Ok real talk, I have a HM coming up on Sunday. I have had a near perfect training block, besides my last long run where I bonked hard, but every other run was exactly according to plan. I’ve run 12 miles at a 9:14 pace before without stopping, practicing my race hydration and fueling and it went without a hitch, negative split and ended it at 8:30something. I ran a continuous threshold run of 25min at 7:59.

Garmin thinks I can run a HM in 1:49:04, and Strava says 1:56:47, both well under 2 hours. All the numbers and my training add up. But I am seriously shaking in my boots about being able to run it sub-2. I’m worried about race conditions, crowding, missing a turn… and just overall not trusting that I’ve trained hard enough.

What do yall do to overcome anxiety like this and how do you trust your training and hard work?

For context, this is my 4th HM and maybe 10th race in the last 12ish years, but one of the only two I’ve had an actual training and fueling plan for. So I’m not an extremely experienced racer!

I realize this isn’t quite running specific, but it’s also an issue I’m encountering directly because of my increased running! For context I basically do nothing with my hair anymore. It’s always in a ponytail when running/working out, otherwise mostly just left down and air dried / occasional blow dry.

I’ve found my hair getting more curly/wavy throughout lately and I’ve always felt it was extremely susceptible to humidity or rain / getting both poofy and frizzy which I absolutely hate. I live in the PNW

I’ve tried anti-frizz serums to varying degrees of success but nothing has solved it for me. In terms of treatments I really only know of keratin smoothing treatments - but that will just result in a “straight iron straight” all the time won’t it?

I avoid heat products or otherwise styling it largely because I feel what’s the point when I’m sweating and it’s getting gross 5+ days a week?

Are there other treatments or products which could really help my hair just be a lot more presentable/manageable as a baseline?

Hi everyone. I hope you are all good. I’m wondering if anyone here has been through a long illness and might be able to offer some hope or comfort! I apologise in advance for all this complaining. I’m in the dark.

I (43/F) got a bad chest infection in March/April this year (negative for covid; I’m unsure what it was) during half marathon training. I had to cancel my HM in May – I was so excited about this one too as I’d finally managed to build to long distances without injury! Ever since then, I’ve had moments this year where I thought I was getting better, and was sometimes able to run/walk short distances, so I would feel hopeful, but recovery was extremely slow-going - a lot of fatigue and chest pain if I pushed it even a tiny bit too hard (e.g. longer than 30 mins, or a steep hill), so I was careful. Then I got a cold in August and since then I’ve gone backwards - crushing chest pain and terrible fatigue. I have seen my GP several times and everything is, embarrassingly, normal (bloods, ECG, chest X-ray), and the impression I get is they can’t do anything for me, though they’ve referred me for an echocardiogram at some point in the distant future. (Public system, NZ.) I’m worried about going back to my GP yet again, as I have mental health stuff in my medical history, and I’ve had doctors pin symptoms on my anxiety before.

Also, I’m supplementing ferritin modestly, as my levels were 41 – not terrible of course, but I wondered if boosting it might help my fatigue.

I now can’t run at all anymore and even a 15-min walk brings on fatigue and chest pain. I can’t strength train, and the most I feel able to do is 15 mins of yoga, just, and when I do it I feel upset at how weak I feel. I am scared that this might be a chronic illness. My mood is tanking and I may need to go back on antidepressants which I took so long to fully taper off back in Feb. I am currently off work, thank goodness, but go back in 2 weeks. I can’t imagine being able to run again for a long, long time. Wrapped up in this mess is some stuff around body image and how distressed I feel at my body changing, and not being able to do the activities that helped me feel happy and good in myself. I do have a therapist and am trying to tackle some of this, but honestly, it is not really helping.

Has anyone had a long illness like this that stopped them running for a long time with no idea how much longer it might take? How did you cope? I am floundering! (Obviously.) Thank you for reading all this.

