in december, but if my usual easy pace requires so much effort, I don’t even know what to do.

Will it return to normal on its own? Is it just stress) Could it have been Covid and I’m just suffering from long Covid or sth? Should I keep training by pace or by heart rate (right now I train by hr)? Can I race in 2 weeks time? Have I actually just lost fitness and that’s why I’m slower? Will I lose fitness if I run by my current heart rate?

I know that it’s a lot of information, but I’m a very health-conscious and analytical person so I notice every small sensation and sign😅. Please please please if anybody knows anything, help me out! And if anyone were to require any extra details, reach out!!

Thank you in advance!
A young woman with big dreams xx

I’ve been running for about 6 weeks now. I haven’t had any issues until today. I ran about 4 miles on pavement and by the evening my legs were swollen and tight and achey. Having them propped up for a bit helped but when I got up they swelled again. I’ve ran on pavement before and didn’t have this issue. I also run on the treadmill and a dirt track without an issue. This also isn’t my longest run I’ve done. Not sure what to make of it and am extremely uncomfortable.

If you were ever wondering how fast a pirate can run a mile, here is the answer.

​

I recently started getting knee pain after getting back into jogging. I’m wondering if this could be runner’s knee/patellofemoral pain.

The pain is not severe, probably around 3/10 at its worst. The weird thing is that it’s usually there when I wake up in the morning, but as I start walking around, it gradually decreases.

My main problems are:

- I can’t jog without triggering the pain.

- Going downstairs hurts, although going upstairs is fine.

- Normal walking is generally okay, and the pain often improves the longer I walk.

- I can do regular bodyweight squats without pain.

- Wall sits/wall squats actually give me a lot of relief. After doing them, I can sometimes walk around for several minutes without feeling any pain.

- The pain hasn't been getting significantly worse, but it also hasn't completely gone away.

Is this typical of runner’s knee/patellofemoral pain? Why would strengthening exercises like wall sits make the pain temporarily disappear?

Should I completely stop walking/jogging for a while, or is pain-free walking and strengthening generally okay?

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I have dealt with two injuries (IT Band Syndrome and Patellar Tendinopathy) in the past. As a result, I made some injury-prevention programs to help, I would love to hear any advice or feedback regarding specific exercises or the routines 🫶. For IT Band Syndrome:

5-15x Glute Bridges

5-15 x Side-lying leg raise (each side)

5-15x Clamshell (each side)

5-12x Step-Up (each leg)

20-45sec of Single Leg Balance

And for my Patellar Tendinopathy Routine:

15-45sec Wall Sit

5-15x Bodyweight Squat

5-12x Step-Up (each leg)

5-10x Reverse Lunge (each leg)

5-15x Glute Bridge

With that October weather setting in, its a great time to go on some runs! I just updated these sets of playlists again for all of you, from chill to hardcore, depending what you like on your runs!!!

First one --> 2026 Upbeat workout (think like fitness class like songs!!) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7dP8Kx6BGYp0UhrhKT1b9d

Second one --> TOP CARDIO HITS (upbeat EDM) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ISPFolwNuFHkreaVbf0fW

Third one --> HARDCORE BASS (intense HYPE songs good for lifting!) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4rI9CoP2O4TNdIgmO5vIZ6

Fourth one --> DUBSTEP/EDM BANGERS GRIND https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3312QGLGC2sZBjVkfB6ciN

Save one thats to your liking, i'll update them weekly, and lets all get faster together!