The Runner's Thread

[Ryker]

Hey guys,

I've weight trained for many years but never really gave cardio much consideration, mostly because I started out far too skinny and so just wanted to get bigger. I've always been in decent cardiovascular shape though. Recently I started running for a multitude of reasons (try something new, summer cutting and went to the doctor and found out I had mild hypertension, with high blood pressure running in my family) and I have absolutely no idea what "decent" times are.

So now I'm a few months in and I just ran a 7 minute mile, my best so far. Is this decent? Terrible? Just curious about where my conditioning is relative to where it should be.

PS I'm a 22 year old male, 175 lbs, ~10% BF right now. History of asthma although it's really dormant.

Thanks!

I don't think you should worry about decent times. Try and improve little by little each time until you're satisfied with where you're at. A decent time will be a generalization across the entire population anyway, so if you're built or genetically structured than the "statistically average" person, your "decent" will be different than his "decent". It's a good sign you ran your best so far, though. Shows progress.

 

[RayP]

I bought a Hal Higdon marathon plan on Training Peaks mainly out of curiosity, and I have to say this is pretty damn awesome. It's not something you could easily reuse, because it's an interactive calendar on the Training Peaks website... I honestly can't see myself training for another marathon without one, to be honest.

If anyone is curious what it looks like, PM me and I'd be more than happy to share my username and password for you to take a look at it. The previews they have online don't really do it justice.

 

[waffledave]

Hey guys,

I've weight trained for many years but never really gave cardio much consideration, mostly because I started out far too skinny and so just wanted to get bigger. I've always been in decent cardiovascular shape though. Recently I started running for a multitude of reasons (try something new, summer cutting and went to the doctor and found out I had mild hypertension, with high blood pressure running in my family) and I have absolutely no idea what "decent" times are.

So now I'm a few months in and I just ran a 7 minute mile, my best so far. Is this decent? Terrible? Just curious about where my conditioning is relative to where it should be.

PS I'm a 22 year old male, 175 lbs, ~10% BF right now. History of asthma although it's really dormant.

Thanks!

It's all relative in the end. Your pace running 1 mile vs running 5 miles is going to be different.

I would suggest you don't worry about how fast you do it and instead pick a distance or a certain amount of time (ie: 30 minutes straight) and focus on building towards that. You can work on your pace after you've established a distance you are comfortable with.

 

[Blueland89]

running sucks there for I do not do it

 

[Hamilton Brian]

Funny! Just found this thread. Reinvigorated runner from 2009 on. Usually use Vibrams. Lots of bare footing!

 

[RayP]

Hey guys,

I've weight trained for many years but never really gave cardio much consideration, mostly because I started out far too skinny and so just wanted to get bigger. I've always been in decent cardiovascular shape though. Recently I started running for a multitude of reasons (try something new, summer cutting and went to the doctor and found out I had mild hypertension, with high blood pressure running in my family) and I have absolutely no idea what "decent" times are.

So now I'm a few months in and I just ran a 7 minute mile, my best so far. Is this decent? Terrible? Just curious about where my conditioning is relative to where it should be.

PS I'm a 22 year old male, 175 lbs, ~10% BF right now. History of asthma although it's really dormant.

Thanks!

Just to emphasize what waffle said, it's all relative to what you're training for and what your goals are. I'm in the midst of training for another marathon this fall. Depending on the distance I'm running that day, sometimes I run at my marathon pace, other days I run at a much faster pace. All depends on the distance.

I would definitely say a 7 minute mile is at least decent, if not even better than that. I'm not sure what my absolute best mile time is, but about 6-7 months ago I did a V02 max test on a treadmill, with a 1.5M run, and I was able to do that at 9 minutes on the dot. I'd be curious to know how fast I could run a mile if I went all out. Maybe we should all have some form of a friendly competition. I know I could do it under 7, and think I can do it under 6.

 

[waffledave]

Just to emphasize what waffle said, it's all relative to what you're training for and what your goals are. I'm in the midst of training for another marathon this fall. Depending on the distance I'm running that day, sometimes I run at my marathon pace, other days I run at a much faster pace. All depends on the distance.

I would definitely say a 7 minute mile is at least decent, if not even better than that. I'm not sure what my absolute best mile time is, but about 6-7 months ago I did a V02 max test on a treadmill, with a 1.5M run, and I was able to do that at 9 minutes on the dot. I'd be curious to know how fast I could run a mile if I went all out. Maybe we should all have some form of a friendly competition. I know I could do it under 7, and think I can do it under 6.

Hard to say for me, I've never tried to run just one mile. I can do 3 miles in 24 minutes fairly easily, but just one I would imagine I could do even faster.

 

[Positive]

It's been 5 months almost exactly since I started running and I am truly happy with my progress and how much I've grown to love the sport.

