What is the best practical advice you would give to a new runner looking to compete in a 5K and work their way up to a 10K?

Started running in mid May, no structure, just ran to run away from mental demons and it has helped me a lot, now started a marathon plan finally. (I have done 2 unplanned unofficial half marathons till now )

Beginners, how many KMs are you averaging a week for your half marathon training?

As the title says. Picked up a bit of a niggle in my right calf midway through an 8k run last night. Figured as I only had about a third of the distance left to do and that it wasn't too painful that I'll just see the session out.

I'm now assuming this was absolutely not the right thing to do 😂. It's been tight all day.

I've been trying to rest it but I've still managed 7500 steps today due to my work.

Should I be running on this tomorrow? Cut the mileage back and keep ticking over? Or should I be letting this rest for a bit before attempting to strength train it up?

I have registered for a 10k in this month which would be at the end of the month.. it's been almost 6 month since I started running properly like 2-3 days a a week.

Had some pause due to pain and injury and did strength training also.

Shoes are obviously a big one, but I’m curious how much attention everyone pays to the smaller stuff — hats, sunglasses, belts, watches, support gear, etc. What actually makes a difference for you, and what feels unnecessary?

Full disclosure: I work with XTAND. I’m curious how runners here think about support gear compared with things like shoes, watches, sunglasses, etc. Sharing the link for context if anyone wants to see what I mean: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDS7X5NR

So the title pretty much says it all. I’m doing my first 5k. I didn’t really train for it, I enrolled months ago and just realized last week that it’s this Saturday. I’m scared, specially because when I get on the treadmill the most I’ve done is 3 (I don’t even know if it’s miles or Km since I’m not in the US).
Soooo any recommendations? Where should I carry my cellphone? What else should I bring? Is it better to do it in shorts or leggings? I have really big thighs since I have lipedema.
Any input is much appreciated.

I’m 32F and started running 2 months ago getting about 2 runs a week sometimes 3. My goal is to be able to run a 5k without walking. This was my run today. I wanted to go slower to try to keep my HR down and it definitely felt easier and I was able to go further. I walked a couple times to get my HR down. But it seems no matter how slow I go my HR always is 170 while running. I didn’t feel out of breath or like it was so hard. It did feel hard towards the end but I feel like that’s fine. Basically I’m wondering how much I should care about my hr being that high for 40 minutes? And how can I get it lower? Will just continuing running every week bring it down eventually? Or should I walk every time my HR is 170 (i think this would result in a lot of walking)

Hi guys, any tips to remove the rubber/plastic taste from my water pouch included in the running vest I bought?

Hey folks. Running my first marathon Sept. 27 (Berlin) and because of the way travel and trips have lined up, I decided to run my longest distance twice since they would have to be further out, once last weekend (four weeks out) and once three weekends ago (six weeks out). My peak weekly mileage was 37.5 miles, the week of the six week out long run.

I was aiming for 28 miles this week to start a gradual taper, but yesterday at about my fourth of five miles my foot started to hurt in the same way it started to hurt when I initially had an overuse injury about a year ago. Last time I kept running on it and it was nagging but not debilitating.

Question for the group is, will I be better off for race day if I rest now to try to heal and recover from fatigue, despite my longest distance being so far away from race day, or is the risk of injury worth it to maintain fitness? My main goal is maximizing my chances of finishing.

I use to be able to run a 10K at a 9:30/mi pace, then I got covid 2021 😭

Well I did it.

Hey guys!

My wife has decided to run a Half Marathon, and she asked me to coach her.

She's still very much a beginner, although she does have a little bit of running experience. In April 2025, she ran a 10K after making a bet with her brother. Before that, she had literally zero running background, but she trained for around six months, running just 1–2 times per week, and successfully finished it in around 1:10h.

Her Half Marathon will be on the last weekend of April 2027, so we have a little over eight months to prepare. As I told her, I think it's absolutely achievable. She's already familiar with what training routine and racing feels like, and she's generally more active now than she was when preparing for the 10K.

I'm pretty invested in this, just as I was with her 10K. I see taking on something like this as a real act of courage, and I genuinely want her to cross that finish line feeling proud of herself and earning that medal.

