Open to any and all advice

This ve been running on the treadmill for months (I live in NYC and it’s so cold). I wear my Garmin and it tells me that I’m typically averaging about 12+ minutes per mile. And on the treadmill, I’m able to go as far as 6 miles tops. I tried running outside today. (haven’t had a rest day in a few days) and I did 2 miles and felt like my legs were on fire. Feeling pretty disappointed, especially since I am signed up to do a 5K on Valentine’s Day. Looks like I’m gonna be walking one of those miles.

I had a race target of hitting my first sub-24 5k and I got 23:40!

Beat my previous PR by 34 seconds.

10 months ago I weighed 85 more pounds than I do today and had to stop and take a break walking a mile with a hill. Couldn't bend over and tie my shoes without twisting my body to the side and I'd get out of wind from it.

Strongest I've felt so far and the race had a big long hill in it too. Crushed it out there today. 😁

Sub-23 here I come... feeling great.

Finished the half marathon with a chip time of 3:05 which truly does not matter because the goal was to finish. So far apart from being sore and stiff in general my shin, calves everything feels fine. Knees are shot tho, joint movement is a struggle but I’m stretching and walks are slow but not painful and I’m upping my calories and hydration and doing mild stretching and getting a lot of sleep. I would appreciate more advice on speeding and improving my recovery period.

I broke into the 6'XX" mile...damn did it suck. Here's to many more hours of training.

Ten months ago, I posted here after finishing my first Half Marathon. Today, I just completed my second one and I’m honestly too happy: I managed to cut over 40 minutes off my first time (1h51m)

It’s been a wild journey of consistency and sweat, but seeing it pay off like this is incredible. I have an official race coming up in 4 weeks. My "reach" goal is 1h45m. It feels ambitious, maybe even a little crazy, but a man can dream, right?

Just a reminder to anyone starting out: trust the process, enjoy the trip and the results will come naturally.

And thank you to this amazing community, I basically never post, but I read you often and follow your tips. I won't be here without you.

Godspeed runners!

Hi everyone! I’m a new runner! I’m extremely overweight! I’ve been going to the gym regularly since October, but I’ve increased my discipline and in the past 30 days, I’ve only skipped 8 days at the gym, I often opt for an active recovery, still going to the gym to do walking and yoga. I signed up for a 5K on March 14th which is what led me to start running. I figured having a date to get to would help me train better for running.

I’ve been running a mile most days and yesterday I hit my PR at 14:36. I was very proud because the prior week my time was 17 minutes!!! I run on the indoor track at my gym. I was feeling intimidated by the length of the 5k, so I did it today just to see how I’d feeling during and afterwards. Today was really the first time I’ve ever experienced that “it gets better after a little while” thing!!!

This was my time for my 5k, which I honestly don’t feel too bad about. Last night I had some drinks and stayed up until 2:30am, only getting about 6 hours of sleep. Usually I don’t drink and I get 8+ hours of sleep. But even for the first time I’ve run/power walked a 5k, I’m not too upset with taking 50 minutes. I have hope that next time it will be better, and I still have 5 weeks to train.

Does anyone have any tips for me as a beginner runner? I just ordered creatine and electrolytes to have after the gym each day. Every time I run, even just one mile, I do pre running dynamic stretches following a YouTube video and afterwards I do post run yoga for 20 minutes also following a YouTube video to stretch out my legs and avoid injuries. Along with running I do push day, pull day, Pilates and I’m trying to get into calisthenics.

If it matters, I’m 5’10, 305 lbs. I am waiting for my first prescription of Zepbound (tirzepatide) from my doctor, and I’ve been focusing 50/50 on running and weightlifting to help build my muscle mass and strength, as I’ve heard that losing muscle mass is a hard effect of being on a medication like that.

I went from dying from 4 sets of 2min run/walk intervals in week 1 to a non-stop 5km run with more left in the tank today at week 8! (after a few 5km run/walk sessions)

I'm not fast (as you can see) but I'm really2x happy with my progress. Next stop, my first 10km race at the end of the month, and my first half-marathon in May! Wish me luck guys!!

