I started running in late June and normally do about 2-2.5 miles. I have an official 5k in 2 weeks and wanted to see if I could manage it. 6 months ago, between my lack of fitness and my asthma, I could barely manage the 30-second run increments on the couch to 5k app I was using.

PS- The heart rate is high because I finished with a hard sprint.

life is kinda heavy

Didn’t set out for a 10K tonight. I had 7 on my training plan, pushed for an hour and then pushed for 10. But it felt very good and easy and conversational! Been running for 18 months now but for 7 months every week consistently.

I know I’m a bit slow, but I’m proud of myself considering I could only run for about 2 minutes at a time 3 months ago plus it’s still super hot out here. I will be running another 5k on Saturday this time in an actual event and hopefully I will beat my current time :)

I've never been particularly athletic. I walk the dog every day, but running was never really part of my routine. 32, work in marketing, mostly in front of a screen, hadn't tried couch to 5k before this fall.

Back in September I'd been eyeing the Shokz OpenDots 2 for a while, the pink pair, since the ones I had made my ears sore after an hour of calls. Bought them for work. The clip part sits on the outer edge of your ear and really does look like an ear cuff from the front. I wore them all day, podcasts on the walk from the subway, calls through the morning, music while cooking dinner.

Running part is where it gets weird. First Saturday of October I was already dressed to walk the dog, already had them in because I had an audiobook going. Figured I'd try c25k, week 1 day 1. Walked five, jogged sixty seconds, walked ninety, jogged again. Did the whole twenty minutes. Did it again Monday, again Thursday. Two weeks in now.

Point I'm circling, badly, is I don't think I'd have started if getting ready had felt like a project. I already had shoes and leggings, but somehow going out specifically for a run always felt like a bigger undertaking than it needed to be. The earbuds were just already on.

And because they don't block anything, first couple runs I was really aware of my own breathing in a way that was almost embarrassing, oh my god I sound like that! Kind of appreciate it now, easier to tell when I'm pushing too hard.

The dog's been getting longer walks. That's about how I'd describe it right now.

Gosh that hurt ... I got fairly dizzy towards the end (94°F and humid) but it is what it is. It's nice to actually run again.I couldn't run for a year due to a motorcycle accident and honestly running has given me happiness again... I started running with friends maybe 3-4 months ago. I played sports in highschool but that was 8 years ago..3rd overall!!

First of all, the highest priority is not to get injured, so the usual advice is not to overdo it.

But I see so many beginners exclusively train at low intensities.

Trust me when I say that it does not hurt to add in sprinkles and peppers of quality speed work. Even something as little as 100m sprints or a 1km effort at a faster pace will bring about disproportionately huge gains.

You train your body to tolerate faster speeds, a faster pulse, higher lactate and you also work your neuromuscular system as well. These are physiological as well as mental adaptations that you simply cannot get by doing brisk walking or "zone 2 running".

And the best thing is that you don't need to overcook it. Just add in light sprinkles here and there a few times a week. Even once every two weeks. It is 1km of pain but definitely worth it and dwil make you tolerate harder efforts a lot better

1st day of period, really hard and tiring day because i was at work with bad cramps but decided to go through it. Really proud of myself. I usually run 2km in 15:30ish so yea pretty good given the context

Had to really push myself tho lol, hard hard run

So I’ve been following this training plan the past month but now I’m realizing that the mileage jump in the long runs might be too much too soon (and I’m now just seeing past comments about this plan lol) So I’m planning to switch.

Any recommendation between Nike Run Club or Run with Hal?

For some background, I’m 26F and I would say I’m not the most athletic person, but I’m not in a bad shape either. I run a 5k with an average of 33-36mins. A year ago, I ran (my first and last) 10k in 66 mins with a C210k 12 week plan (but I didn’t stick with the habit and only started running again 2 months ago).

I’m not signed up for an official race, but def wanted to run a 21k before the year ends. I’m obviously not aiming for a certain pace or time - I basically just wanna build a routine/foundation to get me out of the house.

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated :)

I’m a teenage girl who’s been un athletic most of her life but I want to get back into running again because I like the feeling of accomplishment and fulfilment I get after a run. I’m constantly getting discouraged from continuing once I’ve started I think because I’m always comparing myself to others online. I only run 3kms and I’ve never done a 5km. I’m pretty sure my fastest pace for a 3km was 7:28. Is that bad? And also since it’s getting colder I’m struggling to find the motivation to start going on runs again. I’m not sure which type of clothing I should wear when I go on runs now. I only have short-sleeved running tops. I also get pretty embarrassed when I wear a running vest because I’m only running a 3km. But yeah, if anyone could give me any tips, suggestions or motivation for beginning my running journey once again please let me know!

