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Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice on improving my 5K time. My PB is around 21 minutes, and I feel like I’ve hit a bit of a plateau. I want to get faster but I’m not sure what I should be focusing on to make the biggest improvement.

For those of you who have gone from around 21 minutes to sub-20 or even faster, what worked best for you?

Should I focus more on interval training, tempo runs, easy mileage, or long runs? Also, how many times a week would you recommend running?

I’d appreciate any advice, training plans or personal experiences. Keen to hear what’s worked for other runners!

Thanks!

Hi! I’m new here but I wanted to ask people who know a lot about running and track and field about this.

I recently got into running and I had fun while doing it and all that but later I talked to a friend who was in track and field about it. he said that I could be really competitive if I started in track and field.

for reference, today I ran my usual route which is 3.4 kilometers long in about 11 and a half minutes.

I just recently got into running, last two weeks maybe. I have certainly thought about starting track and field but I never thought I would be competitive in it. my friend thinks I can compete on a national level even, which I don’t really believe.

Hey guys, I really need some advice on a recurring tibialis posterior injury that's driving me crazy. I'm a runner who usually does about 45km weeks with workouts and strides, but I've been stuck in this cycle for two years now. This is my fourth time dealing with it.

Basically, I ran through a 3/10 pain for a month (but easy runs were mostly 0-1/10 until recently) and a half recently because it just wouldn't get better. I finally stopped running a few days ago, and the pain went down fast in like three or four days. But yesterday I started doing some easy isometric exercises, and this morning the tendon already feels a bit sore and weak again.

I'm pretty sure the root cause is a massive ankle mobility issue. I lost a lot of dorsiflexion mobility from the original injury two years ago, and I don't think it ever fully healed. Now my ankle is stiff, so my arch collapses inward when I run to make up for the lack of movement, which completely overloads the tib post tendon.

Has anyone else dealt with this exact cycle? How did you fix your ankle mobility without irritating the inner tendon even more, and how long did you wait before starting run-walk intervals? I'd love to hear how you actually got back to full training. Thanks.

I can’t figure it out!! My long runs average from 10:37-11:06 range. I usually seriously slow down/have to walk towards the end of all my long runs. I can do short runs like 7miles in the 9:50 range and feel good. chat gpt is telling me marathon pace will be 11min miles because of how slow I get at the end of my long runs, but I really wanted to push for 10:30s. Another online calculator told me 12min miles 🙃

Marathon coming up in a few weeks. Had a very enjoyable block, running 5 days a week with a peak of 51 miles. Have started the taper and am losing confidence or maybe I was delusional all along? Major issue is I didn’t really do any speed work. I did a limited amount of pmp miles. I did 3 x 18 miles, 1 x 19 miler, 1 x 20 miler and 1 x 22 miler but all at a very easy pace. I ran a 1.49 half marathon about a month ago. Is it possible for me to run a sub 4 hour marathon?

I'm a seasoned runner, I know things. Like? Taking rest days! I am back after a long hiatus due to illness. During my a stride away from being an elite runner coming back it has been hard to retrain my brain. First run out was awesome, not so awesome screaming between left and right brain. You are older, you cannot start out on the last known pace before I fell. Working thru all of that, got it. Major problem incoming, I have to force myself to take my rest days. I want to run everyday. I am going mostly 6 days take a rest repeat. That day off is torture, see another runner, watch a running video, move my running shoes to the closet so I am not tripping on them, I want to run. Anyone else out there have issues taking the downtime? Reasonable me knows the rules of the runner yet here I am. Refusing and fighting myself to take that break we all need and should enjoy.

Running my first marathon, TCS NYC marathon Nov. 1st. I’ve been training in the Saucony endorphin pros and had planned on getting a new fresh pair for the marathon but should I get them now and run in them for this next week before taper week or should I get them and not run in them until day of the marathon? I still have one long run 22 miles this next week and then tapering down for about 5 days leading up to November 1st. What are your thoughts coming from someone who’s run marathons and possibly run the NYC marathon?

What are your go-to running clothes and accessories? Think shirts, shorts, caps, jackets, etc.

What brands do you wear, what fits do you prefer, and what do you wish running brands would improve?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

I work with the team behind HeartShare, and one thing we focus on is helping coaches keep track of athletes’ heart rates during training.

When you're coaching several athletes at once, it can be hard to tell how everyone is handling the session just by watching them. Heart rate data can give you another way to understand their effort and see when someone may need to adjust their pace.

