I’ve been unable to run for over 2 months due to a knee injury. But with some PT I finally started running about 2 weeks ago. Ran for 30 minutes Tuesday and it was my first run without any knee discomfort since the injury!

The injury wasn’t related to running, but it prevented me from doing any sort of impact based activities. Running, jumping, etc.

It’s a personal preference. For me, I only buy shorts without liners and wear my own from Saxx. I tried a bunch of different built in options about 15 years ago and ran into uncomfortable compression or chaffing issues.

Unless you’re at a pretty high level, I’d start with the free plans Garmin offers with their watches. Someone else already mentioned it, but it’s the daily suggested workouts.

If you don’t have a Garmin watch, then you can buy some nice programs through training peaks that displays through their calendar and can sync with pretty much any fitness watch. I think runners world has a handful of their programs on there for like 20 or so dollars.

I’ve seen a lot of people talk about an app called Runna recent that’s suppose to do your programming for you. Haven’t used it, but if it does what it says on the box, that also may be a good option. Runna is an ongoing subscription though.

Welcome back to running!

I’m going to suggest something that I don’t see anyone else talking about here. Synology, the company mostly known for the NAS devices, makes some surprisingly good routers as well. I’ve got 2 of their RT2600ac and 3 of their MR220AC mesh units. Their configuration software is unlike anything I’ve used by any other brand. It a web based interface that looks like a variant of desktop linux. Configuring it feels like configuring an actual computer.

I had originally purchased these for my business, an esports center, but after the business closed a few years ago I kept the hardware and used them in my home. They are so much better than any other consumer networking hardware I’ve tried from DLink, Linksys, and Asus.

They have newer models out that support AX wifi. But I haven’t felt the need to upgrade yet. A few notes though. Their hardware does not necessarily support every cutting edge feature. No wifi 7 as far as I know for instance. They seem to sit about 2-3 years behind the absolute latest, but the trade off seems to be stability and reliability.

In my home, I have every unit physically hardwired back to my server rack in my basement. So while it does support mesh over wifi, I’ve opted to run ethernet to every room in my house. My general rule is anything that can be wired, should be wired. We even have a disconnected shed/workshop which I trenched and buried a cable out to so that I’d have a wired access point out there.

I rarely see anyone mention Synology’s routers, but I think they are worth consideration.

I don’t know if I can really think of 1 single killer feature. It’s been using Garmin for so long that the entire software package just feels pretty encompassing. I’m primarily just running and strength training.

I started creating custom workouts for strength training this year and I love being able to follow along step by step with my preprogrammed strength routine right on my watch. No need to constantly check my phone for what’s next or what weight. I find it easiest to create these workouts using their website, though you can do it on mobile. You can also put specific weight numbers in, or % of your max. Great if your doing a cycle that you can reuse repeatedly without having to update each workout with new numbers each cycle.

Fitbod is a really popular app that does pretty much exactly what you’re asking for. It’s not free, but here’s a referral link to get 6 free workouts before you have to pay anything. As far as I can tell. It’s the best workout planner available right now if you want to be completely hands off with it.

It will tell you what exercises to do, what set and Rep counts, what weights, etc. You can program it with exactly what equipment you have access to. And even multiple different profiles if you workout in different locations like a gym, at home, body weight only, etc.

They do have short videos in each movement you can choose to view that shows you how to correctly do the movement, but they are there for reference only. It’s not meant to follow along like a fitness+ video is.

I find controlled negatives help a lot with pull-ups. Start at the top of the bar, and slowly lower yourself down. Basically a pull up in reverse. You can aim for a specific number of seconds before you are fully extended.

I live far enough north that my mornings have still been relatively cool. So I’ve been prioritizing running early. My afternoons and evenings have been pretty uncomfortable. So we’ve had to skip some of our daily evening dog walks.

Lots of great options from Garmin. The Forerunner 45/55 is going to be your most basic and cheapest option. Still reliable, good battery life, accurate, etc. This is what I’d recommend if your buying new.

But if you can find a forerunner 245 on the used market (last gen device) or discounted at a retail store, I’d look for one of them. It’s a pretty solid upgrade over the 55. The 200 series is basically Garmins default best value line. The 245 specifically knocked it out of the park in price to performance and is probably their best selling model.

Of course the newer 255 is “better” but unless you got FOMO, there’s not a lot of reason to pay more for it.

I wouldn’t look at anything higher than the 200 line. The 600s are targeted towards long distance marathoners, the 900s towards multi sport triathletes, and the fenix/Epix towards hikers/rugged sports and people with more money than sense. And I can say that while wearing an Epix.

The Venus are comparably priced to the forerunners I recommended but are targeted more at people looking for a smartwatch first.

I’ve never been on a team or ran for an organization per se, but while I was in college I got really involved in the local running and triathlon community. I turned to training peaks and bought a 5k, 1/2 marathon and triathlon training program through their site. I think it was one that runners world had published. I got down to a 20:40 5k and 1:44:50 13.1 without any formal training and was pretty happy with that!