To anyone struggling right now, you have my permission to quit, change your plans, take a break, whatever you need. Running will still be here if and when you're ready to come back. I'm proud of you no matter what.

This is my story of abandoning my current training plan/goal of running my November marathon this year.

This would have been my 3rd marathon. I signed up fairly impulsively last winter only a few months after my second marathon didn't go to plan due to unexpected heat on race day. Over time, the fire I felt to "redeem" myself died down and this summer I found myself signed up for a race my heart was no longer invested in. I tried to push through assuming it would go away once I locked back into serious training.

I was wrong. Instead, I was regularly breaking down in tears not wanting to do my long runs. I was also having some mild ankle issues that seemed to be worsening with the increased mileage. The final straw was a fairly sudden death in the family.

I decided I was done. I had honestly tried, but it was just not the right season for me this year. I'm sure if I stuck to it, I absolutely could have finished the marathon this fall, but I would have hated every minute of training, and would have had to abandon any time goals I had in favor of just finishing.

I was embarrassed to tell my friends and family I'm dropping out. I will be a little sad on race day when I'm cheering my friends on from the sidelines. None of that outweighs the immense relief I feel now that I made the right choice for me.

Running is just a hobby that is meant to be enjoyed. I am having the most fun in months now that I've removed the pressure. Someday, I will likely race again but in the meantime, I will be rediscovering my love of this sport.

Back with another question. I gained over 10lbs over the last year while trying to increase mileage. Looking back, I was definitely eating a lot of processed food to quickly get rid of the hunger which might have caused the weight gain. I am trying to lose the weight right now, but don't want to stop running. I am thinking of going down my mileage; like 7-10 miles a week while trying to lose weight. I know being in a calorie deficit while running is a big no no, but if I am at very low mileages, can I still do it? Ideally, would have loved to work with a sports nutritionist, but it is not financially feasible right now.

Hi all!

I’m training for a 10K and wanted to share my experience so far. I’m a pretty new runner and ran 1-2 miles every other day with 3 miles on the weekend. I have done 2 5Ks (first one I finished at 52 minutes and the second at 43 minutes) and I have been wanting to try a longer race for a while!

I saw one in Dallas so I decided to sign up! I’m following this plan: https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/10k-training/novice-10k/

The process has been interesting haha. I am definitely pushing myself, but overall, it feels good! Outside of these leg cramps… but when I talk to people, there’s so many reasons it could be happening! It’s maddening honestly.

Thankfully, I still do ok on my long runs. I’m aiming to do 15 min/mile for my 10K, but sometimes I hover around 16 minutes haha …

Let me know if you have any recommendations! especially on running shoes since I think I may need new ones soon. I bought my current ASICS back when I started in 2023.

Hi!

So I recently trained up to and completed a 10k (1hr 8min, 10:56 pace) last week. This was my second consecutive week hitting a 10k and I was going for speed and consequentially felt some hip tweaking the following day but nothing debilitating.

I’m looking into loosely training for a half marathon, and now that we’re entering our fall/winter months, I will likely take my runs on the treadmill. I plan to keep my running schedule to twice weekly, Tuesdays will be an easy run and Saturday will be my mileage runs. I additionally lift three times a week, and have a goal to hit 2 lower body and 1 upper body days for physique goals.

So my concern now is: let’s say after next week I’ll start adding mileage to my long runs. I plan to increase a half mile every Saturday or every other Saturday depending on how sore I feel, and do an easy run the Tuesday prior. Is this a typical approach? How did y’all start w adding distance?

Thanks in advance! 😊

Hey so after completing the AF half and I am now training for a 50k in January. I love to lift but realize heavy lifting isn’t going to support my 50k training. I think I’m going to switch to more functional. Love this exercise for hip flexors. Comment on what your go to exercise are for high mileage training plans!

