Calling all RUNNERS! Marathoners or beginners!

I used to run when I was in the Army.

I've been a non-runner for many years now. so I'm using the Active couch to 5 k program to get back into it

I started running in high school - I didn't take it seriously, Track is just something all my friends did.

I spent college getting fat and not running at all

After college, i started running again, just 10 minute jogs on the treadmill as a warm up before weights.

A friend and I decided we would run a 10k that spring - while doing it, we saw the half marathoners getting medals. We wanted medals, so we signed up for a half in Chicago. While traing for that, we kept on getting emails about registering for the Chicago Marathon. One night we got drunk and signed up for it. That was nine years ago. In 11 days, i will run my 9th Chicago Marathon (it will be something like my 15th overall). The first one I didn't have a plan for, I overtrained, injured myself, but still pulled out a 4:26 marathon. I spent several years not really training seriously and sticking around that time. One year I decided to run with a pace group, and suddenly ran a 3:54. Then it was off to the races, quite literally. I qualified/ran Boston, have enlisted better and more involved plans, and I'm aiming for a 3:15 this time around. We'll see how it goes.

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How did everyone get started? Did you use a program? Where are you now?

I started running after I joined the Army in 1984, 3 half marathons and countless 5ks later, still running!

I have been running on and off for a few years now, entering local 5k and 10k events. Last year I trained for a half marathon and then a triathlon (I was 14 weeks pregnant doing the Triathlon, so had to take it easy). Since then I have let my fitness slip completely throughout my pregnancy and since the baby was born. I have signed up for a full marathon in April, not sure yet if it was a 'fool hardy' decision but i'm feeling pretty determined. I'm only up to 3 miles so far, but the plan is to follow Hal Higdons 10 k training plan and roll it into his 18 week Marathon schedule. I'm really keen to follow how other runners are progressing with their training, tips, stories and motivation. I've sent you a friend request, Best of Luck with your training :-)

I used to be terrrrrrrrrible at running and just decided one day that I wanted to get better at it. I started a 5k training app called "personal running trainer" but didn't set any type of deadline for myself (I hadn't signed up for any races) I grew bored of the training fast and kind of put it on the back burner. It wasn't until about a month ago my best friend (a marathon runner) convinced me to sign up for a 5K. She kept telling me that it took her actually having paid for a race and having a deadline that motivated her to get up and train. So I did, and I started another training program that was recommended by the 5k's website. I STILL kept hitting a wall. I was so bored of the training. I lived for my once-a-week run around my neighborhood with my best friend, but hating my training sesssions during the week that I so often skipped them because lack of motivation. I had gotten up to a solid 2 miles no problem but felt like if I didn't have some kind of "trainging program" i would never get to my 5k.... then one day, I just got up and ran 3 miles. And it was the BEST run. Honestly, I came to learn that training programs don't work for everyone. They didn't work for me. After my 3 miles, I have easily been able to increase my distance each time I run. And it's way more fun for me this way! So whether you decide to follow some program or just run, figure out what works for you! Some people thrive off of the structure of a training plan (and you can find those everywhere from runner's world magazine, to pinterest, to iphone apps, anywhere you look really, just google it.) and some people just gotta RUN!... good luck with your ventures! From a fellow beginner!

"How did everyone get started? Did you use a program? Where are you now?"

Fooled around running in college, but too many other distractions to stick with it...

Flash forward to 20 years later, I lost over 30 lbs and decided to get back into it. I always enjoyed it and being more mature with a hectic schedule gave me the discipline and drive to work through the Couch to 5K program and keep upping my mileage.

I started C25K in late March this year, with around a 12:00 mile and I'm now logging around 25 miles a week training for a half-marathon. My last "long" run was 7.4 miles and my last speed run Tuesday I did 3 miles averaging a 7:30 pace. Love it.

Yeah I really want to do a half marathon next year but I'm definitely only at a 5k kind of point at the moment. A lot of work to be done! I ran the B2B in September in 33 minutes which is my PB but I realise that isn't really too great. If anyone has any good tips or articles for interval training or on how to build up km's that would be awesome

I got re-started running (after 25 years) with a home made version of C25K. In January I couldn't even run one lap around the track without stopping. Now I regularly run 5 miles with no stops.

