How fast do you run??

MissAmyB80

I started running back in the beginning of the summer. I was in a 17 week training program for the biggest 5K in my community. I loved it. For the small group of serious beginners...we sort of followed the Couch To 5K thing. And when the race came - I ran the whole thing. I was SO pumped. I did 3 more races after. The only thing that discouraged me a little was my pace. There were people who speed walked all of those races in front of me. But I was still stoked - and proud of my endurance. I "RAN" those races in around 44 minutes. So yeah - my pace comes out to maybe 4.2 mph.

I slacked off for about a month. Partially off the wagon all together. Was pretty sick for about a week. Now I'm back to focusing on my running - my new goal - improve my pace!!! So I decided I would basically start couch to 5K all over again and work on increasing my pace during the running portions now.

This time I am working on a treadmill. A new gift for myself (YAY) - and more convenient in the winter - and being a single mom - much easier to squeeze in because going for a run doesn't require a babysitter. I also now can easily control my pace. I set my runs to be 5mph.

WOW - I can NOT get through even week 2 at 5 MPH. The 90 second run has me sucking wind and wishing for death!! I remember this feeling from when I first started - and I know I will get past it - but I am SHOCKED by my inability to run at even a SLOW pace. Let's be honest - to a "real" runner - 5mph is not speedy.

So I just wanted some feedback - what's your pace?????

And yes - I am still super stoked about my progress. And I'm not embarassed to run slow...just curious where others are at.

katcod1522

I started running in May. I have since then ran 3 5ks, an 8k and have another 5k in Jan and April and a half marathon in March! I was at 15 min miles in May...I am now at 11:40 average miles. I ran my 8k (5 miles) in 59:47. I hate running the "dreadmill" but love to be outside!

katcod1522

I started running in May. I have since then ran 3 5ks, an 8k and have another 5k in Jan and April and a half marathon in March! I was at 15 min miles in May...I am now at 11:40 average miles. I ran my 8k (5 miles) in 59:47. I hate running the "dreadmill" but love to be outside!

stylistchik

my pace is about 6 mph all the time. I feel like I run faster or slower, but every time I time it it's about a 10 minute mile. I'm not one to start off a race and get tired and slow down, I start at a comfortable pace and just stay there, and when I see the finish I don't speed up either lol. So that's my answer, about 6 mph.

OLFATUG

My average pace is about 10:30 / mi for 8+ mi runs. Slightly faster for shorter runs, and slightly longer for longer runs (roughly 10-11 in range). When I go to races I push myself about :30 faster, so about 10:00/mi for 10k, and 10:30 for 1/2 marathons.

I'm not going to win any races, but I'm not going to be the last person across the line either. I think once I accepted that I was middle of the road I became a much happier runner.

One thing a lot of my friends say (and I could not agree with more), is that even if you are running 20 minute miles, you are still doing laps around the folks who didn't bother to get off the couch!

Stick to it, and you'll get faster and be able to run longer, and remember to have fun. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong (IMHO).

John090671

Currently I run anywhere in between 8:30-9:30 min miles in my short runs (under 5 miles)...and about 10-11 min miles in my long runs (8 and above).... I too started out like you, I found myself getting faster as soon as I started running outside and abandoning the treadmill. For your situation that doesn't sound like something that is doable though...Hang in there, your body will get used to the 5 mph on the tm soon enough. Just remember, DO NOT overdo it, you don't want to find yourself with an injury that prevents you from doing it at all.

tuneses

I've been running since September (other than my army days) and I've done 2 5ks. Last one I did in 24:51. I'm working for a half in May. The longest distance I've done so far is 10 miles at a 9 min mile pace.

alzina

I ran my 2 mile in 15:50 but that was with pushing myself to the limit. But if I go at a good pace to where I am not dying by mile 2 I can run my 2 mile still under 18 minutes. I used to be in the military so I know how to raise my time. I love to run also. Its ok if you are running at a slower pace. If you want to get better just do some sprints and then jog or walk. It is just an endurance thing. Control your breathing and you will be able to go farther and faster

BobbyDaniel

I just did my first half marathon at 8:58 a mile, which actually surprised me. I haven't run a 5K in a while, so I'm not real sure what my time would be at that distance. I've been running for about a year now.

AmyG1982

I'm just starting and I run REALLY slow lol. right now I'm jogging kind of at that cross over point where you could just about walk it really fast but not quite. I have short-ish legs (I'm 5'5) so I walk to warm up at 2-2.5 mph and jog at about 3.5 mph. right now I'm working on building endurance, then will slowly start to increase my speed.

ItsMeRebekah

super slow.. but endurance is better then speed! i can go for a 1/2 and thats all that matters to me.

snailrunner

Not very, hence my username!

