r/XXRunning

Hey runners,

I’m a female 34 year old and I have been running since I was in 3rd grade for the cross country team. Running is my escape and happy place. The past couple of years, I have had some rough diagnosis medical wise. But I refuse to give up training, ( they haven’t told me to stop) but my main issue is, most races are in the morning.
and it makes sense.
But unfortunately for me, my mornings are the worse part of my day, I wake up around 4 am in pain and have to do loads of stuff to get stable by like 10 am.

After that I’m good enough and able to tough out the day.

I’ve ran so many races and I’m training my son to run with me.

I just know I won’t be able to compete in the mornings which scares me bc that’s when races are ( that I’m aware of )

Does anyone know of any half’s/ marathons that are at night or start just not in the mornings?

I’m also interested in ultra events, basically anything that isn’t in the morning.

I would really like to have these memories of finishing races with my son together, I have a stage 4 cancer diagnosis so I know I don’t have long, but I wanna create all the memories and it was always the goal to run these races together and finish together. We wanted to do all the worlds together when he got older but right now, I’ll settle for any nighttime race in the us.
I just wanna run an official marathon with my son just incase well… you know.. life happens.

If you know of any races, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you and happy running everybody!
Hope you all have a good season!

I've been battling a RED-S diagnosis since mid last year. The recovery has been tough; realising I can't just eat more and run. I had to apply the "injury" tag to it - metabolic injury; and stop running (I tried to return to running but my body told me to totally 'eff off).

Anyway, long story short. I ran my first hard effort of 2026 today and got my Hr to 180! First time since mid-2023 I've managed this. Struggled to get it to around 170-172 ever since a 10k back then and realise this should have been a sign.

Anyway - to those who are also battling; keep going forward; eat the rice and the cake and enjoy resting and allowing your injury to recover!

I have a long way to go but it's the little things that keep me going ✌🏼

Hiya!

I have sciatica, and looking for some tips as this is all kinda new to me. I have had it a bit before, but I didn't work out and was 20 at that point (im 29 now). I always figured I got it due to poor health back then (never excercised, sedentary lifestyle).

Now I run 3 times a week, and strength train 2. The last few lower body sessions I have gotten problems with sciatica after. The thing is, my running is unaffected, it actually kind of feels like the best pain relief.

My pain is worst when I sleep, sit at my work desk or lie in bed. So resting doesn't seem to be the remedy. I am training for a marathon and I dont want to stop doing that. Also I am enjoying running so much and dont want to quit it!

If any of you had it, how did you tackle it? Only curious and will of course confere with a medical professional before deciding on anything.

I am going to a pshysical therapist, but have some wait time.

My plan is to either take a break from the strength sessions or severely revise them to be more low impact until I get to the PT.

Appreciate all insight! Thanks xx

ok, has anyone else felt like this? i can’t be the only one, right?

i completed pfitz’s base building up to 30mpw plan a few months ago. i’ve been maintaining running 4x a week and lifting 3x a week with one rest day and one day where i do two workouts for about 7 months. i then moved into his half marathon training plan, got to 37mpw, and with everything happening in life (work, taking care of my parents, stress, money, my friend not being able to go with me), i decided to not travel for the race and to not race a half next month.

i figure i’m just overwhelmed and overtraining so i took a week off. since that week off, i haven’t really bounced back. i ran 10 miles two weeks ago, then 20 last week. i would like to go back to 30 but like… i didn’t want to run 8 miles today. my legs are tired. i did a speed workout and a lift on monday and did a rest day yesterday. i made myself run today and i just didn’t care for it.

i’m also slower. maybe it’s because during winter and a few months ago i could crush 10-11 min mile pace and today? i’m at like 12-13 min, i walk a ton. like what is wrong with me??? maybe it’s because i’m slow and need to carve out loads of time to run. maybe it’s feeling like a chore. maybe i just want to get faster and run less mileage every week so i can spend less time every weekday, trying to plan out my workday around my workouts. i’d like to maintain half marathon fitness but be faster. is that even possible? i’ve honestly considered paying for a coach because clearly something is wrong with what i’m doing.

since i’m not racing i figure i’ll just maintain at 25-30mpw with lifting 2-3x a week and i can’t. i already did some blood tests and i have low ferritin so i’m taking iron pills, hoping that it’ll help. but just weeks of not wanting to run, or running but my pace being so awful, makes me feel like shit. has this happened to anyone? how do you even get past this?

Does anyone have any recommendations for womens only races? Trail or road racing is fine. Live in PNW, but open to anything in the western US.

Hey Y'all!Training for my first marathon in Brooklyn, and most of my runs end up before sunrise since that's the only time I can reliably get out. The thing I didn't think about going in: as the long runs get longer, my normal loop isn't enough anymore, so I'm ending up in areas I don't know as well while it's still dark.

I've had a couple of moments this year that made me a little more thoughtful about where I go; nothing dramatic, but enough that I now actually plan the route instead of just heading out the door.

I don't want to be paranoid about it or stop doing the runs. I'm just curious how the rest of you handle it in practice. When the mileage forces you somewhere new and it's still dark, how do you decide where to go? Do you stick to a few known loops and repeat them, switch it up, head somewhere specific? And has anyone actually changed a regular route because something felt off, or do you mostly just keep going?

Mostly trying to learn from people who've been doing this longer than me. Go easy on me. Thanks!

