Am I really supposed to be jogging so slow?

I all my years as a jogger/runner I have NEVER been able to talk and run at the same time! Plus, however fit I am, my heart rate goes way up really quickly although it drops back down just as quickly if I walk. So I stopped listening to what I 'should' be doing and started listening to MY body. Which is what we all should be doing!! It doesn't matter if you jog is the same speed as your walk - you are springing up more off the ground so therefore putting more effort in. And if you are doing the C25K programme you WILL get quicker!

Full marks to you for even starting - thats more than most people will do.

And pete - if you are suffering from leg pain after 50 minutes have you tried getting your footwear checked? I was shocked to realise that running trainers are only designed for about 500 miles of running before the cushioning doesn't work. Just a thought.

B x

3.0 is not jogging. It is not even walking very fast. My opinion is that the slowest jog is 4.0 at least. Personally I consider 6.5 a jog.

Way to be supportive.....

A 6.0 is a 10-minute mile, and that is certainly not jogging. She's doing fine whether she meets your standards or not.

I wasn't saying that she had to meet anybody's standards. Certainly not mine. She was asking about jogging at 3.0mph. The OP even acknowledged that they thought it was slow. I was agreeing with them.

I go with Covert Bailey's books on this; it depends on one's fitness level. Walking up stairs is interval training for someone overweight and out of shape. The key is doing it purposefully and staying with it then speed will improve. But for the record, if both feet leave the ground at the same time it is not walking. Call it jogging or call it running, it is not walking regardless of speed.

I wouldn't worry at all about your pace. If you feel like you are running then you are. Just keep moving and as you get more comfortable with running our pace will naturally increase. Also, if I remember correctly the C25K program recommends just running by time (30 minutes, etc) and not worrying about the rest, right? Don't stress it. Welcome to the running world!!!!!

I think that it is worth noting that probably the two most well known columnists at Runners World have very different approaches on defining running. John Bingham says that if you think of your activity as running then you are a runner. Jeff Galloway thinks that you must be a competitive runner who wins races before you can call yourself a real runner. Surely most of us will agree that Galloway is being more than a little extreme. As others have pointed out here, if both feet leave the ground at the same time while you propel yourself forward then you are running, or if you prefer, jogging. The exertion level of even slow jogging far exceeds that of fast walking. Walking is great exercise, but running or jogging will yield much better gains in fitness. Keep it up! It gets easier and you get faster just by doing it.

Sounds like an alright starting pace. I jog around 6 mph or so.
Anywhere from an 8-10 minute mile pace depending on how I'm feeling that day.

It's called aerobic base, and yours is shallow. That's okay, you're just starting out. By keeping your heart rate lower (than if you were sprinting or running faster -- where you couldn't do the "Pledge of Allegiance" test), you're building a bigger and deeper aerobic base. Stay at it. You'll find that your aerobic zone will become a faster and faster place to be, and then when that base is good and developed and you're now running comfortably at, say, 11 minutes/mile (5.5 or so mph - totally an arbitrary figure, but you'll know what it is when you get there), then you can concentrate on pushing those zones into the higher heart rate ranges and doing speedwork, if that's what you want to do. Start slow, though. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's the preferred way. Give it 2 months and see if I'm right.

Also, as regarding jogging vs. running --- I once heard that the difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry form... so go find yourself a 5k in a month or two and enter! Warning, though, it's addicting. I love to race, even though I have no hope of winning anything!

Great post baldzach. It was long enough that I did not want to quote it here, but good job.

Is it normal to be jogging at around 3mph, or slower when you first start?

YES!!!!! I began jogging with a partner. She said, "SLOW DOWN!" I didn't want to but realized when I finally did -- running at about 3.4mph -- that I was building crazy endurance. After a while, my time began decreasing and speed increasing.

Take it slowly! Your speed will increase over time

When you are learning to run... there are two important concepts... speed and endurance. You can't teach speed. You either have it or you don't and are forced to build it slowly. And let's face it we aren't all created equal. Some people are like Donovan Bailey and most of us are not.

The concept I try to instill in beginning runners is to pace yourself. I don't care if someone is running 3 mph, or 10 mph... to run further and to build endurance, I tell people "SLOW DOWN to RUN FURTHER".

What I mean by this is that if you blow all your energy running as fast as you can... you won't get far. But if you slow it down, you will have more energy for longer and can run further.

I proved this to my 15 year old on Monday night. She blew past me repeatedly running as fast as she could. My guess is she was doing about 9 mph. She repeatedly stopped to catch her breath as she burnt out. In the end, she couldn't run any further than 2.5 miles. By the same token, I ran 5 miles at a 10 minute pace... and ended up beating her home.

Work on endurance, speed is something that will come later!

The concept I try to instill in beginning runners is to pace yourself. I don't care if someone is running 3 mph, or 10 mph... to run further and to build endurance, I tell people "SLOW DOWN to RUN FURTHER".

What I mean by this is that if you blow all your energy running as fast as you can... you won't get far. But if you slow it down, you will have more energy for longer and can run further.

Work on endurance, speed is something that will come later!

Excellent Points Jeff. Also, slow down to run FASTER. It seems counter-intuitive, but it's true. You need to run slow and build that aerobic base to be able to run faster. Like your daughter. She can run fast but doesn't have the aerobic base to keep it up. If she focuses on running slower, not only will she be able to do 10 minute miles with you now and do 5 or maybe more, but in 2 months (or 3 or 6), if she stays with the long slow runs, she'll be able to run 5 miles at a 7 or 8 minute pace. You have to build the base. That's the bottom line.