ItsMeRebekah

I'm just starting and I run REALLY slow lol. right now I'm jogging kind of at that cross over point where you could just about walk it really fast but not quite. I have short-ish legs (I'm 5'5) so I walk to warm up at 2-2.5 mph and jog at about 3.5 mph. right now I'm working on building endurance, then will slowly start to increase my speed.

this actually matters!! my husband who is over 6ft is way faster then my 5ft frame.. He smokes me but when hes done im still going!

HisPathDaily

Earlier this year it was finally under a 10/min mile ... (I'm not fast) ... but now after the baby and not running for a while it's up there again (11/min mile) ... though I don't really care ... my HR is up, I enjoy it, feel great, and am exercising

realredhead79

I started running in Feb 2010. My first 5k was March 2010 at 38:59. My latest 5k was October this year and I PR'd at 27:34.
Also I ran my first marathon in San Antonio Nov 2010---took me a long 6 hours and 36 minutes. I'll be doing my second marathon in March 2012. ( By the way, don't do that, you really should be running over a year before taking on marathon training!!)
My first half marathon was at 3:06 Oct 2010. My latest half marathon time 2:18:50. I've taking almost an hour off my half marathon time,


So, I was slower at first, but speed does happen. Once you build a mileage base, you should try speed intervals!
Good lucK!!

meganmorsey

Just keep at it and don't worry about your pace! I average about 12 min/mile. When I did my first 5k, my total time was 36:45. I was so proud of myself for just running the whole thing, I didn't even care about my time. My first 8k, I finished in 57:54 which was AMAZING to me. That race was so motivating and awesome that I ran a little faster.

On most of my training runs lately, I've been doing 13 minute miles. I tend to be slower when I'm alone in my neighborhood than in a race, but honestly I don't care. I've only been running for two months and I'm sure that over time, I'll get faster. I plan to add in some speed training eventually, but right now, I'm content at my pace.

hello77kitty

I am not really a runner(yet), but I enjoy running on the treadmill on weekends when I can go to the gym.
I usually jog at 4.5-5 mph for about 15mins, or a whole mile. When I get proper running shOes I plan to try harder.

99clmsntgr

When I started running a little almost 3 years ago, I couldn't even run a mile. My mile time, timed at my company's fitness camp, was 13:54. I stuck with the camps, but I was only ever really half-serious about running or diet until the start of this year, when I realized I needed to get serious about getting in shape. That's when things started to click for me. The fitness camp I mentioned starts and ends with a 1 mile run. Flat out, hard as you can, best effort, what's your time? My mile times went from about a 9:30 per mile in January down to a 7:09 in mid-November. Keep in mind, there's about 90 pounds smeared along the pavement and sidewalks around my house and neighborhood in that time.

Other times for reference:
My first 5K, in December 2009, I couldn't run the whole thing, I walked a good chunk of Mile 3. I finished at almost 42 minutes.
My last 5K, in mid-November, was at 23:49 (7:38 per mile), a PR far and away.
On Thanksgiving I ran the Treesgreenville.org Turkey Day 8K at 40:16 (8:06 per mile)

Next up for me is a 5K in January then the Princess Half-Marathon (hoping for a 2-hour pace...we'll see....)

Wanted to add that when I run during the week, an "easy run" for me falls somewhere between 8:50 and 9:15. My LSD's (9-10 miles, currently, will grow as I get closer to the Princess) tend to be just under a 10-minute pace.

Kamalka

Same for me...wel I started by 20 min trainings but I am now more into 2Hrs run. I run not slowly and not fast for the entire distance (about 15km I guess), giving this little more that makes me sweat like hell. Well, my 2h became 1h40 yesturday...and I had 30 min bike before. Though it was after my rest day, I am proud of my performance (and record).

To me what matters most is to feel so happy that I want to come back tomorrow...so I fear exaustion. I decided today I will make a 20k in may and if my timing is ok, I will try a marathon in September (I hardly see how to finish it within 5-6 hours...so I have to make sure my average speed is ok for the time limit). I am not in competition at all, my goal is to finish one without walking, even though it would take 7hours. I hope to stick to this long term objective (feel free to add me and hit my butt if required )

Enjoy your run:happy:

DRetel

I finished the C25K in September, but haven't done a 5k race yet.
I tend to jog at 6.2mph on the treadmill. I haven't run outside in about 2 months, so I'm not sure what my outside speed is anymore.

afigueroa_pr

When I first started doing my C25K I did small intervals of 8mph. As those intervals became larger, the speed of my runs has decreased slightly. When I started the intervals were 8mph for about a minute, now I run at 6mph for 25 minutes straight.!

I feel very accomplished!

therealangd

I'm a penguin. But I'm ok with that.