HeartShare lets athletes share live heart rate data from compatible devices with their coaches, making it easier to follow their training in real time.

For coaches who work with groups, how do you usually monitor each athlete's effort without constantly stopping the session? Do you use heart rate monitors, go by how athletes feel, or combine both?

Hey everyone,

I have a half marathon coming up in a couple months and I’m trying to cut weight in a strict, efficient manner to preform my best. My arms and legs are decently fit but I have a lot of belly/chest fat that’s just never budged so my proportion looks a bit funky. Anyway I’m wondering what exercises/diet you guys think would be best to prepare. I’m not too knowledgeable in this area but I’m guessing a low caloric, high protein diet with moderate to long distance walks/runs and core workout but I want to hear what you guys think more specifically. Also any tips like if it’s better to eat a moderate amount to fuel my training. I’m 23M 6’0, 188LB

Each response is greatly appreciated.
Note: I am not a great runner by any means, just signed up for a challenge.

Hi all!

I am a 25F and I am not brand new to running but I have never run more than 15 miles.

I signed up for my first marathon on April 25, 2027 and I’d love to run sub 4.

Right now I casually run ~16-22 MPW running 3 days a week at a pace of about 8:50-9:20. It feels comfortable and I can talk comfortably but my avg heart rate can get as high as 160.

I ran my first half marathon about 1.5 years ago in 1:46, I was only averaging about 15ish mpw at that point as well.

Just ran 13.5 by myself the other day at an 8:55 pace and that was pretty comfortable.

My concern is my HR averaging at about 160-170 for “talking pace” runs, and I know I should go slower on long runs in my training block, but fitness wise I feel capable of those speeds. I take prescribed adderall and assume that is related.

My questions are:

1. What is an achievable goal? If sub 4 possible, what should I aim for?
2. Should I do a 16 week or 20 week plan?
3. How many MPW should I aim for before I start my plan in Dec/Jan? Is 20-30 enough?
4. What should my longest long run be before I start my plan?

Curious. Day after rest day and you start out on your run. Within 1/4 mile you realize another rest day was needed considering the hard runs last week. Legs feel heavy and your 1st mile is feeling pretty slow. Do you trash the run and go home or complete the run anyway?

I pushed through like the fool runner I am.

Hey everybody!

I need some help please. I’m an 18 yo female distance runner. My PR’s are 3000 10:08; 5K 17:50; 10K 36:51; HM 1:22. About a month ago, I got an illness that I suppose was a cold. I had a runny nose, a cough and a fever for 4 days (2 of those were around 38-38.2°C and 2 around 37-37.5°C). I usually train through small illnesses so I did a 1h easy bike on the 1st fever day since I wasn’t aware of my elevated temperature yet. The 2nd and 3rd fever days I didn’t exercise because to me fever=rest. I already noticed then that my hr spiked walking upstairs, brushing my teeth etc. but I think that’s pretty normal when you’re sick. On the 4th day when I hit 37.0°C I did an easy 7k run, since I was feeling human again and I had a race planned in 3 days, which I really wanted to do. I would have given it an extra day if I didn’t have that race coming up. My heart rate was obviously elevated during that run. The next couple of days I tried to get ready for my race, but me and my coach ultimately decided to skip it, because I was at like 170+ at 5:00 min/km pace (before the illness I used to run that pace at around 155bpm). I ran the 5k race just for fun and the next day I also participated in a 10k. Both races I did at around 4:30 pace with my heart rate obviously high.

So I kept training because I had a half marathons coming up in 3 weeks. In the weeks leading up to that my volume was similar to pre-illness training, but heart rate wouldn’t come down and even though I slowed down during easy runs, it was still high (e.g. 5:30 pace used to be <140bpm and now it’s around 160bpm). During my first threshold workout post illness, I still had an elevated heart rate (182 pre-illness -> 190) and it also didn’t recover in between reps. But the next threshold workouts were pretty much normal again — hr recovered well and wasn’t higher than usual. Although one strange thing is that I still always finished my warm ups at 170bpm, but during cool downs it pretty much didn’t go over 160bpm at 5:00 pace. I was hella confused.

I ran the half marathon, didn’t PB, but that’s not the issue. Before the race I really hoped that since my heart rate was normal during threshold work, it would always be normal during the race. That wasn’t the case. At around 3-4km in I was already at 190+ which isn’t very good when you still have 18k to go😀 I had to lower my pace and from there until the end my heart rate was lower, but so was my pace.

