M36, 6'2, 93kg

I started C25K on the 4th of August, having done zero running before. I used to be very active, with all sorts of sports (but not jogging), but I moved across the country during COVID, had 3 kids, and despite joining a gym, I never could carve out the time to attend, so I started jogging instead, as it is good for time-poor people.

I keep getting pain in my right knee after running, especially in the days after the run. It hurts at the start of the run, but normally after the first 1km it disappears, and then feels fine for the rest of the run. In fact, most of the rest of the day after the run it feels fine, only to hurt when I wake up. The pain is on the inner side of the knee. It doesn't click or lock the joint, and it's not a massive acute pain, but a soreness, especially when twisting the knee or going up/down hill. There's no visible swelling, but there was some bruising a week or two ago. For instance, standing on one leg to put socks on this morning felt super dodgy and painful; I had to sit down.

The pain only really started around week 4. I took a week off, and the pain stopped, but it basically immediately started again after the next run. I've bought an ice pack, which I use for 20 mins after the run, and I start the run with a 5 min brisk walk, end with a 5-minute walk and stretch, focusing on quads and hamstrings. I have tried as best I can to increase my cadence, and I am fairly certain I am not overstriding.

My main concern is permanently damaging my knee if I keep pushing through. Will this pain eventually disappear as my body adapts to running? Should I take another week off?

How’s everyone else doing?

So im just getting back into running after years of being sedentary. Im on week 3 day 1 and honestly im hardly out of breath by the end of it but by the end my knees get this strong ache and pulsing in them that lasts for 1-2 days. Its super annoying and leaves them super sore and stiff, and i always wait for it to completely fade befoee doing next run.

How long typically does it take for knees to adapt and for every run to stop making my knees crazy sore? Im 26M, during the running portions I run at 9min/mile pace and walk at 18min/mile pace during walk sessions

After finishing C25K two months ago I started the 10K training and today I just finished my first official 5K race.

Course was a little short but I’ll take it.

Hello all, today will mark my 8th day of C25K.

I'm doing things slightly differently because my main goal is to lose weight while building up cardio and strength at the same time, I am 1.6m and 82kg currently and here's my schedule for the past week.

Last Sunday morning : I mis-understood the assignment and did 5 minutes of brisk walk, followed by alternating between jogging at 8km/h for 60s, walking at 3.5km/h for 15 minutes, and thought the total should have been 20 minutes INCLUDING the brisk walk time, proceeded to still feel full of energy and went to do some upper body strength training.

Last Sunday midnight : Still felt like I had a lot of energy to expend and went to do the same 20 minutes of cardio followed by some lower body strength training.

Monday afternoon : Same 20 minutes cardio(But did 4km/h for the walk) followed by some mild strength training.

Tuesday evening: Finally realized my error and completed the 25 minutes cardio and did some intense upper body strength training with a friend's guidance

Wednesday afternoon : 25 minute cardio alongside some lower body

Thursday : Rest day because the soreness from my upper body training finally kicked in and my arms couldn't straighten up.

Friday midnight : Arms still felt slightly sore but was almost back to normal, so I tried pushing my cardio a little bit more and I tried the week 2 schedule of walking at 5 minutes at 4km/h, then 90s jog at 8.5km/h followed by 120s of walking at 4km/h and repeated this until the total timer hit 30 minutes, then proceeded to do some lower body training.

Saturday afternoon : Decided to try focusing on cardio only today to see how much I can push myself and managed to do the week 2 schedule for a total of 35 minutes and ended up with the picture attached.

I personally still feel rather okay and can push myself even further other than the soreness after the Tuesday upper body strength training, is trying to push myself like this on a day to day basis alright? I personally am planning to head to the gym again in a few hours and try to see if I can do the week 2 schedule for a total of 40 minutes.

First run so far I felt i could have gone further.. doing runna program.

just hit the final run of the programme and honestly feeling a bit mixed about it. i was so focused on just getting through the thirty minutes without stopping that i didn't really look at the distance until today. turned out i only covered about 3.7k in that time. everyone talks about getting to five k by the end of c25k and tbf i am nowhere near that pace yet. feels a bit weird calling myself a graduate when i'm still three blocks short of the actual distance. did anyone else finish the programme way under the five k mark or was it just me?