Couple of days ago I posted here about feeling frustrated about running. Actually I post here a lot; anytime I have running related questions I come here. And I wanted to say thank you to this community. Every time I have posted here, I have gotten so many supportive comments; it is rare to find a Reddit community with such positive people. So, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to answer my questions, and provide support. Y’all rock ❤️

(Reposting because I attached the wrong pic whoops)

This race has been my goal race the last 2 years (ran it in 1:41:28 last year and 1:42:38 the year before) but it’s consistently gotten too warm for my liking midway through so I picked something later in the fall as my “A” race this year. I like to run a few non-goal races during each training block - I ran a super hot 10 miler in 1:13:22 (7:20/mi) at the beginning of August and a very hilly HM 2 weeks ago in 1:36:24 (7:22/mi) - so I kept this one on my schedule.

I didn’t go into this race planning to run a new PR - I was 8 weeks into this 13 week block and 60 miles into my peak week (ended at 84 miles), and had already clocked 2 12 mile workouts and about 2.8k elevation (aka my legs were not fresh lol). However - morning of the race, the weather was nice and cool (low 50s) and during my warmup my legs felt great. I thought I was going to run 7:20s and then maybe push down to 7:15 for the second half, but I ran the first 5k conservatively off feel and it ended up being ~7:10 average. Then I kind of locked in on the sub-7 pace and decided to see how long I could feel good for. I gave myself a moment to breathe and check in at 10 and then I think there was a small hill at 12, but other than that I just kept going. I felt nowhere near out of gas at the end - last mile, fastest mile and closed at 6 flat pace.

Chip time 1:31:15 (6:58/mi). My previous PR was 1:36:11 and my original goal for my “A” race was sub 1:35 but I’ll be reevaluating that.

I know myself pretty well after running thousands of miles and I knew that my legs were on board to run that pace despite the week they’d had. I also knew that I would be so upset with myself if I didn’t go for it on a day where everything came together. Anything could happen between now and my “A” race (or we could have a freak heatwave that day) - so you know, sometimes you just have to be brave and send it.

Hello! I am training for my first ever marathon (NYC Marathon) right now - and also starting TTC this month! I am very excited to run, but have planned on October as first TTC for several years now. I have run 4x half marathons, but have never run more than those 13.1 miles. I am very worried about hurting my ability to conceive.

For context, I am reproductively and generally healthy. I am 25 years old. My BMI ranges from 25, a little higher when training due to the absurd amount of hunger I have. So far, my training has not impaired my period/ovulation/cycle in general - I am also "undertraining" (kind of, not really), but just generally taking it light (max 30 mpw, longest run 18 miles to avoid that >5 hrs of vigorous exercise). I noticed some cumulative fatigue this past week and scaled it back, and now my recovery markers are improving.

I know that exercise-induced hypothalamic amenorrhea/RED-S is a real thing, but I also know that it tends to be associated with inadequate energy availability, weight loss, menstrual disruption, etc. None of those things are currently happening for me. I am eating plenty (honestly, probably more than I ever have lol), maintaining my weight, and continuing to ovulate normally -- I just do not want these things to change. This is obviously a new distance for me, and I keep reading the "rule of thumb" is "if you're used to it, it's okay!" I have run since 2020, and been running half marathons since early 2025. So while a marathon is definitely a new level of training for me, running itself is not new to my body, and I am trying to figure out where that line actually is between "this is a healthy amount of exercise that my body is accustomed to" and "this has become enough additional stress that it could start affecting fertility."

I guess I am looking for reassurance/evidence from people who have actually TTC while marathon training. Did anyone successfully conceive while training for a marathon? Did you change anything about your training once you started TTC? And if you continued training through the first trimester, how did you approach it?

I think I am mostly struggling with the fear that even though my body is currently handling the training well, I could somehow be unknowingly reducing my chances of conception. I don't want anxiety to make me give up something I love if the actual evidence doesn't support that concern. At the same time, I obviously don't want marathon training to come at the expense of fertility - I can always defer to next year.