I just spotted a dude at my running trail setting up his drone to record him running. I feel like this is super invasive because I just want to run in the woods, not be in some dude’s video. I don’t mind when people film at trail races for race reports but this just felt extra douchy. Who runs with a drone?

Hey guys! So, I'm a 15 year old girl and I recently started running this year. I've been running practically 100% of the time on a treadmill because of weather and because I'm not sure what to do running outside in my area.

I live in rural kansas so ALL of the roads within a ~15 mile radius are packed dirt and pretty uneven. What shoes are best for running on that type of road?

But my biggest issue is people and animals--I'm not SO worried about people, more so free roaming dogs and such. Any advice on how to ease my worries on that?

I know where most off leash dogs are in my area, but there are definitely ones I don't know about and strays. Should I wear some sort of belt and keep pepper spray in it or something? I'm pretty small, 5'5 120ish lbs, and I'm just paranoid I wouldn't be able to adequately defend myself. Thanks!

NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. I rolled my ankle last week and have been taking it easy. Thankfully, no loss of balance or strength can walk with minimal pain.

I have made the dumb mistake of ignoring injuries which led to a terrible muscle tear that took me out for a month and now want to listen to my body.

For ladies who needed to take a break to rest up, did you explore any new hobbies or try new things? It can be exercise or just a silly show.

This is a long shot but here goes. I’m traveling on a family trip to Athens not long before the fall marathon I plan to run. I’m always game to run anywhere and wondered if anyone here had any experience running in Athens or on Paros or Naxos. I’d be running alone in the morning. I’m hoping I can just go out the door and blaze my own path each day.
Help me out ladies, is this possible?

Grab a bottle of electrolyte drink, go wild with the foam roller, and give us all the tea on how your training has been lately!

Have a really good run? Share your win!

Struggling with something? This is a safe space to vent and get support!

Thanks for being part of this community!

I’m training for a marathon in August. I’ve done a HM race to prep for the big one. It’s currently week 2 according to my marathon plan BUT now I’m doing run/walk and speed is down the drain.

4 months ago, I started using Hansons HM plan, to test my body if I can do high weekly mileage and only runs. It was hard, and I foolishly also did some speed work too. I reached 60k/week and couldn’t get higher, because I was slow, tired, i didn’t want to compromise sleep and get up at 4am.

Had a HM pb with a friend, 1 month before race, nice! But then everything gone downhill.

For the next 1 month I was always in bad niggle, shin splint, can’t walk properly, run is possible after a 5k warm up. I thought i needed energy so i ate so much I felt fat and can barely fit in most of my clothes. My hormone was bad, got the worst PMS, pimples all the time. The pain still there.

Then comes race day, didn’t beat my delulu pb goal. Took 1 week off afterwards, and was still struggling with the stairs.

So this week I’ve done an hour strength training, and I can now hop, run walk, it’s slow but it’s positive progress.

I still want to hit high weekly distance, but will all be easy with a day or 2 of squats lunges etc.

I’m changing my marathon plan now, def not Hanson anymore. I’m thinking Higdon novice 2 or int 1 but just easy runs. What do you reckon? Thanks in advance :)

I can not run outside since I'm a girl and the area around me isn't safe. I was wondering if running on my roof would be optimal its a small space. Some tips would be nice im looking to improve my endurance.

I love my airpods (1st/2nd gen), but I have small ears and they slide out eventually when I'm doing hard workouts on a treadmill. Looking for earbuds with the same sound quality, but the kind that hooks over the ear to keep them in place when I'm sweating a lot.

NOT shokz please, I bought some previously & returned them for I didn't like the sound quality. Also don't care for hearing my surroundings (rather have noise cancellation! but not mandatory) / not looking for open type earbuds.

So far I'm considering Soundcore Sport X20 or Powerbeats Pro 2.

Does anyone have other recs? TYA!

I (22F) am training for my first half marathon! I have been running for a bit more than three years now, and have done a few 5ks and trained for a half marathon in late 2024 but I got injured so I never ended up doing it.

I am running a half in november and I am looking for the best training plan; I currently run ~5 days a week usually hitting 18-20 miles a week. I am hoping to run under 2 hours. I have a Garmin but I have found that their plan doesn’t have a ton of variety in speed workouts. I don’t really want to pay, unless it’s super cheap, but what have yall found to be a good training plan?

toke 2 months and have gotten back into running, my zone 2 pace used to be \~8:15/km, and is now 7:30/km. meanwhile my tempo pace has slowed by 1 minute a km. why? im assuming this is because previously i was overtraining, but how do i avoid overtraining while keeping up mileage? i was only running 4 times a week 25-30 km.

Apologies if this has been posted but I didn’t see any posts recently. REI’s anniversary sale is underway and could be a good time to purchase things like hydration vests/packs (REI brand and Nathan are both on sale), bras and other apparel (Janji is included), etc.

I bought the new Aerozip 1L from Nathan even though I have a perfectly adequate Salomon Adv Skin 5 🤦‍♀️ but I liked the neon yellow color, the zip up option instead of the straps and the lack of a “backpack” pouch on my back — thinking it’ll be good for shorter runs and will maybe be more comfortable? (Note: I think Nathan also has a sale on their website.)

I also bought several of the REI brand Sahara Sun shirts (but in the kids sizes — the women’s don’t fit me as well).

I wanted to buy the new patterns/colors of the Janji longline bra but bought quite a few of the cobalt blue one last fall when they were clearance-priced. Hoping the coral doesn’t completely sell out.

There are some shoes on sale too, but not the brand/styles I like so nothing for me there.