I started running in January of this year. I'm just now getting above an average speed of 4.59 mph for 6.2 miles.

directorj

I'm averaging high 9min and low 10mins with runs around 6-7miles. I started off at 14min miles :laugh:

hkasel

10min mile

PrincessStubbie

My average pace is about 10:30 / mi for 8+ mi runs. Slightly faster for shorter runs, and slightly longer for longer runs (roughly 10-11 in range). When I go to races I push myself about :30 faster, so about 10:00/mi for 10k, and 10:30 for 1/2 marathons.

I'm not going to win any races, but I'm not going to be the last person across the line either. I think once I accepted that I was middle of the road I became a much happier runner.

One thing a lot of my friends say (and I could not agree with more), is that even if you are running 20 minute miles, you are still doing laps around the folks who didn't bother to get off the couch!

Stick to it, and you'll get faster and be able to run longer, and remember to have fun. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong (IMHO).

I think this is AWESOME advice and words of encouragement!

I, too, am starting C25K over again to increase my pace. I ended up having to mostly walk my first 5K and discovered just how slow I really was running, but now I feel comfortable amping it up! I have to keep telling myself that up until August I was doing no exercise, now, I run 3 days a week, so that in itself is an accomplishment. And like he said above, I am not out to win races, I just want to feel good about myself.

FYI: I have found that running on the treadmill is much easier than running outside so try to do a run outside when the weather permits!

LorinaLynn

I started a year ago with C25K at 5mph, and ran my first 5k three months later at about 6.2mph. A month after that, I was averaging about 6.7mph, a 9 minute mile. My last 5k, in October, was just under 25 minutes, about an 8 minute mile. I've been trying to get faster since, and last week, ran a half mile at about 9mph, then slowed down to finish off the full mile in about 7 and a half minutes! I always run better outside than on a treadmill, and better during a race than by myself, so I can't wait until the spring racing season starts again to see what I can do. Most of the time, when I'm just jogging for fun, I'm around 6.5-6.7mph.

jwhit31

Last week I started giving it my all. I only have 30 minutes in the morning to run so my goal was to run about 4miles. I've gotten there a couple of times. The lowest being 3.81 and my highest 4.18 miles. So, my speed (past week) has varied between 7.6 - 8.3 mph. This morning my pace was a 7:13 minute mile.

craig1768

Congratulations on C25K! Seriously... everyone is going to run at a different pace. It has many factors that play into that, stride length, cardio vasular fitness... and to be honest... how you run... some people are born sprinters others... trotters.

I can run at 10mph... but I can't sustain it.. but I can run at 6mph all day long. If you are looking to improve your time, find someone to train you. They should put you through routines that will improve your time.

Training isn't just 'lets run 3.2 miles' and see where it goes.... trainers will make you run intervals.. where you sprint for two minutes as hard as you can... walk for two minutes... rinse and repeat a billion times. Over time, you get used to running at a faster pace... again... I am not the master, but there are people who know how to get the speed into your run.

Good luck.

jwhit31

Congratulations on C25K! Seriously... everyone is going to run at a different pace. It has many factors that play into that, stride length, cardio vasular fitness... and to be honest... how you run... some people are born sprinters others... trotters.

I can run at 10mph... but I can't sustain it.. but I can run at 6mph all day long. If you are looking to improve your time, find someone to train you. They should put you through routines that will improve your time.

Training isn't just 'lets run 3.2 miles' and see where it goes.... trainers will make you run intervals.. where you sprint for two minutes as hard as you can... walk for two minutes... rinse and repeat a billion times. Over time, you get used to running at a faster pace... again... I am not the master, but there are people who know how to get the speed into your run.

Good luck.

^^^ This is exactly how I went from running a 5mph 5K to running my current pace, only I used the C25K and B210 programs as my interval trainer.

getsveltEagain

I'm a penguin. But I'm ok with that.

I started running in January of this year. I'm just now getting above an average speed of 4.59 mph for 6.2 miles.

^^^^^^^^^^THIS!!! I started running two years ago. I couldn't even get through half a mile at a 3.5 (running it) but slowly and surely I built up my endurance (I was training for half marathons). Around April this year I was up to 4 miles at a 4.5 (which is a 13ish min mile). Then over the summer I did C25K since I didn't really do that when I started two years ago. I started that at the 5.0 but that is because I knew that I could cover distance at a slower speed.

Ask yourself if you want to do short races or long races.... short will be faster and long will be slower. It is your personal choice.

p.s. there are plenty of race walker that get better times than me in the races I do, but I cross that finish line!!!!! (and I PR each time )

Melis25Fit

If I want to do a whole 5K running, 5.2-5.5 If I want to just run 20 mins or so, 5.8-6.0 with random walking at 4.2

I started running about 1 yr ago at a 4.2 ---It's AMAZING that I can go 6.0 without holding on, or feeling like I'm going to take a nose dive off the back of the treadmill! hahah.