Learn Hardcore Finnish: Laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan ja menen ulos juoksemaan. - I put on my running shoes and go out to run.

So minä laitan… ja minä menen… would be correct but sounds heavy in normal speech. Native Finnish usually drops minä unless it’s needed for emphasis or contrast:

Minä menen ulos, sinä jäät kotiin.
I am going out, you are staying home.

What does laitan mean, and is it the same as panen?

Laitan is the 1st person singular of laittaa, which broadly means to put, place, set, prepare.
Here, laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan = I put (my) running shoes on (my feet).

You could also say:

Panan lenkkikengät jalkaan (colloquial: Panen…)

In standard language, laittaa and panna often overlap when you talk about putting clothes or shoes on. Many speakers prefer laittaa in everyday speech because panna also has strong sexual slang meanings, so it can sound a bit awkward or funny in some contexts.

So in this sentence, laitan is completely normal and natural.

Why is lenkkikengät plural? In English I could say “a running shoe”.

Lenkkikenkä = a running shoe / sneaker.
Lenkkikengät = running shoes (pair), sneakers.

Finnish usually uses the plural for items that naturally come in pairs and are worn on the body:

housut – trousers (lit. “pants”, only plural)
sukat – socks
käsineet – gloves

So:

laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan
= I put on (my) running shoes.

Even if in English you might say “my running shoe” in some contexts, in Finnish it’s almost always plural here.

Where is the word “my”? Why doesn’t Finnish say “my running shoes”?

Finnish often leaves out possessive words like my / your / his when it’s obvious from context.

In this sentence, it’s naturally assumed that you put on your own shoes and go out to run yourself. So:

Laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan
is understood as
Laitan (omat) lenkkikengät (omaan) jalkaani.
→ I put my running shoes on my (own) feet.

If you need to be explicit, you can say:

Laitan lenkkikenkäni jalkaan. – I put on my running shoes.
(here -ni is a possessive suffix: my)

What case is jalkaan, and why is it singular if there are two feet and two shoes?

Jalkaan is the illative singular of jalka (foot, leg).

jalka → a foot / leg
jalkaan → into the foot / onto the foot (direction “to / into / onto”)

The phrase laittaa kengät jalkaan is idiomatic. Even though there are two shoes and two feet, Finnish very often uses the singular here:

Laitan kengät jalkaan. – I put my shoes on.
Laitan sukat jalkaan. – I put my socks on.

Using the plural jalkoihin (to the feet) is also grammatically possible (laitan kengät jalkoihin), but in everyday speech and writing, the singular jalkaan is far more common in this idiom.

Why is it menen ulos, not something like menen ulkoon?

Ulos is an adverb meaning (to the) outside / out expressing movement outwards.

Compare:

ulos – (to) outside, out (direction, movement)
ulkona – outside (location, state)
ulkoa – from outside (source)

So:

menen ulos – I go out / I go outside.
olen ulkona – I am outside.
tulen ulkoa – I come from outside.

There is a form ulkoon, but it’s old-fashioned / limited, and menen ulos is the normal modern way to say I go outside.

What exactly is juoksemaan, and why not just say juosta?

Juoksemaan is the third infinitive, illative case of the verb juosta (to run).

juosta – basic infinitive: to run
juoksemaan – in order to run / to go running

After verbs of movement like mennä (to go), tulla (to come), lähteä (to leave), Finnish often uses the -maan / -mään form to express purpose:

menen nukkumaan – I go (in order) to sleep.
lähden syömään – I leave (in order) to eat.
tulen auttamaan – I come (in order) to help.
menen juoksemaan – I go (in order) to run.

You can see juosta after some verbs, but after motion verbs to express purpose, juoksemaan is the natural, standard choice here.

So is juoksemaan literally “to go into running”?

Roughly, yes.

The -maan / -mään form is the 3rd infinitive illative, which literally has a directional meaning: into doing X. Over time it has developed a clear grammatical function: purpose.

So:

menen juoksemaan
= I go into a state/activity of running
→ naturally interpreted as: I go in order to run / I go out running.

It’s similar to English patterns like:

“go running”
“go swimming”
“go shopping”

where the -ing form has a kind of activity-purpose meaning.

Why is lenkkikengät not in a special object case? It just looks plural nominative.

In Finnish, for plural objects, the nominative plural form (ending in -t) is also used as the accusative plural.

Base word: lenkkikenkä (a running shoe)
Plural nominative/accusative: lenkkikengät

In this sentence, lenkkikengät is a total object (you are putting the whole pair on):

laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan – I put (the) running shoes on.

So grammatically, lenkkikengät is an object in the accusative plural, but its form is identical to the nominative plural. That’s why it looks the same.

Is this sentence talking about now or about the future? How do I know?

Finnish uses the present tense for several English meanings:

“I put / I am putting”
“I will put / I’m going to put”
“I go / I am going”
“I will go / I’m going to go”

So:

Laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan ja menen ulos juoksemaan.

can mean:

I am putting on my running shoes and going out to run (right now).
I’ll put on my running shoes and go out to run (near future / plan).

Context usually makes it clear whether it is about now or (near) future. Finnish does not have a separate future tense; present tense covers both.

Could I say Menen juoksemaan ulos instead of Menen ulos juoksemaan?

You can say Menen juoksemaan ulos, and people will understand you, but:

Menen ulos juoksemaan sounds more natural and is the usual order.

Typical pattern in Finnish:

Verb of movement (menen)
Direction/place (ulos)
Purpose/activity (juoksemaan)

Changing the order is possible for emphasis or style, but for a learner, Menen ulos juoksemaan is the safest, most idiomatic version.

Could I add minä and a comma, like: Minä laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan, ja menen ulos juoksemaan?

You can, but:

Adding minä is usually unnecessary here unless you want to emphasize I.
Finnish normally doesn’t put a comma before ja (“and”) when it just connects two clauses like this, unless there’s a specific reason (like a very long first clause or a special stylistic effect).

The most natural written form is exactly:

Laitan lenkkikengät jalkaan ja menen ulos juoksemaan.

You might see Minä laitan… ja menen… in beginner texts or for emphasis, but in normal everyday Finnish the subject pronoun is usually dropped.