How fast do you have to go to be "running"?

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momofamadhouse
momofamadhouse Posts: 197 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just finished my first 5k. I joke that I didn't really run, it was more of a slow jog. I typically run on the treadmill because when I go outside I get pain in my left hip (which doesn't seem to happen on the treadmill), so I know the speed I can run at the longest is about 4.2. I realize this is not very impressive and I question whether or not I'm really "running". It certainly FEELS like running to me. My body is moving like it's running (jogging). How would I increase speed? Train like I did for the 5k but increase the speed to maybe 4.8 or 5? Some days if I'm not up to a longer run I'll do sprint intervals instead and usually feel pretty taxed at the end with a max speed of 5.8 (30 second intervals with 90 second rest). I thought all I wanted was to say I ran a 5k. I had no idea I'd actually care what my time was or that I'd want to improve it.
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Replies

  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    speed is individual. When you are starting out you may feel you are not going much faster than walking pace. If it's any consolation, when I started with c25k, 4.2mph was about my speed on the treadmill. Now I run outside and it varies (still rarely much more than 5mph). I'm short so that's my excuse.

    I tend to feel my running speed by cadence, so I take short fast steps underneath my body. I'm definitely 'running'. the line between 'running' and 'jogging' seems to be semantics rather than speed based.

    Most people would recommend that to get faster at a given distance as a beginner you are better off increasing the distance than trying to run the same distance faster. Your endurance will improve and your CV health etc. meaning that ultimately your 5k speed WILL improve. So run further for longer, but don't worry too much about speeding up for now (if anything, you might need to slow down the further you go...)

    well done for running a 5k. At the beginning of this year I never thought that possible or that I'd ever call myself a runner. Following a 5.8mile 'short' run with my new running club last night, I think we can safely tuck that idea out the way...
  • tcay584
    tcay584 Posts: 55 Member
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    I am LOLing over your post because I think it's amazing! Congrats on the 5k, you rock! I have yet to be able to complete one at even a consistent lope, so your jog is impressive to me! I am hoping to graduate to a slow jog because I am having trouble getting my heart rate up with walking in the mornings. We shall see.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    If you're running, then you're a runner. It doesn't have anything to do with how fast you are. Even if your running speed is slower than someone else's. You're still faster than all the people on the couch. I don't even use the term "jogging" at all. I think it makes too many people feel like they aren't "real" runners unless they reach a certain pace or distance, and that's just not true.

    If you do want to get faster, intervals will help with that. Try posting over in the Long Distance Runners group. They're really helpful and nice.
  • evilokc
    evilokc Posts: 260 Member
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    Runnig is its own thing just like walking. You can walk very slow or fast and you are still walking. Same with running. I believe the definition of running is that at some point both of your feet are off the ground at the same time. I say that because i saw the rules for " race walking" and they state that at NO point can both feet be off The ground at the same time. If thats walking than the opposite would be running. Keep up the good work.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    kwtilbury wrote: »
    Running is defined by the physiology of the movement, not by speed. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you're running when both feet are off the ground at the same time.

    This is my definition also. I do long endurance hike/trail runs. Often times I don't consider that I "run" them because the majority of the time I'm at a very fast march or walk, which for me, is faster and more efficient than my slow run pace.

    But as to your other question about getting faster, just by running more and more often, you will increase your aerobic capacity and gain speed. (But progress slowly to avoid too much too fast injuries)
  • JulieSHelms
    JulieSHelms Posts: 821 Member
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    apullum wrote: »
    Even if your running speed is slower than someone else's. You're still faster than all the people on the couch. .

    Awesome! ^^

  • jessiruthica
    jessiruthica Posts: 412 Member
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    I agree with all of this. I identify as a runner, even though in my running group I'm the slowest one by quite a lot. The whole "both feet off the ground" thing is right. Personally I don't like the word "jogging". It feels a little pejorative to me. Like if it's only a hobby, you're a jogger, but if you're serious about it, then you're a runner. Poos to that. I run. I'm a runner.
  • carolinelanewa
    carolinelanewa Posts: 44 Member
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    Im the slowest runner in history. Ive only just started. After 6 months with my pt i was curious if i could run. I jumped on the treadmill and much to my amazement i ran 1.5km. I was wrapped with myself. 6 months ago i couldnt have run at all. But i joke i dont run. Its more like a controlled stagger. I have the worst co ordination and balance. But i say i am going for a run.
  • carolinelanewa
    carolinelanewa Posts: 44 Member
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    Love it
  • divcara
    divcara Posts: 357 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Not scientific, but in my HIIT class they define a power walker as a treadmill speed between 3.5 and 4.5; joggers between 4.5 and 5.5; and runners 5.5 or faster. Or my coaches may say if you can run a mile in 10 minutes or less, you are considered a runner. (Only in terms of what category/instructions you should listen for in class.) I think moving continuously makes you a runner for sure.

    @momofamadhouse, congrats on your first 5k!! I was same in my first 5k. I just had the goal to move continuously without stopping. I jogged it, first time in my life I had run further than a mile. There were two guys who were always around me that my friend and I were playing a bit of cat and mouse with, and they were doing a combination of run, walk, run, walk...we all finished at the same time.