I started off barely able to keep running for 30 seconds, would be completely winded after and had a RHR of over 100 bpm. My first run, January 11th, was a nightmare, lots of short running intervals.

I have run over 8km without stopping. I can run 5k easily without being out of breath. Today, I achieved my personal best of 5k in 26m31s and I know I can do better. My RHR is under 60 bpm now.

All this in 5 months, imagine what I can do in a year?

Love reading your progress man!

 

[waffledave]

Love reading your progress man!

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

Running has seriously changed my life. Saved my life in some ways.

So much energy now. I barely sleep and I'm still always filled with energy.

Looking back, I think to a certain extent I may have been a little bit depressed. Hard to say, I have been really honestly very happy for a long time now. But I just... never wanted to do anything. I would have these weird feelings where I'd wish I would get really sick so I didn't have to go to work and I could just stay home all day.

I never get that feeling anymore. I credit the big lifestyle change I went through for this. I know at the end of the day what I run may not be a big deal to many people, but for me, it really is. I've come so far, and I keep improving, consistently. It's the best feeling I've ever had.

Also I beat my previous best posted above... Finished 5k in 24m51s and repeated that time 4 days consecutively... I want to see if I can get under 24 minutes.

 

[Positive]

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

Running has seriously changed my life. Saved my life in some ways.

So much energy now. I barely sleep and I'm still always filled with energy.

Looking back, I think to a certain extent I may have been a little bit depressed. Hard to say, I have been really honestly very happy for a long time now. But I just... never wanted to do anything. I would have these weird feelings where I'd wish I would get really sick so I didn't have to go to work and I could just stay home all day.

I never get that feeling anymore. I credit the big lifestyle change I went through for this. I know at the end of the day what I run may not be a big deal to many people, but for me, it really is. I've come so far, and I keep improving, consistently. It's the best feeling I've ever had.

Also I beat my previous best posted above... Finished 5k in 24m51s and repeated that time 4 days consecutively... I want to see if I can get under 24 minutes.

Those are about 8 minute miles, and very respectable. What's your weight loss at now?

 

[waffledave]

Those are about 8 minute miles, and very respectable. What's your weight loss at now?

I'm at around 45 lbs lost now, since January.

210 - 165

 

[Positive]

I'm at around 45 lbs lost now, since January.

210 - 165

Incredible! Your friends and family must be amazed. Probably need a new wardrobe.

Back in college, I was pretty chunky. 5'8 and a soft 200lbs. One summer day I just decided I was tired of it and decided to start an exercise program. Got on a treadmill for the first time in my life and couldn't run on it for more than a minute without gassing out...maybe at like 5mph. I just kept at it, everyday...a little bit of running and little bit of weights. Eventually I was at 30min. Then an hour. In the space of half a year I had lost 50 lbs and was down to 150, going from a 38" waist to 32".

It opened up some mental doors for me. What else can I do? I enrolled in martial arts classes, and earned my black sash in kung-fu 5 years later. I started into more serious weight training. Can I do 100 pushups? Can I bench press xxx amount? Then came road races. The Terry Fox run (10k) was one of my first. Then I thought about doing a half-marathon. How hard could it be? Then thought, 'I'd like to do a full someday...probably before I'm 40.'

It's been 22 years since I got on that treadmill. I've ran 4 full marathons and lost count of the half-marathons I've ran. I'll be 43 this month and am happy to say that I can still run 10k daily, finish a half-marathon in under 2 hours, can still do 50 good pushups, and still wear 32" jeans. Not too shabby.

A lot of this is just self-congratulatory back-patting on my part, but what I'm also getting at...is that you're on a pretty good road right now. You can do anything, and you'll believe it from now on. It all starts with lacing up those shoes...

 

[waffledave]

Incredible! Your friends and family must be amazed. Probably need a new wardrobe.

Yes I really have changed quite a bit...

I have had to purchase a new wardrobe several times. In March I got a promotion and bought several thousand dollars worth of new suits and work clothes, none of which fit anymore.

 

[Positive]

Yes I really have changed quite a bit...

I have had to purchase a new wardrobe several times. In March I got a promotion and bought several thousand dollars worth of new suits and work clothes, none of which fit anymore.

Yeah you can really see it in your face. It's awesome when you cross paths with someone you might not have seen in 6 months, and they're like, 'Holy ****'.

 

[StronGeer]

Yeah you can really see it in your face. It's awesome when you cross paths with someone you might not have seen in 6 months, and they're like, 'Holy ****'.

Slightly OT: I always find the "see it in your face" funny. No one ever maligns the fat in their face but it's what everyone notices

 

[waffledave]

Yeah you can really see it in your face. It's awesome when you cross paths with someone you might not have seen in 6 months, and they're like, 'Holy ****'.

