Hiya from newbie, and running question

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Hi Folks, I thought I would post to say hello and quickly ask some advice. Im Scott and from Swansea in the UK.

Basically, I sort of came off the fitness wagon about 7 or 8 months ago when I broke up with my ex-girlfriend. Before the split I used to love working out, and would goto the gym to run on the treadmill and do weights, and also go swimming. Back in July 2010 I weighed 164 and looked like this.

IMG00148-20100307-1525.jpg

5 months of comfort eating (pizza/sweets etc), playing xbox left me 196lbs and looking like this by December! (tale of caution.. sweets are bad!)

IMG00072-20101221-1744.jpg

Anyway, I am back on the wagon and dropped from 196lbs to 172lbs in the last 4 weeks, and the weight keeps coming off after a moderately strict regime of healthy eating and excersize.

I am currently running between 2miles - 4 miles a night on week days, and started to hit 6miles on weekend (http://www.endomondo.com/profile/745235). Right now im averaging a 10min/mile. In my I am going to be running a 10k run, and was wondering what a good min/mile time. I am worried that I will be left behind as I have never done anything like this before!

Replies

  • scottpaulwilliams
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    and i've posted in the wrong forum... nice first post scott. mods can you move this please lol
  • trudypickles
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    Your wieight loss and determination are respectable. I ran 5 k in 30 min a few years ago mind!! but I thought that was good so I suppose thats about a ten min mile or just over.... but im a woman and im not a hard core runner......I think the best advice may be to go in to it for your own personal reasons an goals and not worry about where you come and what others think...you will have reached a personal mile stone and fair play to you for it....GOOD LUCK
  • TMR001
    TMR001 Posts: 37
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    Any 5k or 10k I've been in has lots of people at different levels. I think a 10 min/mile is a respectable time. I wouldn't worry about it sounds like you'll be in the middle of the pack... your not going to be leading the charge but you won't be left in the dust either.

    Unless you are a serious competitive runner then 5K and 10K are more about beating your own times than someone elses.

    When I was doing them routinely my goal was always to better my personal time.
  • scottpaulwilliams
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    To be honest, 2 weeks ago it wasnt even about beating my own time, it was a case of "can I even get to 10k"

    Had a bit of a milestone last weekend when I was doing 5k, and decided LETS GO FOR IT, and ended up doing 10k ( at about 10min 30sec/mile). So now its starting to turn to lets get that time down, so I can get the best time I can for the Manchester 10k.

    Middle of the pack sounds more than great to me, I was just worried i'd be the fool in the back miles behind everyone else lol.
  • kiannlouise
    kiannlouise Posts: 310 Member
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    Hi Folks, I thought I would post to say hello and quickly ask some advice. Im Scott and from Swansea in the UK.

    Basically, I sort of came off the fitness wagon about 7 or 8 months ago when I broke up with my ex-girlfriend. Before the split I used to love working out, and would goto the gym to run on the treadmill and do weights, and also go swimming. Back in July 2010 I weighed 164 and looked like this.

    IMG00148-20100307-1525.jpg

    5 months of comfort eating (pizza/sweets etc), playing xbox left me 196lbs and looking like this by December! (tale of caution.. sweets are bad!)

    IMG00072-20101221-1744.jpg

    Anyway, I am back on the wagon and dropped from 196lbs to 172lbs in the last 4 weeks, and the weight keeps coming off after a moderately strict regime of healthy eating and excersize.

    I am currently running between 2miles - 4 miles a night on week days, and started to hit 6miles on weekend (http://www.endomondo.com/profile/745235). Right now im averaging a 10min/mile. In my I am going to be running a 10k run, and was wondering what a good min/mile time. I am worried that I will be left behind as I have never done anything like this before!
  • kiannlouise
    kiannlouise Posts: 310 Member
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    there you go :-)
    wowwwww- how did you lose that much so fast? what were you doing! ****. lol.
    good luck!!!
  • scottpaulwilliams
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    there you go :-)
    wowwwww- how did you lose that much so fast? what were you doing! ****. lol.
    good luck!!!

    Um nothing much really lol. Just taking in 1500cals a day and staying away from fats, and increasing my protien intake.

