Hinge reply when she says she's training for a 10k and her knees are complaining

A line about training plus a complaint is almost always an invitation to be a little sympathetic and a little amused. The complaint is the part she's most likely to want a response to, because it's the part that's real. The training is the part she's proud of. Read both. If you only respond to the proud part, you've skipped the bit she brought up on purpose.

You can also tell how far she wants to go by how she framed it. A jokey tone with a lot of self-deprecation means she's inviting you to play. A flat, matter-of-fact tone means she wants a grounded response, not a bit. Match the energy she used. Don't escalate the joke if she kept it dry, and don't get serious if she clearly wanted to laugh about it.

One kind acknowledges the knees with light humour and asks her one question about the training. This works when she was playful. The question should be about her experience, like what the hardest part of building up has been, not about your stats. A good draft of this type names the knees or the fight with her body, adds one small joke, and ends on a question she can answer in a sentence or two.

A second kind shows you're interested in the goal itself and not just the complaint. This fits when her framing was more proud than funny. It recognises the milestone, asks how the race is shaping up, and keeps the focus on her plans. Leave out any warning about overtraining or a suggestion to see a physio, even if you think it's helpful. That reads as unsolicited.

A third kind is a short shared reaction, a bit of common ground without a question at all. Use this if the profile is full and a question would feel like an interview. Keep it to one sentence, something that says you get the frustration of a body that won't cooperate. Don't pile a question on top of it.

Send within a few hours of her message if you can, and ideally during the day when she's likely to be active on the app. A reply to a fitness-related prompt at a sensible hour reads as normal. Late at night, the same message can read as more loaded than you meant it to be.

If she replies with a real answer, respond to that answer before you ask anything new. If she gives you two sentences about her race date or her knee physio, pick one detail from those two sentences to build on. Don't restart the conversation or shift to your own week. If she replies with a single word or a shrug, leave it there and let her pick the next move. If three to four days pass with no reply, one light follow-up is fine, something new about the race or a neutral check-in. After that, let it go. A lot of matches stall because someone kept nudging after the other person had already stopped.