For beginners, you don’t have a zone 2. Your zone 2 might be a brisk walk. For professional endurance athletes, zone 2 is useful because of the volume they do. They can do tons of volume without the fatigue.

Honestly if you’re starting out, interval training, threshold work, long runs and recovery runs are all you need. The proportion depends on your goals, but having a reasonable balance between quality/speed workouts and easy runs lets you build the base whilst lifting the ceiling.

This combination is what drives performance

I'm so interested to know - for those who did not grow up running and had to start by running slow, what does it now feel like to be able to run at like 8:00 and below (I'm thinking especially like 7:30, 7:00)? This might be a dumb question but would you say that you feel the same 'easy' feeling when you started at a 12 min mile as you do now running 8, 7 min miles?? And how did this feeling of ease start to change with your pacing and did you notice it?
I've been thinking about this because I ran a 5k at a 7:30ish pace and I genuinely felt like I could not hold it for one more second. But then there's people who are cruising at 7:30-7:45. Does that pace just feel easy/comfortable??
And so then a 10 min pace would feel like walking?? I can't imagine that an 8 min pace would everrrrr feel comfortable for me, let alone any lower. I did my 10K in 50 mins and that felt rough so I can't imagine running a whole MARATHON at that pace!!!!

rant incoming !!

i’ve (f22) been running for around 7 months now and i haven’t seen or felt any improvement except maybe better leg muscles. i can’t run for longer than half a mile without taking a walking break even if im running painfully slowly. i’ve run on the treadmill and outside to see which one i prefer (outside all the way!) and i’ve gotten good shoes and gear. the longest i’ve ever run is a 5k and my pace was an average of 12:00/mi which isn’t bad but it represents a lot of walking time. i’ve watched so many videos on proper form and do my best to recreate it. i’ve run with music, podcasts, audiobooks, not listening to anything, and chewing gum. i can only motivate myself to run once or twice a week. i’m just so frustrated and i honestly dont care if i have a slow pace as long as i dont have to keep stopping to take walking breaks which i seem to be incapable of doing. i’ve also tried running a plethora of different routes for new scenery. any advice or motivation or sympathy is welcome :’)

Im into my running routine for about 6 weeks and the first thing i realized is that heavy frames are terrible when your face begins to sweat, after 20 mins the bridge of my nose becomes sore due to the weight of the cheap plastic frames. I want to find out which frame materials provide the best combination of comfort and durability for use both in running and for everyday wear. Although i know that TR90 and lightweight polycarbonate are commonly used but do they warp or loose over time if you continuously sweat in them? I was into a lightweight model from Quay since those do seem to strike the right balance between price and weight and clean enough to wear post-run at a cafe or running errands without looking like a full-on cyclist but i also heard of brands as Meller and Izipizi.

In my early 20s. This was a mile at probably 80-90% effort or something. Basically I ran without looking at my watch until I hit one mile. It was very hard at the end but I was relatively comfortable for most of it. Probably couldn’t run much more than a mile at this pace without getting a heart attack or something.

I read zone 5 should be very brief (less than a minute) so are my zones wrong?

As a background I basically never ran in my life and was trying to get a mile baseline.

Thanks

I’m a 90kg woman, coming back to running after giving birth a year ago. I’ve always been really slow and had trouble keeping me heart rate low and stable. I’m talking a 5km distance averaging 8min/km pace with walk/run.

My question is, how important is focusing on heart rate vs perceived effort? I could comfortably hold a 7.45min/km pace for a few kilometres at a time, but by heart rate goes through the roof. Is it more important to go with “feel” and perceived effort, or focus on the heart rate reading to avoid spiking for too long?

My goal is to improve my pace and distance. Someday I’d love to run a half marathon.

Hello,

This post is more of a brag than anything, but I just feel so proud I had to share. Thanks for indulging 😂.

So a bit of context: 33M 70kg, I have always been a "sports on Sunday" guy, with a huge hiatus between 2022 and 2024. Been playing Padel intensively since early 2025, and earlier this year as I was playing more competitive games I felt I was often out of breath during long points, which hindered my progress.
So my coach made a suggestion: start running.

Started in February by doing "long runs" of 7k, I enjoyed it more than I was expecting and was progressively going up to 15k before my first official race in May, a 20k.
Results were as expected, 2:03 in what I felt was a 90% effort (for me 100% means you cannot walk after). Hard race with a long hill right before the end. Felt good about the progress.