Oh yeah... It's getting to the point where it kind of embarrasses me because people freak out SO MUCH in public. I left my old office just a few weeks after I started losing weight and have lost maybe another 30 lbs since then, and every time I go back and visit it's like a huge deal... My department had 150+ people so it's basically nonstop.

Slightly OT: I always find the "see it in your face" funny. No one ever maligns the fat in their face but it's what everyone notices

The face makes a huge difference because losing/gaining weight makes a huge difference to your jawline.

 

[RayP]

Weird weekend of running. Normally Friday is an off day for running, but I took Thursday off out of laziness so had to run Friday instead.

Friday - had a really good 5 mile run, at about a 7:50/mile pace

Saturday - the heat beat me down so badly that I had to take a break 3.5 miles into my 6 mile run. I can't even remember the last time I had to take a break during a run, probably sometime last fall.

Sunday - well, I went out Saturday night with some friends, closed the bars down, didn't get home till 5am, and felt like death pretty much all day. Managed to crank out 8.25 miles at a 9:15 pace. Not the best pace in the world, but given the fact I was probably still drunk when I went on the run, made it through it without dying, I'll take that pace.

 

[RayP]

First round of registration for the Big Sur International Marathon opens up tomorrow. They're doing 4 days at different times of 650 first come first serve spots, then they're holding a lottery. I'll be by my computer as many times as I need to be for the second registration opens up. This is for their April 2015 race, if anyone around here is interested.


http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx

 

[RayP]

Best run of the season so far today, it's just a damn shame only 3 miles were schedule today. First mile was an 8:30 pace, then down to 7:30, then finished the last mile at 6:30, with the last 0.15 in a full on sprint. Even after I pulled up, I wasn't even remotely winded. My breathing could not have been any better. I felt like I could have kept running at that 6:30 pace (before I turned it into a sprint to finish) for at least another mile.

 

[RayP]

Ran a half today, which was kind of boring since it was 4 loops around a lake and an out & back but happy with my time of 1:52.

 

[waffledave]

Shaved a few seconds off my last PB with a 5k in 24m13s... Was hoping I'd finish below 24 minutes but I'll get it next time.

 

[RayP]

You'll get it next time man.

My 3M time is officially under 8 min per with ease these days. Not too long ago anything right around 8:30 per was considered a good day. Now of I'm above 8 it's considered a bad day IMO at this point.

 

[waffledave]

You'll get it next time man.

My 3M time is officially under 8 min per with ease these days. Not too long ago anything right around 8:30 per was considered a good day. Now of I'm above 8 it's considered a bad day IMO at this point.

Awesome job man... It really is just about keeping it up and pushing harder. When I hit my first 5k ever back in early March it was right around 29m15s and I had difficulty doing that. It's only been around 4 months since then and that includes almost a full month off with an IT band injury, and I've managed to shave off 5 full minutes from my time.

My PB yesterday wasn't even very difficult and I am quite confident I can beat it. That being said, my PBs are always on Mondays as I don't run on the weekends. I also cheated by doing it on the treadmill but with the heat these days I'll die doing that outside.

 

[RayP]

Awesome job man... It really is just about keeping it up and pushing harder. When I hit my first 5k ever back in early March it was right around 29m15s and I had difficulty doing that. It's only been around 4 months since then and that includes almost a full month off with an IT band injury, and I've managed to shave off 5 full minutes from my time.

My PB yesterday wasn't even very difficult and I am quite confident I can beat it. That being said, my PBs are always on Mondays as I don't run on the weekends. I also cheated by doing it on the treadmill but with the heat these days I'll die doing that outside.

Last year when I was going through my marathon training, I think I was overtraining. I really didn't see much improvement in my pace and times. This year, I have been seeing steady increases in all of my runs whether they be short 3 miles runs, or 10+ mile runs.

Are you training for any specific race or distance at the moment? I'd pick out a fall race if I were you if not.

 

[waffledave]

Last year when I was going through my marathon training, I think I was overtraining. I really didn't see much improvement in my pace and times. This year, I have been seeing steady increases in all of my runs whether they be short 3 miles runs, or 10+ mile runs.

Are you training for any specific race or distance at the moment? I'd pick out a fall race if I were you if not.

Not particularly... I have limited time available so I tend to informally challenge myself on 5k's because they take less time (though, the times posted above are just for the first 5k of my run, I actually run about 7-8k at the same pace every time, for a total of 35-40 minutes per run).

I am quite confident I can run a 10k at this point but I haven't tried yet due to time constraints. I honestly don't have more than about an hour per day, and I do other workouts 3 days a week so I only really have 4 days for running and I try to cram everything into 40 minutes tops. I will eventually find time on a weekend to just get out there and do it, so I can say I did.

There is a small race coming in September... I might sign up for the 10k. I have a few friends who are doing the 5k version of the race but I'd like to actually try and do it fast and I'm not sure they can keep up with me.