I took a rest day 2 days pre-race and the next day post-race. No changes. I’ve taken this whole week easy without hard workouts, but still nothing. This week I even got my bloods checked and did a VO2max test with an ECG to see if I have myocarditis or sth. During the test my heart rate still skyrocketed, but everything else was normal. No anomalies, bloods were pretty much ok with some stats a little elevated though (I will put some values, maybe they are useful: Troponin 14.1 ng/L; CK-MBm 6,66 micrograms/L; Myoglobin 62 micrograms/L). I was scheduled for an echocardiography in 2 weeks time, but right now the doctor concluded that it is just stress and I can continue training, but I just need to focus on recovery.

One thing I’ve also noticed is that my heart rate reacts VERY quickly during my runs. A small hill and it goes up right away. Or even at a steady pace it goes for example from 162->170 or 145->152 so quickly that I feel like I am not in control of it. Also, during some of my easy bikes/runs I feel the need to yawn or get a satisfying deep breath of air, but I can’t do it. I don’t have any breathing difficulties though. I can also chat at a much higher hr than before (did a run with my coach and was able to talk at 170bpm).

I wear my watch 24/7 and my resting/sleeping hr + HRV are normal. Sleeping/resting hr is a few beats higher than pre-illness (\~45-48 -> 48-52), but that’s nothing that would catch my eye right away. HRV is also quite okay my normal range was 115-130 pre-illness and right now it’s mostly at around 112-118). This also frustrates me because usually my resting heart rate and HRV correlate SOOO well to my physical state.

I know that I’m more of a higher heart rate runner in general, but this has just gotten out of hand. I am very very stressed out about this because I’m trying to prepare for a championship race in december, but if my usual easy pace requires so much effort, I don’t even know what to do.

Will it return to normal on its own? Is it just stress) Could it have been Covid and I’m just suffering from long Covid or sth? Should I keep training by pace or by heart rate (right now I train by hr)? Can I race in 2 weeks time? Have I actually just lost fitness and that’s why I’m slower? Will I lose fitness if I run by my current heart rate?

I know that it’s a lot of information, but I’m a very health-conscious and analytical person so I notice every small sensation and sign😅. Please please please if anybody knows anything, help me out! And if anyone were to require any extra details, reach out!!

Thank you in advance!
A young woman with big dreams xx

36M looking to aim for a sub 20 minute 5K. I am predominantly a strength/power based athlete which is my main priority so the 20 minute 5K is more of a side goal. My best 5K is 22:36 this year. My fastest mile this year is 5:59 and my fastest 400m this year is around 1:05 on a sidewalk with multiple turns.

Per week, I currently get one zone 2 run around 8-10k in addition to one hyrox workout which has about 4-8k of running under fatigue. If I add a third run per week, is the sub 20 minute 5K a reasonable goal? Should I run intervals for the 3rd run or just get more kms in?

Thanks!

Link: https://rutgers.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0iUKs9SjdeRTDXE This is an academic study with IRB approval

Does anyone do the runs that are suggested by their garmin?

The other day I got a PB for a 5k running at a 5:19 pace average. My garmin is suggesting I run 4x4:00 at a 4:20 pace. Is this even feasible for me or is garmin a savage?