I started by alternating running a minute and walking a minute until I had done this for a total of 30 minutes. I did this 3 times a week for the first week. The next week I added 30 seconds to each run, but kept the walking at 1 minute. I kept adding 30 seconds to the running portion every week. After a while I was up to running for about 20 minutes before I was due for a walk. At that point I went to the track with the goal of running 30 minutes (or 3 miles) without stopping. It was difficult, but I did it.

From that point on it was just a matter of doing it again and again...doing it a little faster each time.

Check out the book "Run Your Butt Off" for a great 12 week training program that also focuses on weight loss. Very easy to read and filled with a common sense approach. It's from the editors and writers at Runners World (there are also great resources on runnersworld.com - including training programs for beginners). Personally I just made it to 2 miles in 32 minutes (60 pounds lost, too).

I always swore I would never run for exercise. Then one day a few months ago, we were watching Resident Evil: Afterlfe and my brain just suddenly pronounced "you know if you're ever faced with a zombie horde, you're going to die."

Silly, but for whatever reason it stuck with me the next morning, so I downloaded the c25k app and tried it. I'm about halfway through now (had to take a few weeks off for illness), but I'm definitely hooked.

How did everyone get started? Did you use a program? Where are you now?

I see lots of questions about running on here and I started to wonder everyone's story. I think it will help motivate me and others!

I started using the Zombie Run 5k app. I loved it and kept going. I love the way you start really slow and build confidence. Then one day you find the run over and that you can keep going! I am now doing the Zombie Run app and still loving it. I started because at the end of the day I just needed a way to get ride of stress (and calories) and I needed something that could just shake off all that stress. Running did it!

I started with c25k in June 2012 ( my 5th and final attempt as I kept quitting, it was just ''too hard''), and just kept going, by May 2013 I had completed my first marathon.

But I did invest in correctly fitted running shoes right from day one.

Building up mileage gradually is what worked for me, and as well as weight loss, running was free therapy for me :-)

Good luck and congrats and keep going!

I started through the Air Force (yes, we run). Our PT program changed back in 02/03 and we were having to run, so I started to get into it. However, they tell you to run, but they don't teach you any of the fundamentals. Improper shoes, drastic increases in mileage, and crappy form led to a knee blowout in 04, and I put on 30lbs over the next few years. Fast forward to now, I do everything right, lost the weight, and have a great time racing

Although I've always had the ability to run, I never had the inspiration. In high school, when I was skinny, we had to run a "12 min run", and see how far we could make it. I remember the farthest I could go was 1.4 miles. I was quick though, I used to pinch run for the slow kids on the baseball team.

Anyway, I never really RAN until June of this year. My 8 year old son loves running and playing outside, and I knew somewhere in me there had to be something in there. I kindasortamaybe ran a little bit last year, because I signed up for a company sponsored 5k in July, and I huffed and puffed and ran halfway / walked halfway and hated it. But I did it. This year, I wanted to do the 5k again, so I actually started walking in May, and running little bits in June. So I finished the company 5k in 28:46 and was super stoked about it. Since then I've been running all the time. I ran 28 of 31 days in July and even ran 3 more 5k's.

I have signed up for two more races in October:
My first 10K , this SUNDAY, which goes up a 1.5 mile hill at a 4%-5% grade (yes, I knew that going in)
And the week after, my first Half Marathon.

And I'm ready for both! (I may huff and puff on the 10k though, that hill is nasty).

My profile here says *installing runner module* - 32% complete ; because that's how I feel about it. I'm installing this mindset into my brain, and I'm even making ideas in my head about traveling for races, and maybe even doing full marathons by 2015.

I started out in the summer of 2010, walking mostly, about 3-5 days a week, 3-5 miles at a time. I then decided to start running one day and I signed up for my first half marathon in August, exactly two months from the race date.

Ever since then, I've been running. I've completed a few half marathons, lots of 10ks, a couple of 5ks and a full marathon. I'm running my second marathon in December (California International Marathon) and my third in April (Big Sur International Marathon). I run 5-6 days a week now, and I love it.

I know it sounds totally cliche, but running has totally changed my life and in multiple ways. It pushes me in ways other things have never done and I'm in the best shape I've been in since high school - or perhaps even ever.

Is it best to increase mileage each week? The run keeper app,I'm using is gettingnmebto do shorter runs then a longer run and then a run with sprints at the end? I'm trying to build to a10k. I'm struggling with my pace as its around 6.30/km. I'm not sure whether to work on pave or distance?