slow runners

profgal43

I would appreciate encouragement from others who are starting out as slowly as I am and trying to get to a 5k. I am 48 years old and just started running again after about 15 tears away! I did the c25k program and I can now run for 35 minutes, which is great because I could barely run for 5 minutes when I started. But I am running 15 minute plus miles! Which means I'm running about two miles. I get discouraged when I hear others here who are starting out too talking about 12 minute miles and running 3 miles in 45 minutes. That is sooo far away for me. To actually run a 5k right now, I'd have to run for an hour. So I've got a long ways to go. My sweetie is running a minimarathon in Nov. and I'd really like to be able to do my 5k (and do it in under an hour!)

So long story short, I'd love to hear from others who were or are in the same boat. And if you have thoughts on the best way to keep moving forward I appreciate that too. I hope that when I get more of this 30 pounds I am striving to lose off that it will get easier. Thanks all! Karen

Im_NotPerfect

Slow runner here! Let me put it this way....my goals for my first 5K on July 28 is 1)run the entire thing, and 2) run it faster than I could have walked it (which is about 40-45 minutes). So you are definately not the only one! I ran for 20 minutes today and I know I went less than 2 miles! BUT...I ran for 20 minutes and right now, that's what I'm shooting for. I'll work on speed later!

profgal43

Thanks and I like your avatar as well. I like being a curvy woman!

4d9r

I'm on week 5 of C25K. I did a 5k 2 weeks ago (I signed up to WALK it, but hubby was with me so I struggled through at a jog/walk and finished in 42 minutes!). Sunday is my second 5k, sans hubby, and again I signed up to walk it but will jog/walk the entire thing. I think just finishing it is major for anyone, and this time, if I take at least two minutes off my time for the last one, I will be a happy girl! I'm 49, and am on week 5. Very, very slow and steady wins the race (or finishes it, anyway, in my case! LOL).
If you'd like a slow-moving buddy, feel free to add me.
And don't give up--we can do this! At whatever pace we need.
:flowerforyou:

alh228

I am much more concerned with endurance than time at this point. I am in the middle of week 5, and I am still running at a 4-4.2 mph pace. Once I can run a 5k without stopping, even if it takes me almost an hour, I'll worry about speed.

paulwgun

Bump 4 later

profgal43

Thanks so much all! It's great to know others are in the same boat and sticking with it!

jporte

I am extremely slow also....but silly question....does the C25K program show the distance...I didn't think it did. So how do you know the miles that you ran? I run on a track so I count how many circles I ran (If I don't lose count which I do sometimes) but what do yo do if you run outside? I would think my time would decrease with running outside also, we have a ton of hills here and the few times I ran outside I really had a difficult time.

alh228

I am extremely slow also....but silly question....does the C25K program show the distance...I didn't think it did. So how do you know the miles that you ran? I run on a track so I count how many circles I ran (If I don't lose count which I do sometimes) but what do yo do if you run outside? I would think my time would decrease with running outside also, we have a ton of hills here and the few times I ran outside I really had a difficult time.

I run on a treadmill right now, so I just assume that the display is correct for distance. Atlanta has been in the mid to high 80's since about a week after I decided to start running, and that is just way too hot for me. If I stick with this, I will probably buy a GPS watch in the fall when I can actually go outside again to track distance. I know several people who will use a website like mapmyrun to plan a route or to see how far they have gone.

jadesign19

This is me! I did week6day3 today! Yea me. But I'm really slow. I too have a 5k on July 15. I've come to the realization that I will be one of the slowest. But that's faster than I was two months ago. I will sign up for one again.
I'll support you! :happy:

profgal43

I run on a treadmill or use a tracking program on my phone for outside runs.
Thanks for all of the wonderful replies!

Drastiic

I am extremely slow also....but silly question....does the C25K program show the distance...I didn't think it did. So how do you know the miles that you ran? I run on a track so I count how many circles I ran (If I don't lose count which I do sometimes) but what do yo do if you run outside? I would think my time would decrease with running outside also, we have a ton of hills here and the few times I ran outside I really had a difficult time.

Here's for 4.0 mph run and 2.5 mph walk:

Week 1 - Run 0.53 miles, Walk 0.50 miles, Total 1.03 miles - Avg Speed 3.1 mph
Week 2 - Run 0.60 miles, Walk 0.50 miles, Total 1.10 miles - Avg Speed 3.1 mph
Week 3 - Run 0.60 miles, Walk 0.38 miles, Total 0.98 miles - Avg Speed 3.3 mph
Week 4 - Run 1.07 miles, Walk 0.23 miles, Total 1.30 miles - Avg Speed 3.6 mph

Week 5 Day 1 - Run 1.00 miles, Walk 0.25 miles, Total 1.25 miles - Avg Speed 3.6 mph
Week 5 Day 2 - Run 1.07 miles, Walk 0.21 miles, Total 1.28 miles - Avg Speed 3.6 mph
Week 5 Day 3 - Run 1.33 miles

Week 6 Day 1 - Run 1.20 miles, Walk 0.25 miles, Total 1.45 miles - Avg Speed 3.6 mph
Week 6 Day 2 - Run 1.33 miles, Walk 0.13 miles, Total 1.46 miles - Avg Speed 3.8 mph
Week 6 Day 3 - Run 1.47 miles

Week 7 - Run 1.67 miles
Week 8 - Run 1.87 miles
Week 9 - Run 2.00 miles

If you'd like a different run speed and walk speed, message me and I'll plug it into my spreadsheet.