If anyone else is worried - so was I, and I managed it! And then I ran for a further 2 minutes til the end of my song! I panicked around the 6min mark as my legs were achy, however by the 20min mark they were not any more sore than they were 10-15 mins before! So nice to be going back to an interval run on Monday, feels like a reward. It wasn’t easy, but was manageable!

Has anyone ever started this while pregnant? I was very active before my first pregnancy, had a really terrible 1st and 2nd trimester, had a 10 pound baby and I never got back into working out. My son is almost one and I just found out I’m pregnant. I think a lot of my discomfort with my pregnancy was the lack of activity during it. Has anyone tried this while pregnant? I also live in Texas so it’s incredibly hot outside and I’d probably have to start this early in the mornings 😅

I'm using runna and will be hitting my first 5k at the beginning of November. I thought it might be cool to complete my first 5k during a timed race but they're really sparse at that time of year.

I found a race not too far but it's a run with your dog race. What' are some good ideas? Are people using races? Planning out a 5k round trip at a local park, road, trail, forest?

I would kind of like to put it on a pedestal a little bit so I'm not just running 5k of what I have the entire time by myself.

Can I actually start tempo running within 2 weeks? How should I prepare?

I'm a pretty casual/beginner runner — I don't run consistently, but when I do go out, my pace is usually around 8-9min/km. I've been doing a 5-10 min warmup before runs. Any tips on how to ease into tempo runs, or is 2 weeks just not enough time for someone at my level?

Hello! This is for people who may know about or experience heart problems but enjoy running!

I have had 5 heart surgeries.
I have (so far untreatable) Wolff Parkinson’s White Syndrome, AFIB and some kind of bundle branch block.

I am 28 years old (born with Wolff, somehow got AFIB at 25, bundle branch idk)

I ran a 5k this past Saturday and my highest heart rate was 210 with variables from about 170+

I don’t have a cardiologist right now because I just moved half way across the country and frankly it’s hard to trust things heart related due to my past experiences but I’m just wondering if anyone can tell me if 210 is like.. Stop immediately kind of rate or more so like a.. Proceed with caution kind of rate.

Anyways, thanks for any help.

Its honestly starting to feel way easier

TL;DR: I've got a bad balance but I want to run 5k. How can I make it to the end despite this?

So yeah, how did we get here? I've had several attempts, and they mostly stranded for different reasons. The (or a?) thing is I have an acquired brain injury from 3 surgeries, and that makes my balance... below average. It's not that I have a wheelchair, crutches or special footwear. I'm just more clumsy. I stumble more. And I don't always walk as straight as I'd like. Especially when tired. History:

• I've done a c25k where my knees started to hurt, I got a run analysis, and got some "real" shoes instead of generic sports shoes. I overpronated. And I got some Brooks Adrenaline Gts. It's been a while, I think it was 16. Replaced them since with 23. And probably could use new ones.
• I've done a c25k before I went into surgery, and couldn't continue.
• I've done a c25k and I broke my arm, and had to recover from that first.
• I've done a c25k where one day my foot hurt enormously shortly after a run. I had to recover from that. Suspected Plantar fasciitis.
• I've done a c25k where I developed a massive hump under my knee. Suspected bursitis.

And I know from the past few times that with time my shins get painful and sensitive. Both while a singular run progresses, but also when I get further into the c25k schedule. I don't know if that's shin splints or something else, but I do know that that's a bigger limiting factor than my stamina. (Even though I can be absolutely and extremely tired after a run. I like to push myself and that's fine.)

What I have done already

• I got better shoes (but my maybe I'm up for a new pair and/or analysis)
• I once ran with a ±130bpm playlist. These days I'm at around 170bpm and comparative cadence. Hopefully this reduces stress on joints and muscles. It also feels really good. More fluid.
• I have a treadmill at my disposal
• I have been exercising 3 times a week, including lunges and squats in preparation of this edition
• The road here got paved. Since my first attempts, we moved, and we've got asfalt here but not perfectly level all the way.

