How fast should i be able to run 5k at 50 years of age? do treadmills reflect real time and distance?

Question

i used to smoke but have given up for six months. i am training really hard but sometimes feel that i am never going to get there. I would love to run 5k in 28 minutes or less. is this realistic without killing myself? any unfit people out there have some motivating experiences for me?! Help! Actually, i've just re-read that and at this point in time i would love to run 5k without stopping.!!!!

Answer 1

kenneth,

Congratulations on your achievements. First, you've quit smoking, which is wonderful. It's so hard to do for most smokers. Then you've started training. Well done.

At 50 you should be able to do a 5K in under 28 minutes. I'll bet you could get to 24 minutes, but please, don't push yourself too hard to get there.

A word of caution. If you have started training at about the same time as you stopped smoking, you've been running for only six months. That's not very long. You might be looking for too many results too soon.

You can do this, but just give yourself more time. There was a British Olympic and World-class marathoner named Jones (here in the States I've only heard of him as "Jonesy") who, a few years ago, was asked in a public forum for a training program to become a world-class runner in six months. He started out by saying that it couldn't be done in six months. It would take six years. The room got really quiet for a bit at that.

Since you aren't looking for a marathon--yet--you don't have to worry about taking that long. The principle still applies, though. To train to really run--and 3.1 miles (5K for the rest of the world) at a pace of 8 1/2 or 9 minutes per mile is a run, not just a jog--will take a little longer than we'd like.

You can do it, though. A way that I found worked was to find a nearby high school with a track that opened early in the morning (I hate mornings), and I started--ugh--getting up early to run. A track has markings on it so you can measure your progress quite accurately. That was helpful, especially when running intervals (which alternate fast and slow distances).

I started with a mile. Actually, when I began I couldn't run a full mile, so I ran what I could and walked the rest. I can remember being able to run a full mile without stopping. I was quite satisfied.

But the day I ran three whole miles without stopping I simultaneously wanted to celebrate and sleep the rest of the day. I wasn't sure I could walk out of the shower. I thought I could fall asleep running for a bus...if I could run.

I don' t remember how long it took me to get there, but I remember that I just kept plugging away at it, and not letting my slow progress discourage me. I can remember wondering if I could make it to three miles today, and finding out that the answer was, "Well, not yet."

But one day it was, and it's been like that ever since. In fact, I now run six to nine miles a day with Wednesdays being a shorter but running up a long hill, and I take weekends off. And the real surprise is that I no longer mind getting up at 5:15 AM to go running. In fact, on the mornings that I don' t go running, I still wake up early.

When I run I mix it up. Mondays are six-miles of intervals, Tuesdays are seven miles steady, Wednesdays are three miles up and down hills, Thursdays are seven miles steady with one or two miles of pace intervals, and Fridays are Long, Slow Days--nine miles slow, about 9 minutes a mile.

I've had time off for shin splints and other tendonitis injuries that sometimes have taken four or five weeks to heal, and I've been at this for seven years--I started because my doctor said that, while it wasn't exactly high, he'd really like me to lower my cholesterol. And besides, my sons and I were going to hike the Chilcoot Pass from southern Alaska into Canada, and I needed to be in shape for that. So I took up running and just never stopped.

Now it's actually fun. I run and pant and sweat and can't wait for it to be over, but at the very same time I'm running farther than I ever ran when I was a kid, and it feels good.

I have a friend who's a cardiologist, and he gave me an ekg for fun. He was impressed. My trace was pure sinus rhythm (that's cardiology-speak for "real good") and my pulse was 47. He thought I was doing OK.

Train your mind to be patient with you, to endure the work (half of this stuff is psychological), and the endorphins will follow. You'll find that the 'runner's high' isn't exactly exhilirating, but it is very relaxing and contenting. Go gently with yourself and avoid injuries (use really good shoes, and buy a new pair after 500 miles. Go to the Runner's World website for help in choosing good shoes. Expect to pay about $100 for a good pair). That means "keep a log" of your running distances. That way you'll know how much you've improved. I was aiming for 1500 miles this year, but I'm not going to make it. I'll hit 1200, which I've never done before, but not 1500. That's OK--next year.

Allow me to suggest something. You don't have to do exactly this, but you might find it helpful. Any training program that you choose--and there are several hundred out there, I think--will work for you, so choose one you like. But you could start with this one and modify it as you go:

Intervals are a great help to your running program. Start with one 200 or 400 meter interval run at an 8 minute-per-mile pace (let's see, that would be a 1-minute 200 or a 2-minute 400) with an equal distance of jogging. Do it once on two different days this week in your run. Then next week do both, the 400 meter interval first, followed by the 200 meter interval. Then the next week do it twice on those days. After that choose one day each week to do intervals, and do two 400 meter intervals, then one 200 meters, then one 100-meters. Don't increase your distance when you do this, for you never, ever want to increase your speed and your distance at the same time. After this you can start increasing your distance, but no more than 10% over the last week. Interval training is very good for strength and for VO max, or increasing you maximum oxygen volume intake and useage. That means you will run better because you can breath better. And you'll be stronger. Look forward to it. Don't think about what you still can't do, but think about what you can do that once you couldn't. Celebrate your accomplishment. If my cardiologist friend can be impressed with me, yours will be with you, too.

You and I will never be olympic class, kenneth, but we can be better than we are and be really healthy to boot.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Stick with outdoor running for accurate times. Running on a treadmill has a couple of problems. One, is that there's no air resistance and that you're being propelled. Two, is that you need to have the incline set at least at 2% to equate to running outdoor. Your nine minute miles are very realistic. Just make sure to run a variety of distances and include speed work to better your chances of improving your time. Also be sure to get plenty of rest and don't over train. If not you may become injured.

Answer 3

I am seventeen and my sophomore year of high school i decided i would pick up cross country. I trained for about a week and a half until our first meet. I'm about 6 foot, and pretty skinny but for my first meet, i had a time of about 16 and a half minutes. So, twenty minutes is completely realistic. remember a 5k is about 3.2 miles so THE key is to start out slow and build up; and if you are competitive, once you see the finish line (usually the last .2 miles) you will book it and make it with energy you had no idea you had.

Answer 4

5 kilometers is only 3.1 miles well you aint gonna do the four minute mile so times by two and convert that into kilometers...... which gives you a sensible 8 minute first mile and add an extra minute for the second and another for the third....giving you 27 minutes. (which should be a comfortable pace)

as for treadmills...no they dont give an accurate representation on real time..... they dont account for the drag factor of wind, rain heat etc

Answer 5

ask your doctor for advise on your fitness levels and this should give you an indication a lot of people older than you do marathons so you may get there the site below offers some good advice

Answer 6

It's pretty impressive that you can run 5k at all! I'm 27 and there is no way I could do it...

Answer 7

Yes, 28 mins is loads of time. Keep at it, progress can be slow

Answer 8

check out runnersworld.com