    I was so happy to do my first 5k. I hadn't set a goal time at all. But it's great because now you have a baseline to beat for a personal best. I think to increase speed, you may actually want to focus on increasing distance first. That way you build your endurance and will be able to increase your speed in time. Also, HIIT interval training helped my mile time so much.
  • Docbanana2002
    Docbanana2002 Posts: 357 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I agree, if you use a non-walking form you are a runner but i used to be really into race walking where having a walk vs run definition is important (racewalkers get very meticulous about the definition of running because there are judges who can disqualify or penalize you if you start running). I see sprinting and jogging as subcategories of running but even the definition of them as unique to the individual. Sprinting is the style of running I do when being chased by a bear (ha) or when doing interval training. It is when I open up my stride so my knees are bending more (Olympic sprinters bend knees so much they look like their back leg is gonna kick themselves in the butt, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet....). increase my cadence to 180ish and go at max speed for as long as I can which is usually about a minute! It pushes my HR into the red zone. Yet, if an Olympic sprinter (100 meter, let's say) decided to run alongside me while I was sprinting they would feel like a jogger because my sprint is incredibly slow compared to theirs. I'll be going about a 7-8 minute minute mile pace on my 100 meter "sprint".

    Jogging is what I do when I want to do a long easier run, especially trail run (to me "long" = over 9 miles but that is relative too. That's a short run for an ultra marathoner). Or if I want to do a short lazy run, the kind of run where I don't have a ton of energy for hard exercise but I want to get out and move and get some fresh air and my HR up a little bit. Maybe do a recovery run after training hard a previous day. My cadence is slower, in the 160s, and my posture a little more relaxed, my stride not opening up much (both legs pretty straight), pace in the 12-14 range, HR in the 120s. When I first started running, this pace was a sprint for me and ran my HR waaaaay up, it is all relative.

    When I'm speaking about something specific (pacing) I usually use "running" as a term for that middle range between sprinting and jogging. But I am seeing sprinting, running, and jogging as all pacing subcategories of the general sport of running.

    My point in being that "fast" and "slow" and "short run" and "long" are relative to you, they are individual, and we all get to be in the club if we are out there doing the work. If you want to get faster then work on getting faster relative to YOU and don't worry about others for a while. Unless you are the gold medalist at a world championship running event there is always someone else faster, in a higher league so to speak. And unless you aren't moving at all, always someone slower. I see people online sometimes sneer at people whose pace is unimpressive and call them joggers derisively. Those people are jerks who probably don't know squat about running... The real runners I see at races and running clubs are diverse and supportive, we all like to promote the sport and encourage people at all levels. As you develop expertise you will see yourself develop multiple paces you use for different circumstances. I started out running a 14 min or so pace several years ago and assumed I would keep getting faster for every run. I have gotten faster and can do anything from 8 min to 14 now but I still have slower paces in my repertoire that I use for specific reasons. So you never leave being a "jogger" and become a runner, or at least I didn't.

    If you ever get into some serious competition where you are wanting to compete for age group medals or overall or whatever, then you will obviously have to compare with others, but each race is different in terms of what type of runner shows up and therefore what is "fast". This summer I won a 1st place age group medal (40s female) at a large 5k with just a 9 min mile. It was a relaxed fun crowd on a hot humid day on a hilly course on a novelty type race. I noticed my mixed gender crowd at the start of the race had become increasingly male, that I was a woman alone near the front with mostly guys, and it dawned on me I had entered a race where I was a fast runner!! Ha! That was new! I've done others where there were very fit and serious people and I would need a 5-7 minute mile to touch an age group medal and I was hanging out in the middle-back of the crowd.
  • BiggDaddy58
    BiggDaddy58 Posts: 406 Member
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    I'd like to "run" a 5K. I am working up to it..I "run" or what I call Jalk or Wog..I jog for 1/2 a block..walk fast..jog..whatever, I can do..

    I come in around 4.1 miles in an hour to 4.3..outside..not on a treadmill..

    It may be spring when I try my 1st 5K. I don't know if Jalking or Woging is actually running or not..but, it is far better than where I was at 6 short months ago..

    Whatever works for you!! Congrats on your first 5K!!!
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    CindyFooWho wrote: »
    I'm doing a 5K trail run next weekend and I actually did contemplate this question when signing up. They asked that "runners" sign up for the first time slot and "walkers and joggers" sign up for the second time slot. I know I'm not a walker but, am I a runner or a jogger?? haha. Then I was like - screw it. Signed up for the first time slot. I'm a runner damnit!!

    I suspect they were going for "if your goal is to win, sign up for the first slot; if your goal is to finish, sign up for the second slot" so that nobody trying to win would get stuck behind a lot of people moving slower than them. The track at our gym has the two inner lanes for "runners and joggers' and the two outer lanes for "walkers and strollers" for the same reason.

    To me, the difference between running and jogging is in intention not speed - jogging is (to me) recreational while running is competitive. Neither is better than the other. But I don't tell other people what to call themselves either. :-)
  • jrevis001
    jrevis001 Posts: 505 Member
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    I'm a slow runner but I call myself a runner because I'm still going faster than if I were walking and I can feel that there is extra effort happening. And I'm proud of being a slow runner because my previous sport was sitting on the couch. Congrats on the 5k! Just finished my first half doing a jog and a walk. Keep up the great work and enjoy it!

    Just bought myself a tank for one of my races that says "turtle runner...We're show as Shell" :D

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