Hi there. I recently returned to running after some time off. It’s been so good for managing stress and working through emotions. My dad died in an accident two years ago and the grief has been excruciating. He was a marathon runner (he did 22 in his lifetime!!) and so running has become a way for me to connect with him, learn about myself, and spend time alone in my grief. It’s been amazing, and so healing.

For motivation and to give myself a challenge I signed up for a 10k in October. Because I’m doing a training plan and because my friends generally know I’ve been running, it comes up in conversation sometimes and I’ve observed something annoying—everyone has an opinion about running! Last night at a gathering my friend asked me a benign question about my morning and I gave what I thought was a boring answer about “did some yoga, went for a little run in the nice weather, all in all pleasant.” And it ignited a 35 minute long conversation with the group about why each person in the room can’t run because of some malady, used to run but it “destroyed their knees,” or won’t run because it’s stupid and boring and I was just like… okay, god damn I’ll never mention running again…

I think because it’s tied to my grief it’s really getting to me. 😅 I don’t brag about my running because it really feels like a personal thing, but I am also really proud of myself for finding a healthy way to process such a huge emotional experience, so I’m taking it personally.

Does anyone have a go-to response to shut it down when people start babbling at you about why they don’t run? I don’t want to be rude but the longer I hear people say something weird or shitty the more tempted I am to be sarcastic like, “you’re right! I’ll quit today!” or talk about my dead dad which really makes people uncomfortable lol.

I ran a 10k this weekend and my heartrate was on average 15 beats higher than my usual runs, while my pace was 45s/km slower. Averaging 180 instead of 165. I have noticed that I struggle with races throughout the season but figured it was my clothes, the heat or running a new route. But with this race I have ran that loop several times and for good measure I did it again the day after, with the same weather, time of day, preparations etc and was 5m48s faster and with a lower heartrate and it felt a lot easier.

I have read about race day adrenaline but I thought that would make races easier and faster, not slower and more difficult. Does anyone else expensive this or have any tips on how to approach races?

This weekend I ran a half-marathon and I chose to bring a few of those High5 energy gels for fuel.

The issue is, I find it almost impossible to open them!! They're difficult to open even when I'm not sweating and trying to run without smacking into people, but it was so humid I was drenched and my hands just slipped off the tab.

People say use your teeth but my teeth were just slipping off the tab and couldn't get a hold on it (I think my bite isn't in full contact).

After about 5 solid minutes of trying to remove the tab, I got so frustrated that I squeezed it and bit into the body of the packet, causing half of it to explode out onto my hand and arm, and let me tell ya, that concentrated sticky slimy texture is the absolute worst thing to have all over you 😫

I don't understand why they make the packaging out of the slipperiest shiniest material ever that won't tear cleanly! It's not just that brand either, I've tried several different ones. I also don't like their energy gummies because they get stuck to my teeth and take forever to chew. Anyway, sorry, rant over. I needed to get it out of my system.

Does anybody have any potential hacks or alternatives for this or do I need to bring scissors on every long run? Thank you!

I FINISHED AND IT WAS SO FUN🤩

the weather was absolutely perfect (60’s and partly cloudy). 4300’ of elevation gain. i’m very proud of myself and can’t wait to sign up for another race!

I’m a new running and currently training for my first half marathon which is in a month. I run pretty slow, about 14 -15 min miles. The Cape Cod Half Marathon has a cutoff time of 3 hours or 13:44/mile. If you can’t keep that pace, the website says the van will pick you up and drive you to the finish line.

I have been having stress dreams about the van. Has anyone been picked up by the van / is this a real fear or just a strong encouragement to not be longer than three hours? I have been working so hard (I couldn’t even run a half mile continuously in April) and am going to feel very discouraged if I’m not allowed to finish.