    I think the running has helped alot. I was supprised how auick its falling off, obviously it needed to be lost lol
  • kiannlouise
    kiannlouise Posts: 310 Member
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    Thats awesome, you must feel fantastic!
    hrmm definately looks like i'm going to have to take up running! everyone seems to lose it quick doing that lol!
  • scottpaulwilliams
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    Yep, got to love running for weight loss. Got a day off today, so going to try a 7k run :)
  • runningneo122
    runningneo122 Posts: 6,962 Member
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    Yep, got to love running for weight loss. Got a day off today, so going to try a 7k run :)

    "Fasted cardio" is what burns the fat the best for me. When I run every day, first thing in the morning for at least 30 minutes, I drop 2 - 3 pounds a week. The diet is important, but I have seen results eating "unclean" as well.

    The most important thing abt running is having the right shoes. Do a Bing search to find a "dedicated" running shoe store that offers stride/footstrike analysis. They either use shoes with sensors or video you on a T/M. If you pronate(roll your foot inward) or supinate(roll your foot outward), you need a shoe that will correct that to prevent injuries. The natural/neutral runner needs a different shoe altogether and depending on your weight/body frame, more or less padding. For training distances ie: under 5 miles get a shoe a half size bigger than you would wear for casual wear. For longer distance running get a shoe that is a whole size bigger b/c the foot swells as you run.

    If you are a DIY person like me then you can compare your video of your running at this site:
    http://www.runningwarehouse.com/
  • backinthenines
    backinthenines Posts: 1,083 Member
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    Hi Scott... Just a quick wave from down the road in Cardiff. :flowerforyou: :drinker:

    Did you realise that you have a very very friendly running club in Swansea called the Swansea Harriers?

    http://www.swanseaharriers.co.uk/

    My friend runs for them and they are very accommodating to people new to running.

    There is also a thread where a lot of the Swansea running crowd hang out on the Runners World Forum here:
    http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=4&UTN=62591&V=6&last=1&SP=
  • scottpaulwilliams
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    Hi Scott... Just a quick wave from down the road in Cardiff. :flowerforyou: :drinker:

    Did you realise that you have a very very friendly running club in Swansea called the Swansea Harriers?

    http://www.swanseaharriers.co.uk/

    My friend runs for them and they are very accommodating to people new to running.

    There is also a thread where a lot of the Swansea running crowd hang out on the Runners World Forum here:
    http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=4&UTN=62591&V=6&last=1&SP=

    Hey thanks backinthenines, i'll check them out, that could be pretty cool
  • scottpaulwilliams
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    For training distances ie: under 5 miles get a shoe a half size bigger than you would wear for casual wear. For longer distance running get a shoe that is a whole size bigger b/c the foot swells as you run.

    I never knew that. I've just got some trail running trainers as most of my runs are off road, they put my feet on this thing in the shop which showed what type of show I needed (cant remeber which one now). Do you think that trial trainers will be ok for road running too, or should I be using 2 pairs?
  • runningneo122
    runningneo122 Posts: 6,962 Member
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    I found out the hard way... both of my "big" toe nails got blood under them from running 6.5 mi. daily in shoes that were fine for walking around but not for that distance. Runner's parlance is, "Black Toe." My NB 1064's are a whole size bigger and feel great.

    The T/T's sound OK to me, but I'm no expert ... I've been running for a year now and have learned a bit so far. Do that search and call a local expert from a "dedicated" running store. The people at that website I linked to are on this side of the pond and you could run up a bill talking to them unless you have VOIP or Skype... Good Luck.
  • kcushing
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    There is nothing wrong with a 10 min/mile. Depending on the race you could see the Kenyan winner finishing in under 13 minutes, but don't worry about that. There will be plenty of people running slower than a 10 min/mile too. Just go out and have fun. The extra half shoe size is good advice.

    FYI I've been running marathons (26.2 miles) for 30 years. I even ran a 100 mile mountain trail run last September. I took some time off to let some over use injuries heal, and gained 18 lbs in 3 months. I just found the myfitnesspal app for my android (and then this web site) last week. This is my first experience counting calories, but am already making good progress.