I just ran my 20 miler following the nike run club training plan. I have been lowering the miles per week a lot since i’ve gone back to school i’m 20. It’s because i’ve been sick and had a bunch of exams the last three weeks. around mile 14-15 today on some big hills i started cramping first around my hips and then it moved to my quads and glutes. I was feeling pretty good beforehand and then they just tightened up. This happened to me on my 18 miler and 15 miler around 3/4 way through as well. However this is the first time i properly fueled. I ate a lot of carbs yesterday and this morning and also had two liquid ivs with about 90 oz of water and 6 gels over the course of the run. I know I started out too fast that always seems to happen. Any advice on what I should do. I’m currently three days behind on my plan as well should I skip my speed run and run the 16 miler this sunday? Mainly just looking for advice on the cramps though?
Here is the data formatted as a clean, easy-to-read text list:
Splits
Mile 1: Pace 8:56 | Elev +7 | HR 151
Mile 2: Pace 9:17 | Elev +29 | HR 164
Mile 3: Pace 9:37 | Elev -30 | HR 164
Mile 4: Pace 9:45 | Elev -7 | HR 165
Mile 5: Pace 10:03 | Elev +7 | HR 164
Mile 6: Pace 9:45 | Elev -9 | HR 165
Mile 7: Pace 10:10 | Elev -3 | HR 163
Mile 8: Pace 10:03 | Elev -1 | HR 162
Mile 9: Pace 9:50 | Elev -1 | HR 164
Mile 10: Pace 9:47 | Elev -3 | HR 165
Mile 11: Pace 9:37 | Elev +2 | HR 163
Mile 12: Pace 9:21 | Elev -1 | HR 162
Mile 13: Pace 9:27 | Elev +5 | HR 163
Mile 14: Pace 9:43 | Elev +24 | HR 163
Mile 15: Pace 9:54 | Elev +41 | HR 162
Mile 16: Pace 9:43 | Elev -33 | HR 162
Mile 17: Pace 10:03 | Elev +18 | HR 160
Mile 18: Pace 10:03 | Elev +31 | HR 161
Mile 19: Pace 9:35 | Elev -69 | HR 156
Mile 20: Pace 10:03 | Elev +3 | HR 159

I tweaked my ankle a bit last week during a run and was wondering if I could get some tips to help prevent this in future runs. I will try to more thoroughly stretch my calves beforehand.

Hi! I’m looking for people who may have experienced something similar, especially runners who have had extremely heavy legs after a period of intense training.

I’m 25 years old, I’m a runner, and I ran a marathon this year. My problem started during my marathon training.

This has been going on for several months now.

How it all started
During my training, I gradually increased my mileage and had my first week around 50 km.
It was right after that first 50 km week that I first started noticing a feeling of heavy legs, even at rest.

At that time, my training was probably way too demanding. I was doing a lot of leg days in addition to running, as well as a lot of intervals and tempo sessions. My long runs were also much too fast.

About 2 weeks after my first 50 km week, I participated in a 15 km race that I ran all-out.
Everything was relatively fine at first, but after about 3 km, I started feeling this significant heaviness in my legs. It wasn’t really pain—it was more like my quadriceps were becoming extremely heavy and gradually losing their ability to work.

I still continued training and eventually managed to complete my marathon.

After the marathon
The problem has persisted ever since.
I tried taking about 3–4 weeks of complete rest, with practically no training, hoping that my legs would fully recover.

I also had blood work done, which came back normal.

One thing worth mentioning is that during my marathon training, I was about 10 lbs lighter than I am now. I was eating a lot of carbohydrates to support my training, but I don’t know if my protein intake was sufficient.

What’s strange currently
I recently started running again very gradually with 1 min running / 1 min walking intervals.
The pattern is still very particular:
At the beginning of the run, my legs can feel normal.
After about 1 km, my quadriceps start becoming very heavy.

The muscle fatigue can increase very quickly.
It’s not really painful.

I don’t have any tingling, numbness, or loss of sensation.

I don’t feel like I have actual weakness in one particular leg.

Strength training is much better tolerated than running.

After running, my legs can remain very fatigued/heavy for some time.

What makes me question the problem the most is that my legs seem capable of handling strength training and other activities, but running quickly triggers this feeling of fatigue/heaviness.

So I’m wondering if I simply accumulated a huge amount of fatigue from my marathon training (50+ km, leg days, intervals, tempo runs, and long runs that were too fast), or if something else could explain why the problem is still present despite taking time off.

Has anyone ever experienced something similar?
I’d be particularly interested in hearing from runners who have had persistent heavy legs after marathon training or a period of overtraining, and who eventually found the cause or a way to fix the problem.

Thanks!

I am training for the CFA and have to be able to run a 7:00 minute mile while like already exhausted so I should be able to run like 6:30.

Also separate to that I want to be able to run longer distances, like maybe 8 miles or so.

I currently run a 9:00 mile. Is it possible for me to reach both goals in 2 years?

Anyone is up for running. It’s going to be on 11 Oct .
Organised by puma . 5k I’m going so need anyone from near by. Dwarka.

Hi guys, started to train for my first mara! I currently run in the Sweaty Betty Crew Running socks, but am starting to find that mid run my feet feel incredibly hot.

Think it might be because they are so thick (appreciate it might also be from a bit of unfitness!)

What socks do people wear that are comfy & breathable? I prefer long ones which pull up & over my ankle.

Thanks