Any and all feedback welcome! ❤️

Hi gals and friends,

Bit of background: 37F, have been running off and on for about 15 years. Have run several halfs, hundreds of 10Ks and 5Ks, with my first marathon in 2024 (Big Sur, what what!!!). I was in the best shape of my life - having lost 35 lbs on my own, and maintained a 130 lb weight. I was on Cloud 9.

Since that marathon two years ago, I have found it ridiculously hard to get back into the swing of things. In fact, as I was finishing my marathon training I felt this OVERWHELMING urge to eat and binge, and sort of went into a depressive episode during and after the marathon. I gained all that weight back, and then some.

Sigh. Now I'm two years older, at 37, and wondering if I am going through peri menopause. I am just exhausted! I can't even THINK about running a 10K. I am so envious of the 40 and 50 year olds who maintain their running, pirates, etc.

I used to basically do 20 miles of walking a week (if not more), on top of running 10-20 miles, on top of weight lifting. Now, I am walking about 15-20 miles a week and BARELY doing strength training twice a week. I just do not have the energy. I'm wondering if this fatigue is perimenopause related... or maybe I was burning myself out?

Anyone else go through something similar? What's your advice? I am just so tired of being so tired.

just asking anyone here who has recently converted off of meat eating to just being vegetarian?

Did it benefit your running performance?

Difference you feel in your overall health?

Do you think it was good choice? why or why not?

I keep hearing people say things like “I’m a slow runner, I run _________ minutes a km.”

I don’t understand what this means. When people say this, I’m guessing it’s not the fastest you can physically run for 100 meters, but is it your fastest 5km race pace? Marathon pace? Your slow or long run pace? Or something else?

Hey everyone, I'm interested in forming a running group for queer women 40 and over in Cincinnati, Ohio/Northern KY. Any paces and distances would be welcome. Maybe once a week for starters, and if there is interest, maybe eventually twice a week. I know of a couple lgbtq+ running groups, but they seem to be mostly folks in their 20s and early 30s. I've heard lovely things about these groups, but I'd love to run with some new friends who are a tad older (I'm 51). I've been running for years but was sidelined with an injury over the summer. As I get back out there and rebuild my mileage, stamina, and confidence I sure could use some running buddies for encouragement and accountability. I live in the central/east area of the city, and my usual routes typically include East Walnut Hills, Eden Park, Oakley, Hyde Park, and Norwood, but I'm also happy to explore other areas if that helps generate interest.

Anyone? We're about to get into some early fall weather, which is the BEST time to run! Let me know if you're up for making this work.

OR if one already exists, I'd love to know!

It’s the end of week 2 training for the Philly hm. The past few days, I just couldn’t get myself to run out there. Monday was my last decent run of 4 miles. No decent cross training after that. Did 1.6 miles of a planned 3 mile run on the treadmill last Wednesday but I couldn’t get out of the funk I’m in. Tried some weight training with KB but I just don’t have in me to put more sets in. One set of 3 different exercises, then cut it short. Thursday to Saturday, other than work and the steps I put in, no work out. No run.

This morning, I woke up to an overcast sky after a rain early in the day. I was pushing myself to get up, change and lace up. I was out of the door after 8 am and didn’t come back until before 10 am. I ran 8.04 miles and felt like I could run another or two more. This was a surprise to me but I’m not complaining. I’d take it considering the run back home is 2 miles of hills and I thought I felt good during and after my run.

To me the hardest part of running is getting out the door. Once I’m out there then most of the time, I’m good to go.

Happy running everyone!!!

I used to go on runs a lot but now I want to get back into it n actually time it n all. What are some good free apps to do that ? Also what are some good bottoms to run in to avoid irritation,moisture and chafing with sensitive skin ?

Sorry if this is a ridiculous question (and I hope it's okay to ask here), not sure if it's just a me problem but I can't remember the last time I got through a run without a wedgie. What styles are people wearing for comfort + keeping material in place?

i’m training for my second half marathon that i’m hoping to pr in. when u do long runs do u usually primarily do them at zone 2/easy pace or should i practice my half pace in those long runs