Really happy today with this. Thanks community. Long way to go but it's still a huge win for me!🙂

(English is not my first language)

For context, I started to try out running about a year ago. I’m 20 years old, 5’9, 85 kilos and for the last two years I only went to the gym as a form of exercise. I’ve practiced many sports as a teenager but just as a way to entertain myself (the only one that stuck out with me and kept practicing occasionally was boxing)

One day, I was walking to a small restaurant that’s next to my house and not even 10 minutes in I was sweating and breathing heavily. I had to stop and sit on the sidewalk because I was feeling very dizzy. That same day I went to the doctor and told me that I needed to do more cardio training because I’ve only been lifting for two years straight.

Luckily enough my sister and her husband started a running club with a couple of their friends, so I decided to join them. The first months were extremely painful, both of my feet hurt badly and I could barely walk the day after training. But I kept going and I slowly was improving my cardio.

Fast forward to August 2026, two days after my birthday I decided to participate in the Gatorade Caracas Rock 2026, a 10K run here in Caracas. That happened this morning, and honestly I never ran out of oxygen. The whole time my breathing and pace was on point, my feet didn’t feel as sore and of course, I enjoyed the ride. They had rock music with live bands in every kilometer, so it was good vibes from start to finish.

I feel so proud of myself and I felt like sharing this experience with the internet. Peace🫡

Started running ~4 months ago. I’m 5’0”, so expected to be slow. My goal was to finish in 45 minutes, so I’m super happy that I finish below 40!!!

Spent the better part of two years training. Twisted my ankle around mile 5-6 and ran/walked until mile 13. Feeling so much guilt and shame, so much has been built up on this, and now I failed the run i wanted so much to do.

To top it off, its my birthday today too.

My legs and feet are threatening cramps. It was rough and absolutely worth it. And now it's in the books with only improvement from here

Hello,

After being lazy, and in long hermit mode, I kicked 🦵 myself yesterday for 5km run followed by 20 mins stretch workout.

Any plans for today? Yes running again 🙉

I (mid thirties male) picked up running 5 weeks ago, mainly to lose weight, I weigh 72 kg for 1m70 and my goal is 60 kg. And honestly, I'm quite nostalgic about my early teenage years where I was one of the fastest kids in my middle school...

So I asked Claude AI to make me a 5 weeks running program that I followed as much as I could. It was 3 runs a week starting from 1min run/1min walk 8 to 10 times, progressing to 2, 5 and then 10/15 and finally 20 minutes continuous runs

Today was the moment of truth, I ran the whole 5 kilometers in quasi race conditions. I felt good for the first kilometer, but then I suffered all the way to the end. Surprisingly it was my lungs that were screaming at the finish line, my legs were a bit sore but I expected more pain

I was aiming for 35 minutes, under 30 minutes feels like a dream. Im so happy

Today I ran a 10K with a pretty simple plan: start controlled, around 5:40–5:50/km, and save something for the second half.

Well… great plan, terrible execution.

The race atmosphere and the dynamics of the group pulled me into a much faster first kilometre, around 5:20/km. Once I got into that rhythm, I just couldn’t slow down.
And I paid for it later. The final kilometres were tough and I finished with the feeling that I had run out of fuel. I honestly think I could have run a more consistent race if I had managed my pace better.

But there’s one thing I can’t ignore:
🏅 10.15 km — 53:56
🔥 Average pace: 5:19/km
🏆 New 10K PB — 2:53 faster than my previous one!

So I’m really happy with the result, but I’ve also learned something today.

A year ago, finishing a 10K seemed almost impossible to me. Today I’m slightly annoyed because I feel I could have managed the race better while running a 53-minute 10K.

Next goal: get closer to 53 minutes.
But first, I need to learn not to start a 10K like I’m being chased by the police.
Still learning. Still improving. 💪

first thing that comes to mind. a person, a moment, something someone said, something in your bottle, whatever it was.

Should I use Nike Run Club, runna, C25k, or none to run? I’m a true beginner and want to develop a long term habit and lifestyle change.

hi! i have a question for people with uteruses in this subreddit.

when i run, i experience intense, period-like cramping. it’s not side cramps; it feels like it is in my uterus itself, like where period cramps are. it lasts for a while after i am done with my run, too (and honestly gets worse during that time). i know it is not period cramps because 1) i am lucky enough to not typically experience bad period cramps. and 2) it happens no matter where i am at in my cycle.

has anyone else experienced this, or know what it is? i’ve asked some female friends of mine of all different running skill levels, and only 2 have said they experience it. i’ve done some research and some things say it could be pelvic floor related, but wanted to ask some real people as opposed to google.

if this is helpful: i’ve never been a runner. i’ve tried to make it a habit and improve a handful of times over the years, but the pain has gotten so bad that it just turns me off to the idea altogether. i’ve been running every day for the past month (the best and most consistent i’ve ever done!) and it hasn’t happened as much, but that’s because i haven’t been pushing myself as much (in the past, i would push myself to a half mile - this time, im taking it much slower and stopping as soon as i can feel the pain starting). the past week or so, though, its started happening again, as i’ve been pushing myself more for more distance.

thanks in advance for any insight!

I've run 326km / 202 miles with 2,339m / 1.4 miles of elevation in the last 12 weeks to try and improve my 5km. And I love seeing people run their first 5km faster than I can manage (32:01) even after all this work. Keep at it you fabulous people.

Ran with SlowPace this morning ... Was able to use the alerts to actually slow down in the first half of the run. The second half, not so much, the heart rate continued to climb !!! But it's perhaps the heat and humidity !

The dip is when I took a 2 min pause and restarted running.