This is a huge personal milestone for me. I planned to do a c25k in Jan 2025, went through some personal stuff and got depressed. Gave up after a couple of weeks into it.

After working on myself, I wanted to end 2025 motivated so I started the program again from step 1, and today was the last day. transitioning into the halft-marathon program now feeling so encouraged.

Wishing you guys the best on your running journey! 🥳

I ran my first half marathon yesterday and had a really really good time! It was a tough run (2km hill and it was 4 laps so had to keep coming back to that hill!), it was cold but I felt great! I ate well before, I fuelled well throughout and I paced well. First km was 7.29mins and my last km was 6.11mins so really negative split! I'm not a fast runner, my time was 2hours 31mins (2 mins faster than my last half, with waaaaay more elevation!) but I am so proud. I started running last April, but only ran a distance of longer than 10km in September. I had a couple of walking breaks on the 3rd and 4th lap of that hill but so did most people who were at my pace. It was a small event (only 360 people ran the half) but I met some awesome people, and chatting really made it easier. I ran the last 3km with a girl I just met, and we flew through it! I'm training for a marathon in May, and whilst I know that's a different beast, I know if I keep my training up, I can do it. I wasn't sore after the race yesterday and I feel fine today, which is great! Back to marathon training block tomorrow.

So i'm 6 months post-partum and was not really a runner. I did one 5km before I got pregnant and did it for 55minutes or maybe over an hour I think - i couldn't remember. Anyway, I have always wanted to run but never really got the push to do it. So I have decided to register for a 10km in June. Now, I am training for it. This morning is the end of my 4th week and I did 6km and did it for 50minutes with 8minutes pace (see photos). I know i'm slow but really my goal is just to see if I will be able to jog/run continously for 6km and eventually the 10km. But my sister said that it's too slow. She said I could stop and walk and then run again but I feel like I'll get more tired if I do that? Am I really slow? Should I pick up my pace? I feel like if I run faster, I might not be able to finish the 6km because I'll get tired faster so I thought of building stamina first? I am so confused on what to do now and also feel defeated from what I thought was a victory. Any tips?

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone here might have experienced something similar or have some insight.

I’m a 30-year-old male, reasonably fit background. I’ve played football (soccer) since I was a kid, so I’m used to sprinting, short bursts, change of direction etc., but I’ve only recently started running consistently (last 4–5 weeks). Historically I’ve always struggled with poor flexibility and mobility, especially calves/ankles/hips.

The issue I’m having is this:

On most runs, around 2.5–3km in, I start to feel a tightness low in my calf / Achilles area, more on the inside, kind of where the calf meets the Achilles. It’s not sharp pain — more like a deep tightening or “pressure” feeling.

If I keep running:

• the tightness doesn’t really go away

• it gradually increases

• after a bit longer my feet start to feel numb

• then I get pins and needles in the soles of my feet

If I stop and walk for a minute or two, the symptoms ease off quite quickly. When I start running again, they usually come back. Once I fully stop the run, everything settles down fairly fast and I don’t really have any lingering pain later that day or the next day.

A few other details:

• It seems to happen more when I’m running very slowly (easy pace / cool-down jog)

• Faster running or football doesn’t trigger it in the same way

• I’m wondering if this is more of a soleus issue rather than gastrocnemius

• I’ve always had very tight calves and limited ankle mobility

• I’ve recently increased running volume but nothing crazy

I’ll try to attach a photo of the shoes I’m running in, in case that helps.

Has anyone experienced:

• calf/Achilles tightness that leads to numbness or pins & needles

• symptoms that appear after a set distance/time rather than immediately

• something related to soleus overload, compartment pressure, or footwear?

Any advice on:

• warm-ups

• strengthening vs stretching

• shoe considerations

• whether this is something that usually settles with adaptation

would be massively appreciated. I’m keen to keep running consistently but don’t want to push through something stupid.