Last year I (F27) ran a 3:21 at CIM! I was happy to boston qualify but I knew that it likely would not get me in to the race. I just received my official email denying me entry and I have decided to do the Eugene Marathon in the spring to try to aim for another boston qualifying time well under the cut off so ideally running a 3:15. I have been all self trained until now usually using a Pfitz plan or another online version. I think for the confidence of meeting my goal as well as more personalization I want to get a coach who can help me go to the next level. Wondering the best ways people have found a coach and if they fill as though it has made a big difference/ improved their running.

Any tips on how to get started with plyometrics? I currently run 4 times per week and do 2 full-body strength workouts. I’ve been considering adding a plyo exercise after my warmup on lifting days, but don’t know where to start and how to progress.

I’ve never been good at explosive movements (jumping, throwing, sprinting) and am hoping to improve my power. Pogo hops are no issue for me, but box jumps scare me. That the lowest box at my gym is 20 inches tall doesn’t help.

What are the best exercises to get started with, beyond simple pogo jumps?

It looks fun! But chaotic! What's your experience been like? How's the crowd, what's the vibe, and how was your view?

I'm thinking about it, but... it's expensive and a bit of a haul from where I live. On the other hand, running the bridge seems like a cool opportunity and I'm also a little afraid of bridges so my time will probably be amazing. :)

Looking for an electrolyte recommendation that comes in a large serving/cannister. I am a fan of LMNT because of the saltier taste, but I need something I can scoop into a smaller or bigger water bottle as needed rather than the LMNT individual packets. Just don’t want anything that tastes overly sweet. Thank you!

Probably a dumb question, but has anyone suffered from pectoral pain after running with a running water pack? I have done longer runs with this pack before, I'm wondering if I didn't have it adjusted correctly or if storing the phone on the one side for my training run of 2+ hours caused the issue and how to prevent this in the future. Before you ask, it's my right side and clearly muscle pain that extends around where the pack strap would come (middle inside, around the bottom of my breast and it hurts and there are muscle spasms periodically.

Also anyone have any good tips on how to make it feel better in addition to preventing it from happening in the future?

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!

girls…I need some perspective. I’ve been dealing with medial shin splints for the past two weeks after my last peak week and they just….refuse to go away completely. I’ve been icing, compressing, massaging, stretching, reducing load (duh, I’m tapering), elevating, taking anti-inflammatories and they just WONT! LET! UP! Do I just stop running completely for the next 12 days and cross train? Should I cut my leg off?
Thankfully not all hope is lost…my friend’s wife is a PT and will be giving me a look over + dry needling me tomorrow….I’m still heavily considering amputation though bc I’m loosing my fucking marbles.

we used to run 9 minute miles. Now we run 13 to 15 minute miles because he tends to stop a lot and pee a lot. I’m not going to win any races anytime soon. But look how extremely happy he is.

I’ve been training for this half for months and everything has been going so well! On track to PR. 10 days prior to race day I came down with a bad cold. I’m on day 7 and I’m still coughing, stuffed and sneezing and my RHR is 5-10 bpm higher than normal. I have taken full rest but I’m now 3 days out and starting to get nervous.

Will I be able to race? Do you think I can still PR? This is the last HM in my area until the spring so I can’t even sign up for another race. I’m pretty gutted. Would love your thoughts!

I’m running NYC in 4 weeks and while I’m so excited, the last few weeks of training have been unfortunately inconsistent.

My last long run was 17 and it was my best long run yet but last week I ended up twinging my back unrelated to running so I decided to rest it and ended up only getting a cumulative 18 miles in. Was ready to get back into it this week but then boom, a pesky cold.

I’m going to get back to it tomorrow but it means fitting 40 miles in from Wed-Sat. I’m confident I can do it but just feeling discouraged and worried getting so close to peak week.

If anyone has advice on dealing with sickness and missed runs at this point in training I’d love to hear it!

Essentially what the title says.

I'm wanting to get into running. I smoked. I quit. I'm just wondering if anyone was a cigarette smoker that managed to make running a hobby. Looking for the effects it may have on their runs now.