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Runner's Forum: First EVER race

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    • CommentAuthorFree Memberl33tDad
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2008
     
    l33tDad
    I'm very near 40 years old and I just had my very first ever running race in my entire life; a 5k charity run (Race for the Cure) last Sunday morning and have a question. A little background first; I wasn't a runner in high school or college, I've always hated it and actually just started running in March of this year. 16 months ago I weighed 282 pounds (I am 5' 9", male) and am officially at 180.2 now, so you can see, I've never been the "active" type. I had a LOT of fun at the race and really enjoy running (and other things) now and usually run at least 30 miles a week. The question I have is my time, I did the 5k in 25:36 (rainy, pretty chilly) which placed me at 11th in my age group (30-39) and 91 out of 220 overall. Is that a good time for someone like me? I was hoping to go sub-25, but people seem to be pretty amazed at the time I did.
    • CommentAuthorFree MemberD-Jammer68
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2008
     
    D-Jammer68

    Well, I'm very near 40 years old, and last year I ran my first ever race, a 5k trail run. Similar background to you, ran in high school just to survive soccer and what little basketball I played, joined a group of older guys in college who ran regularly at a 10 min/mile pace, then on and off (mostly off) until recently. My first race I did in 25:51, although I've heard that the race is rather difficult due to the hills and trail stuff. My second 5k on 7/7/07 (and my number was 7!) was a more level road race, and I bettered my time to 25:11. I know that I'm not really running anywhere near my brother's times of around 22 minutes, but I'm trying to be realistic about all of this. Sure, I'd like to do better and be able to "compete," but face it ... we're in a tough crowd, the 35 to 40-something males. I know that if I were in any other age group or female, I would have placed in that group. I think that in our grouping there are a lot of relatively new runners like you and I, but then there are those who have been running a while and they are just plain fast. So I run for myself, for my own personal fitness, and my time turns out to be where it is.

    Actually, last month I did the trail 5K again, but my goal was to help my wife (a real non-runner) complete it. So I stuck with her and walked/ran the race. We conquered her goal time of sub-45 minutes by completing in 44:01. And I'll tell you this ... I'm proud of that time!

    Therefore ... I think you did great! Keep up the good work!

    • CommentAuthorFree Memberkojon16
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2008
     
    kojon16

    i'm pretty sure that if you keep training like that, 30 miles a week, you'll improve to somewhere around 22 minutes. But 25 minutes is very good for a first race, especially considering your fitness level 16 months ago.

    Keep it up!

    • CommentAuthorFree Memberl33tDad
    • CommentTimeMay 21st 2008
     
    l33tDad
    Cool - thanks for the replies. I'm pretty happy with it, but really wish I was sub-25. That's okay though, next time, right? ;) Do you think it would be feasible to break 20 mins within a year?
    • CommentAuthorFree Membercourtney8
    • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2008
     
    courtney8

    Wow, you are very driven!

    Congrats on changing your life and all the accomplishments Smile

    • CommentAuthorFree Memberjunkie_99
    • CommentTimeMay 22nd 2008
     
    junkie_99

    My first 5k race last August was about the same as yours....right around 25 minutes. (I'm 41 years old) I worked my way up to around 30 miles a week and in 9 months dropped the time to 20:24 for my best 5k.

     So, to anwer your question: yes, 1 year should be a good goal to set to get to under 20 minutes.

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