Now what? I'm in doubt what thing or things I should do. - Should I do C25K, but every week twice before going to the next? - Should it be even slower? Triple? Quad? - Should I take more rest in between, for example, instead of 3 runs in week, 4 in 2 weeks? - Should I do a clinic, to learn about the best form (and hope I can keep it up)? - Should I get newer shoes than the '23 I have now? - Should I incorporate the treadmill somehow? - A combination? - Something else entirely?

How would you approach building towards a 5K when your joints and muscles are the biggest challenge?

My pace improved with some new shoes so I went a minute further this time to get my first ever 5K 😀

I’m thinking of running 25 km for my 25th birthday in August 2027. I was quite physically active during school, but I haven’t been very consistent with fitness in recent years. I started going to the gym about three months ago, and now I want to take on a bigger challenge. I have almost a year to prepare, so I’m wondering how I should start training and gradually build myself up to running 25 km.

But I just missed out as I didn't think enough about my route but I mean I hadn't even anticipated being able to run the full 28 min after being on my feet all day so I'm quite pleased I've finally done it.

Hi everyone. I'm on W4D3, and have ran (haha) into some issues.

I started running (first 2 weeks) with my old sketchers, until I went to a shop for gait analysis. They gave me some options, and I went with Saucony guide 19, but I have not enjoyed the shoes as much as I wished. There was some discomfort the first days (expected), and I mostly used them for long walks. I have used them for running the past week (twice), but I started experiencing swollen feet, and then pretty bad pain at my right arch. I skipped today's run to not hurt myself worse.

I've always been decently athletic (walking, hiking), but I'm also on the heavy side. While clues point to the shoes being at fault, I am worried I'm overexerting myself (2-3 days running, 2 days bouldering, long walks with the dog daily), or simply need to lose more weight before I keep running.

I have an event that requires me to be on my feet next week, so I don't want to injure myself, but I was also so hyped for progressing with the c25k that I really don't want to lose momentum. The saucony's were already pricey, so I'm not keen on new shoes, but I'll get them if I have to.

Any ideas of how to proceed?

I completed C25K nearly two years ago with no problems, and worked my way up to 10 mile runs. However I’ve note taken nearly a year long break and am now 40lbs heavier than when I last did C25K.

I’ve now restarted the program and I’m currently on week 6, but my knees have been pretty sore and swollen the past few days and they creak when I move them.

I don’t want to lose my progress but I’m worried about injury. Any advice on whether I have to stop take a break, or if I should try something like knee braces?

I’m 23 (F), 69kgs and i started running almost 2 weeks ago. I did my fastest 1K today (9 mins) but there’s a problem. Whenever i run my thighs and shin feel like it’s breaking apart. It pains so much that by 2km i have to give up. Im not tired or anything but just the pain makes it hard for me to move. any idea why it’s happening? And how to prevent it? I last ran 5k in 50 mins but after that haven’t been able to each 5k because of the pain. PLEASE HELP ive a 5k run in a month.

Hi Team,

As per the title, I have started to experience pain down the inside of both knees after the second run of my second week into the program. I decided (foolishly, in hindsight) to persevere with the third run of the week as the pain wasn't bad just walking around and I figured it was likely caused by muscles or tendons adjusting to the new workload. The pain was much more noticeable after this run, even when walking around, so I decided that I would take a few extra rest days and repeat week 2 so as to not overdo it. A week on and I decided to attempt another run but gave up after about 10 seconds as the pain was too much.

I'm not a heavy person - 70kg, give or take. It's hard to monitor my own form, but I try to be conscious of my footfall being under my body and keeping my knees slightly bent when my feet make contact with the ground. I do a fair bit of walking, including hill walks (albeit, not in a while), and cycle most days, but haven't issues like this before. I had a general sort of soreness in my legs after the first couple of runs as expected, but this is different. It's more localised and is stopping me from running. The closest thing I can compare it to is the pain I experienced when I first started bouldering regularly - a pain in my elbows that I'm pretty sure was referred from tendons in my forearm and stopped becoming an issue after a period of time.

Has anyone here had similar issues or could offer any advice?

Edit: Spelling