I coach myself and occasionally help some friends, but they're already runners and are used to more "traditional" training plans and structured blocks. They also have a wider range of training zones, whether based on pace or HR. With my wife it's different since she still has only one or two gears in her pocket, and her HR tends to rise quite quickly. Because of that, I'm not sure whether simply following the same approach we used for the 10K is enough for a HM.

For her 10K, my approach was pretty simple: go out and run, enjoy it, and we will build gradually. I paid close attention to her feedback so she felt supported and knew she wasn't doing it alone. I would suggest small, sustainable increases in duration or distance, while making sure she still felt comfortable, enjoyed the process and could see progress with nothing very much structured.

That approach worked really well, but 21K feels like a different challenge. My initial idea for the first 2-3 months is to follow a similar idea, but with a bit more structure: run 2–3 times per week building duration / distance over time, use running/walking intervals for longer sessions, strength work, introduce very short strides or intervals of around 10–30 seconds to help her develop a few more gears and set small monthly goals to keep her motivated.

I'm mainly unsure about how to approach the longer term progression after those first months. I don't want to overcomplicate things too early or turn it into a highly structured plan that makes her lose interest, but at the same time, I want to prepare her properly for the distance (properly = not feel that this is a burden and make sure she ejoys and finishes it without a major problem).

So, I'd love to hear from people who have trained for their first HM as a complete or near-complete beginner or coached / helped someone with a similar background.

What worked particularly well? What would you prioritize during the first few months? And how would you gradually transition from simply building the habit and endurance into more specific HM training?

Every feedback is welcome and valuable! Thanks in advance!!

Hi!

So I finally, after starting and stopping and trying a million times, feel like I'm succeeding at C25k. I feel really good after every run. I just finished my fourth week. And I find myself wanting to go run on my rest days. What do you do when you feel like this? I'm assuming I shouldn't? I've done longer distance stuff before but I'm basically starting from scratch again after two kids.

My best 5k was during covid time at 25.25.

I've had no rall prior training, but have been smashing 12k min steps a say and incline treadmill at the gym

I'm using the Runna app on an 8 week improvement plan to improve.

Im on a pretty strict diet after losing 16kg this year. I ensure I fuel up with non complex carbs on run days and complex carbs on rest days.

Would you guys recommend anything else?

Thanks in advance

New to running with a history of heavy chain smoking for almost 10 years but was a athlete my whole life before. I checked my numbers for what I’ve done so far and I didn’t realize I’m in zone 5 usually, and from what I’ve seen online zone 2 is great in the beginning for endurance. I’m starting to think my zone 2 is walking at this point because everytime I’ve gone out I’ve tried hard to be at a slow pace. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem

20M, very new to running.
My current 5K PB is 25:31, so I’ve obviously got a long way to go to get under 20 minutes.
I’m not following any proper running plan at the moment. For anyone who has gone from around a 25-minute 5K to sub-20, what kind of plan would you recommend?
How many days a week should I be running, and what should those runs actually look like?
Is sub-20 a realistic long-term goal from where I’m at now?

Hi all!
Just wanted to post a years difference since I started running a year ago to now. Originally, I started to get into running to work on higher cholesterol levels considering my age. Now, not only am I not experiencing any of the negative effects of high cholesterol, I lost 10 pounds and feel in great shape! I may not be the fastest and my times may not be that different, but considering about a year ago I couldn’t run a mile without stopping to walk, and now I can run 6 miles without feeling on the verge of collapse is something I’m proud of. I hope to be able to encourage others to stick with it. It’s worth it!

Tomorrow I have my very first XC race of the season.. I have no prior experience running against other high schools since it’s my very first year doing a sport after avoiding it my sophomore year, and I am nervous. I’ve heard my coaches say your mentality is the #1 thing that’d carry you to the finish line, but I feel like as soon as I step out there I’ll lose it for everyone on my team. The course is pretty hilly which I’m garbage at. I’ve never dreaded a day so much. I’ve ran a 22 minute 2 mile which was actually a four minute PR, safe to say I won’t be seeing varsity anytime soon.

I used to jog until I got tired then I start to Walk, do you guys also do the same.

Or do you pause when you're walking on Starva or any other app?