Paused a bit for the next month and a half, I did not run a lot (but kept playing Padel).
In the end of July, I registered for a half happening in October. My wife wanted to participate too, so now we had a problem: we cannot run together, because someone has to take care of the baby.
We found a solution and bought a Thule Chariot and went out every Saturday for a long run with the baby. The chariot also allowed me to run more often because I could just go and fetch her after daycare with it, twice a week. (So 3x Padel - 2x short run - 1x long run, before that I would struggle to have time to run in the evening while she slept, because I wanted to spend time with my wife too)

Honestly I was expecting the difference in effort (chariot vs solo) to be higher than it actually is but this thing just rolls so smooth (unless I have to drop on/off the sidewalk every 10 seconds, then my shoulders start to hurt make sure I know they exist).

So anyway, FFW to last weekend, I did my first HM while pushing my little girl.

Official time : 2:08:40, 6:06/km
With watch paused during stops : 2:06:32, 5:58/km
I had to actually stop 3 times to give the baby a drink and a snack since I wanted her to survive the experience.

Effort was like 70% for the first 15k and maybe 85% at the end, because I did not want to be in too bad of a state to take care of her while feeding her and waiting for mom to finish. Still my PB!

My little girl was so nice, she kept waving at people we were passing and sending kisses. I love her so much. She slept for half of it too 😂.

I honestly feel I could have run the whole thing at 5:30/km if I was solo and giving it my best, but that's to prove next time.

This day felt like the best day of my life haha. I was pretty much the only one pushing a baby through the HM, so everyone was cheering for me (even runners!) and my baby was the star 🤩.
I even had the honor of some comments like "This guy disgusts me" from runners giving it their all and getting passed by a guy with a stroller 😂. Kudos to theses guys, they had it way harder than me and kept going to the finish.

The only downside is that it was very hard to pass at some places, I think I should have started in a box over my target so people would pass me instead. I had to zigzag between a lot of people and feel like I did a 22k instead of 21.1k.

So thank you for reading all this, with or without your support I feel so good about this and will start training for a full marathon next year, but without the baby this time as I don't feel safe first timing a distance with her. Maybe some day...

Have a nice day everyone, and keep running!

PS: Because I know people will want to know, the mom trained for 2-3 months and did 2:22. She's amazing and I am very proud of her.

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Hey!

Lately ive been thinking about starting to run, watched some tutorials and tips, but still i am not capable of starting, and I would like to hear some advice if possible!

(I am 17f, untrained, all i heard from doctors is "try to lose some weight" so thats what my goal is)

I am still in school, mostly from 7:35-14:00 and by the time i get home (15:00) i am completely drained, i dont have the energy to do anything. (This week i was waiting in my bed before going somewhere, and i ended up falling asleep for 3 hours, i am literally exhausted)

Most days i even have tutoring, and that with the school is a double kill for my energy and time

And even if i "sleep it off" by the time i wake up its dark (and cold) outside, and since nobody is willing to come with me, I would be forced to go alone, and as a woman i am scared of going alone.

(Especially when i am this untrained, the last time i ran was to catch the bus😅)

I also dont know what to do about the cold.

-How do i not get sick?

-What can i do if the cold air hurts?

-What do yall do when you cannot keep your eyes open (literally) but still go for a run?

-How do yall motivate yourselves to do that? -What helps for you?

-Do yall have tips for a beginner like me?

Thank you, i hope yall have a nice day!🫶

I’ve ran 3-4 5k’s (improving from 14/mile to 12/mile) but I’ve never crossed 6k. Is it unreasonable to assume I can run the full duration of my 10k next month? I don’t care how slow I’d just like to keep running (or “shuffling”) for the entire duration. Any tips?

Hi friends! I have a high energy dog and I’ve been trying to get into running with him. I’m fairly active and go to the gym around 3 times per week, but usually do the elliptical or stair master for cardio. I’ve always hated running, but I think it would be good for both me and my dog.

Here’s the issue: I’ve NEVER had a pair of leggings not fall down while running. I’ve tried the expensive brands (lululemon, athleta, gym shark), and I’ve tried more affordable brands like Old Navy, and had no luck. I’ve tried sizing up, and I’ve also tried sizing down. A medium tends to be a little too tight and rolls down, but a large feels too big and also slides down. It’s super hard to get momentum on a run/jog when you’re stopping every 100 yards to yank your pants back up!! I’ve had success with bike shorts, but I want something for the fall and winter (I live in the north east where it gets cold). When I buy leggings in the same brand as the bike shorts they still fall down.

What brands have worked for you? I’m only planning to run around 3-4 miles, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be a “performance” legging, but I’m also not opposed to anything as long as it works. For reference, I am 30F, 5’7”, 140-145 lbs (depending on the time of the month lol).

Thank you, and happy running!!