r/BeginnersRunning

I’ve been obsessed with Lower Sugar Gatorades lately!

Hi all. I'm about to take part in my first official 5K this weekend, a Memorial Day race. I have only been running for about 3 months just building my aerobic base up. I usually run anywhere from 3 to 5 miles at a time several times a week. My usual pace is anywhere from 10:30 to 11:15 a mile depending on the day. I was thinking I would kinda like to get a sub 30 minute finish. I have done a few 5K distances on my own and finished them about the 32 to 35 minute mark. Is it doable or am I just being crazy and overthinking it? Mostly this race is to.honor fallen friends I lost in Iraq, but also to start getting into race environments because I'm signed up.for a half marathon in February. First goal is to have fun, but is a sub 30 reachable? Thanks all.

I’m not really a “runner” in any structured sense, but I feel like I might actually be someone who’s meant to run… even though I barely run lol.

Some context: 35F; Current running: very occasional (no weekly mileage, no plan); When I do run: I can comfortably run 30–40 mins at ~9 km/h without stopping; Other activity: pickleball fairly regularly + some on/off strength training

I’m fine at running when I do it - It’s not something my body struggles with or that feels out of reach. I just… don’t do it regularly and that makes me wonder how I am able to do fine at it.

It ends up being something I only do randomly once in a while, even though I know it’s probably good for me if it was a more consistent habit.

I’m not training for anything right now, and I wouldn’t even say I’m especially drawn to running, but I keep coming back to the thought that I should probably be doing more of it than I currently am.

Curious how others think about this — when you know you can do something like running comfortably, but you don’t actually build it into your routine. Do you just accept it as occasional, or make it a more intentional habit?

Hi there- I started running last year, and couldnt do more than 10 seconds without stopping and wanting to die. this weekend I am doing my first 5k, which I can do non-stop in about 40min. I enjoy challenging myself and there's another race weekend in september. I have looked at training plans and am considering the half marathon but also am cognizant that I may be pushing myself too much, too soon. 10k would be smarter but I feel like that it's not enough of a challenge. I cycle 3x a week to work so I am mildly in shape. I am just looking for any similar experiences or advice. Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I just completed a Couch25k program and now I'm searching for a fitting running watch.

As I like to wear a normal analog watch in everday life I'm planning to only really wear it for training and maybe sleep sometimes.

I'd love to have a training plan with my watch, for which I may get a runna subscription (does this make sense for a complete beginner?).

Options I'm currently looking at are Garmin Forerunner 70, 165, 265s, the Coros Pace 4 (really love the design here) and an Apple Watch Series 11 or 3 SE (but I heard battery life really sucks here).

Garming does have a coach integrated, so I wouldn't need runna, but I hear that it does somewhat depend on the data it gathers while wearing it outside of training, which I don't currently plan on doing.

Any recommendations here or other options I may have overlooked?

I’m a relatively new runner trying to understand how runners interpret post-race recovery metrics, especially resting heart rate trends.

Context: I ran two half-marathons in 2025 with basically no structured training. I started light training in January 2026, dropped my half-marathon time by about 30 minutes in April 2026, and I’m currently training toward a sub-2-hour half-marathon in October 2026.

Four days ago, I ran a 10K race. My plan called for treating it like an easy effort around 11:30/mi, but I got caught up in the start-line energy and ended up running a 10K PR at 9:56/mi. That same day was also a high-output day overall, with roughly 5,500 total calories burned according to my watch.

Since then, my watch-reported resting heart rate has been lower than usual:

• Race morning: 57 bpm
• Day after: 60 bpm
• Two days after: 53 bpm
• Three days after: 55 bpm
• Today: 48 bpm

I’m not looking for medical advice or a diagnosis. I’m trying to understand how other runners think about interpreting RHR changes after an unexpectedly hard race effort.

For those who track RHR/HRV after races:

• How much weight do you give a short-term RHR drop during recovery?
• Do you treat it as meaningful, or mostly as watch noise unless paired with fatigue, poor sleep, elevated soreness, or bad workouts?
• What other recovery indicators do you usually look at before deciding whether to resume normal training?

In 2022 I got into running and trained for a half marathon. Unfortunately life/a case of plantar fasciitis got in the way and I stopped running.

This year I picked running back up and am on a 11 week streak with a total of 25 runs. With a slow ramp up and mixing in a good amount of strength training, I now have gotten up to 4 miles as my long run.

However, I still have not hit that point where I am enjoying running and am still just forcing myself to do it for exercise. In 2022 I was addicted to it and was so excited to run. But now, I dread it and am constantly looking at my phone to see how much further I have left.

I think it is all a mental thing and I want to find ways to trick myself. What do you guys do aside from listening to music to not get bored and not hate running? Should I stop tracking my runs?