Drastiic

I run outside on 2 soccer fields. I used endomondo.com's draw tool around the perimeter to figure out what what the approximate distance was. Mapmyrun and the other apps have something similar. At this point, I don't really care about the distance, but it's still somewhat nice to know. I run between 4-4.4 mph and am aware that I won't reach the 3.1 miles by week 9, but that is the least of my worries. My race isn't until September, so I'll build up the endurance by then. Only goal is to finish without walking. PR's can come later.

paulwgun

OK up until January of this year I had never run in my life (OK up to age 15 maybe 1/4 of a rugby pitch ) im now at the doorstep of 50 yrs old only 2 months to go

October last year my doc told me im in the diabetic waiting room so decided to do something about it, read about C25K and thought yea that would be good, then a young lass from New Jersey asked me to be her on line running partner to do C25K on a treadmill
(she was my life saviour as she got me off my butt)

I tried and it bloody hurt (shin pain) so eventually got fitted for proper running shoes, I actually graduated early from C25K as on W6D3 i think it was the 20 min run i said to my self ok ill try if it dont happen ill come back again at 18-19min i felt great and decided to go for the 5k distance

5K took me around 55min + i ended up with joggers nipple and a blood soaked tshirt courtesy of my nipples lol

ive since done a 10k race 2 weeks ago which took me 01:25:28 the winner ran it in 00:32:13 if i was 20 yrs id have given him a run for his money :bigsmile: But im almost 50 severely obese and new to running, I knocked 3min off my training run for 10k and was on such a high when i finished im now looking at another 10k

1/2 marathons maybe in the future (never say never) I cant see me doing a marathon as the thought of running for 5-6 hours is not in my mindset at the moment

Like i said earlier 5k took me around 55min and believe me i am a slow runner my last 5k took me 38min and as i have posted elsewhere i could never see me getting in to the 20's i.e. 29min as im carrying too much weight but many people around my age said they have done it SOOOOOOOO i have a new target lol

My main target is to get down to 200+ Lbs ive not been there since i was around 13-14 yrs old

DONT WORRY ABOUT ANYONE ELSE AND WHAT TIME THEY TAKE TO ACHIEVE, THINK THAT YOUR OFF THE COUCH AND GOING FURTHER THAN THAT PERSON THAT USED TO SIT ON THE COUCH

I wish you all the best in your journey and hope to God that you achieve your goals, but don't judge yourself against others some of us were meant to be Olympians and some were not DO IT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILLY AND FOR YOUR FRIENDS ON MFP
:bigsmile:
Good Luck and Happy Running

alohabrie

I'm a slow runner too! I just did Week 7 Day 1 yesterday (ended up with HUGE hip pain) and it almost killed me. I'm running now at a 4.2 on the treadmill. If I get past this hip thing - my goal is to repeat the C25K - and go for more speed. I figure that will help me to slowly and safely increase speed.

jadesign19

OK up until January of this year I had never run in my life (OK up to age 15 maybe 1/4 of a rugby pitch ) im now at the doorstep of 50 yrs old only 2 months to go

October last year my doc told me im in the diabetic waiting room so decided to do something about it, read about C25K and thought yea that would be good, then a young lass from New Jersey asked me to be her on line running partner to do C25K on a treadmill
(she was my life saviour as she got me off my butt)

I tried and it bloody hurt (shin pain) so eventually got fitted for proper running shoes, I actually graduated early from C25K as on W6D3 i think it was the 20 min run i said to my self ok ill try if it dont happen ill come back again at 18-19min i felt great and decided to go for the 5k distance

5K took me around 55min + i ended up with joggers nipple and a blood soaked tshirt courtesy of my nipples lol

ive since done a 10k race 2 weeks ago which took me 01:25:28 the winner ran it in 00:32:13 if i was 20 yrs id have given him a run for his money :bigsmile: But im almost 50 severely obese and new to running, I knocked 3min off my training run for 10k and was on such a high when i finished im now looking at another 10k

1/2 marathons maybe in the future (never say never) I cant see me doing a marathon as the thought of running for 5-6 hours is not in my mindset at the moment

Like i said earlier 5k took me around 55min and believe me i am a slow runner my last 5k took me 38min and as i have posted elsewhere i could never see me getting in to the 20's i.e. 29min as im carrying too much weight but many people around my age said they have done it SOOOOOOOO i have a new target lol

My main target is to get down to 200+ Lbs ive not been there since i was around 13-14 yrs old

DONT WORRY ABOUT ANYONE ELSE AND WHAT TIME THEY TAKE TO ACHIEVE, THINK THAT YOUR OFF THE COUCH AND GOING FURTHER THAN THAT PERSON THAT USED TO SIT ON THE COUCH

I wish you all the best in your journey and hope to God that you achieve your goals, but don't judge yourself against others some of us were meant to be Olympians and some were not DO IT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILLY AND FOR YOUR FRIENDS ON MFP
:bigsmile:
Good Luck and Happy Running

I love this!!

akj_25

i have been so worried about being the slow runner on the course that i have been trying to run too fast for my own good and end up overly winded and having to walk so much more. i am just learning that slow and steady is actually faster than trying to run fast.

my advise is don't worry about the abilities of anyone else. all that matters is you are doing the best you can and before long you will be right there running a ten minute mile.

keep moving forward.