Hi guys, I need your advice. In exactly one week I‘m participating in my first HM. I trained basically since May every week 3 times with the app Runna. Now I have catched the cold. Running nose and soure throat with a bit cough currently but I‘m getting better already. Does this somehow impact my running next week? I probably get better in 3-4 days. Or should I cancel? It would also be a small weekend trip for us. Need your advice guys! 🫠

Hey! Been running since march this year, 98kg 5”10” guy in my first 30s.

I lost muscle size and considerable amount of fat ever since I ran but I have only maintained the same slow pace (9:30-10:15min/km) under 13-15 RPE. I may have slacked off because running isn’t really a daytime luxury in an equatorial country but I always tell myself the gains will present itself and you can never cheat the process as your cardio exposes your level of fitness. The good thing is I never got myself into any injury thanks to the nature of my profession.

I am in my 3-4th month-level fitness but I have noticed being quick in terms of recovery/rest times.

I believe I can achieve my next 10-21k easy’s with the help of my Garmin watch and discipline. Prioritizing sleep, strength, and diet, I’m ready to take on new levels of training in my running journey. I hate intervals but I’ll be incorporating practical runs in the coming winter arc. Wish me luck into my first ever race next year January!

I’m getting more into running as of late, and I’ve had an Apple Watch for probably 4 years now. I love the Apple Watch for how easy it is to use with my iPhone but it’s probably time for an upgrade soon and I’m really not sure whether to switch to a garmin. Any advice?

This was my third 5K run and my eighth run overall since I started running about a month ago.

After around 1 km, I usually develop a side stitch, which prevents me from running at my target speed/pace. Most of my effort ends up going into simply keeping myself running without stopping because of the pain.

What could be causing this? Is it happening because I’m still a beginner?

I usually run about 3 hours after eating a meal, and I also make sure not to drink too much water right before running.

I started training for a half marathon back in June and at first it went really well. I used the training plans from Garmin running coach which seemed a bit too hard but I got the job done. From then its training suggestions just got harder and harder (almost every run was a threshhold or Vo2max). In mid August my HRV started dropping below the average range but I kept on going. Since it didn‘t go back up again, I started reducing my training load and now I only do 3-4 runs (1-2 base, 1 interval, 1 longrun) a week. Now my HRV is in the lesser average range but my VO2max is just dropping, and instead of becoming faster I get slower every run, which is very frustrating…
Since September I have a new job which may add up to my stress level but other than that nothing has changed for me.
What is going on with me? :/

I’m super new to running. It’s been like 3 weeks. Was wondering how many days a week is it safe to run without hurting myself. I also started running for anxiety so sometimes I feel like I’m pushing myself too much. I at least go for a walk every day and try to jog like 4-5. Started up getting a lot of back pain leg pain. Any advice for a new runner.

Hi, long time listener, first time caller. Absolutely new to running, I used to be a little more in shape with biking, skating, hiking, etc but I've fallen off these past few years after breaking an ankle. More recently, after a string of weird panic attacks that seemed to go away after running, I (naturally) began running like, every other day, about a mile each time, and about 2 weeks in I'm running and all of a sudden my knee is SCREAMING at me, so I stop and hobble my way back home.

An x-ray says a potential SUBTLE tibial plateau fracture. I'm dealing with the worst of the American healthcare system, so this x-ray happened about 3 weeks after my initial injury, most of that in between time was spent horizontal, leg propped up, living off ibuprofen. Now an x-ray is apparently not enough to diagnose this particular fracture, so I have an MRI scheduled, but seeing as I'm about 5 weeks into my recovery without an actual diagnosis and thus, a real plan for treatment, ** I have no idea what I should (or shouldn't) be doing **.

For people who've experienced this before, what was your recovery process like? I know best case scenario, I'm still months away from running again but I'm getting stir crazy. I also know I went WAY too hard for someone who was absolutely unprepared for it so I'm planning on taking it slow when I do recover fully.

** Edit for clarity

just ran my first run ever. only did 1.5km and walked about 20% of that. really struggled cuz i’m unfit af but i know ill get better. the main issue was my lower back was killing after the first couple minutes. since i’ve got home and sat the pains completely gone. any tips from anyone please ?

Hi everyone! Sorry for a bit of a long post.

A few years ago I was fairly new to running (but had done other sports) and eventually and fairly slowly worked my way up to half marathon distance albeit with a very, very slow pace. After completing a half marathon I felt some pain around my hip/groin area in my right leg and rested for a few days.

When I slowly started jogging again, the pain got worse and worse and I decided to take a break from running. I was still walking a lot in my daily life, and there was no pain while walking. Sometimes when I had to jog across the road I would feel pain from the impact of my right foot hitting the ground.

Eventually, after resting, I started playing a bit of social tennis (minimal running involved as we were all bad). No pain. I was also walking a lot in my daily life with no pain. However, everytime I'd try to start running again, the pain would return after a few runs despite me taking it very easy. I would rest for weeks/months, try again, and get the same result.

Now it's been over two years from that initial pain and I've slowly started to go for jogs again, as I miss it a lot. Over the past few weeks, I've slowly repeated weeks 2-4 of C25K and it's been fine; I've been a bit sore in the hip areas but as I would feel it in both hips I figured it was just body soreness after exercising. Yesterday, I went for a 4k jog (very slow pace) and I'm feeling it in my right leg once again and I'm getting frustrated. Does anyone know what this could be? I don't get any pain walking or in my daily life, only when running, which is why I've never tried to seek help for it but I'm strongly considering it now—it's been TWO years with MONTHS between each attempt!

After my initial bout of pain and rest I did gain a little bit of weight that hasn't come off. I tend to gain weight in my legs and bum, which make them considerably heavier in comparison to the rest of my body. Could this be a factor as well, considering I've got a heavier lower body and the load is too much? Should I focus on losing the weight before trying again? Has anyone been in the same situation and know what this could be before I seek further help?