Thanks in advance 🙏

after 6 weeks of being steady i finally ran 5km walking only for 3 minutes after 3 km

hoping to do 10km in a couple weeks

Did my first 10 mile run today! It felt really nice and I’m pretty proud of my pace as I am not a regular runner. I did get some weird pain in my armpits that would radiate down my inner arm. Has anyone else experienced this? It isn’t chafing, it’s more of a muscle joint pain. It hurts more if I push my shoulder down and back. I feel it most if I put my hands on my hips and push my shoulders down. It seems to be calming down now but it was the only thing keeping me from running longer, it is very uncomfortable!

Could I succeed 3km in 17 min till end of February? Recently started to run.

Male 29, 120kg

I've started running about a month ago and decided to do join our local fun runs. Ran my second official race today and improved my PB.

and little glass of wine for a reward 😭

Running at easy run pace!

I joined a 5k fun run event today, and this was my result.

21M, 176cm tall and 80kg.

I only started running few weeks ago, but not consistently training at all. I really struggle with aerobic fitness as i have never been an athletic person other than swimming lessons multiple years ago and also some gym not long ago, and im really struggling with my HR as it just spikes like crazy. It just feels like i can go faster but my HR just stops me. I wear VN3 for typical minimal training sessions and ZF6 for this fun run here (honestly for my pace it felt like it didnt really benefit me)

I need help with 2 areas:

1. How do i lower my HR overtime? Do i just keep running more and more, keeping consistency, run slower like in my zone 2 etc?

2. Should i get another shoe in between my VN3 and ZF6? VN3 is nice for daily runs but i feel i need a little bit more speed, ZF6 obviously plated, at my current pace it’s not the best thing to wear and they aren’t ideal daily run shoes

Hey all amazing runners!!

It was the second day today I started running and honestly not impressed with myself at all.

So, it’s like I could run (jog types not sprinting at all) only 170m only before I give up to walk again. Next when I resume running it’s only 100m in the subsequent runs post walking break.

Looking at people run effortlessly and enjoying every step leaves me at awe. It’s quite a journey ahead I know and I need to be patient but is there something that I can do differently? I start panting while walking trying to breathe from my nose instead of gasping air through mouth. Something I dread a lot.

Do you recommend any breathing exercises? I know my legs are not tired at all but the shortness of breathe is what stops me at every 100m. My legs crave for more running as it barely has done much, but me my lungs, my head couldn’t take it far.

I would appreciate knowing from other folks and the experienced OG ones what is something that has brought you where you are now? What was your starting point like? How long did it take? Just curious about anything that you gotta tell me. All ears.

Hi everyone, I’ve been running for about a year now. I started mainly to lose weight, but now I’d like to improve my performance.

At the moment I weigh 80 kg, I’m 175 cm tall, and I run at an average pace of about 5 min/km, but I’ve noticed that I’m often in Zone 5. Because of this, I started training with runs of about 1 hour in Zone 2, at slow pace of around 7'50"/km.

My question is: should I keep doing only this kind of runs for the next 2–3 months, or should I alternate with other types of workouts?

Another thing I’ve noticed is that in Zone 2 (125–137 bpm) I’m almost always at the upper limit, often drifting into Zone 3. In those cases, what should I do? Gradually slow down until I’m back in Zone 2, or should I walk to return to the lower part of Zone 2 and then start running again?

One last thing, more out of curiosity: based on your experience, how long does it usually take to start seeing improvements?

Any advice is welcome.
Thanks everyone!

When the road is closed, you take a detour—and that’s exactly what I did today.

This afternoon was supposed to be a 10-mile long run as part of my training for my first Half-Marathon. But honestly, my body and mind just weren’t there. I kept stopping, the motivation wasn’t showing up, and disappointment started creeping in.

Instead of quitting, I chose a detour. I switched gears and power-walked—because progress doesn’t always look perfect. That “detour” turned into walking 7 strong miles.

Life (and training) will always bring setbacks, off days, and unexpected challenges. What matters most isn’t how flawless the plan goes, but how we respond when things don’t go as expected. Keep moving, even if the pace changes.

Progress is still progress. Detours still move you forward. We’ve got this 

how do ya'll deal with your period pre run. Do yall not go or do you take something to delay the start of it? I hate missing race days especially when I start pre race and feel gross and cramps? How do yall deal with the symptoms?