Benefit us all, please post. (Read 2047 times)

Eddy, your mileage, pace and weight has improved dramatically over a short period of time. Congratulations! Here is my long (and uninspiring) tale.... I had never been a runner, but have been an "off-an-on" exerciser for most of my life (54 years). Last Spring I started recording my daily calorie intake and walking 3-4 miles, three times a week. When walking got boring I switched to power-walking. By the summer I had lost 25 pounds and did not want to gain it back and, by then, power-walking had become boring. I began running in early July 2006, mainly following the Couch-to-5K program. I wanted to do the "Run for the Cure" 5K fun run in the Fall, and I wanted to run it, not walk it - so I was determined to learn how to run. Looking back I wish I had started running in the Spring when the weather was nice. It was hard for me, really hard, running in the heat and humidity, and I would get frustrated because I felt I could walk as fast as I could "run". I felt awkward and silly, like I was pretending to be an athlete, LOL! However, I persisted. During the first few weeks my pace was close to 14:00 min/mi. It gradually (very gradually) improved by a few seconds a week. By the end of the 9-week C25K program I was running 9-10 miles/week at an average of 12:30 min/mile. By October I was averaging 10-12 miles/week and occasionally my pace would be under 12:00 min/mi. I did the "Run for the Cure" 5K fun run on October 1st (and ran it ... slowly compared to many, by fast for me) ... 35:36 (11:28 min/mi). I had fun and raised some money for breast cancer to boot. Up until that point my runs were all done outdoors. We decided to buy a treadmill in the Fall and now that winter is here I find I'm doing a lot of my running indoors. I try to do at least one run outdoors every week. Admittedly, I’m a wimp about running on ice. Rain - OK, freezing rain - not so much. I have entered my first chip-timed 5K race, which will be on March 25. I'm running 4 times week. My "long run" is up to 7 miles and my schedule is to do about 16 miles/week until the race. Every fourth week I cut back to about 10 miles for a “rest week”. I have not done the 10% increase/week, as suggested by many books. I only increase my long run by about a ½ mile, and not every week. I’m being super cautious so I don’t get injured (and I have arthritis in my joints). The only "speedwork" I do is I’ve started to add some 100m striders to one of my easy runs each week. My pace has not improved by much and I'm not really concerned about that right now. When I run outdoors I average about 12:00 min/mile, which is faster than suggested by The McMillan Running Calculator, but seems to be my natural pace. Even when I consciously try to run slower than that, I seem to fall into that pace. Because of my age, on the recommendation of my doctor, I use a HR monitor and have had a treadmill stress test by a cardiologist. He gave me "rules" based on my maximum HR. Long Run 65% (Average HR 134); Easy Run 70% (Average HR 142); Moderate Run 75% (Average HR 148) ... and no real speedwork until after I've been running for a full year. [Anaerobic 76-88% (HR Rate 149-163); VO2 Max 88-100% (HR 164-180)] My husband, while not a runner, has been very supportive. He often comes with me when I do my longer runs outdoors, and he rides his bike (slowly) while I run. So… as far as improvement, I guess I'll find out when I enter my first real race two months from now. I want to do a few races a year, as a barometer, and for fun, not as a serious competitor. I know I'll never be a racer, but I'm beginning to feel like a runner. Perhaps not a die-hard, but I'm committed to a gradual increase in weekly mileage. My pace is what it is. I'd love to be faster, but as a new runner at 54 years old, I'm happy that I'm no longer just sitting on the couch, LOL! Have fun, and stay injury-free. (Sorry this is so long. "Concise" is not in my vocabulary) ~ Arlene

Wow Eddy, great progress in such a short time! If my improvement went like that I'd be fastest woman on the planet. Anyway, I started running about 6 years ago, I weighed around 112 and now I weigh around 118 (I didn't have much muscle before!) My first race was 10K and my goal was under an hour - I finished in 58 mins. So for a pretty long time my pace was around 10 minutes. I've been a pretty consistent runner since then, trained for and ran: 2 HMs : 1st was 1:55:53 , second was my PR 1:47 /8:13 pace. 2 marathons: first was 4:24:35, second was my PR 3:56:07/9:01 pace. 10K PR is 49:14 (7:57 pace) 5K PR is 22:23 (7:24 pace) When I do tempo runs I shoot for 7:30 ish, mile repeats (with rest inbetween) I try for 7:00. I'm doing another HM in about 4 weeks and my goal is average 8 min. pace. I really don't have much of a goal to get faster, since the type of training that would take is really just not what I'm in for! My goals are to stay at this fitness level, keep a cycle of training and rest for HMs and marathons, branch out into more cycling (maybe do a century ride one day) and be healthy!! I also try to be an encouraging friend to those people I know who are starting out on exercise programs and promote a healthy lifestyle. Carol

Great thread! I started running in July '06, after being talked into doing a local 5K in August. Since then I remembered that I actually enjoyed running, once upon a time. August '06 5k completed in 46 minutes, or almost 15 minutes/mile. Since then I've done a few more 5k's. Most recent was Thanksgiving, and averaged about 12 minutes/mile. I've also lost about 20 pounds since August (starting at 167, and now down to 145). On my recent tempo training runs I've been averaging about 10-11/mile for 5K. My next 5k is in 2 weeks & I'm really looking forward to it! I've been running 3 to 4 days per week for a total of about 11-15 miles per week. BTW, I just recently found this site and I think it rocks!

BTW, I just recently found this site and I think it rocks!

Welcome to the community, hope you have a pleasant stay, be sure to keep logging your runs here, very useful to see your improvement,

WOW! Chris, a 5:04 mile....I bow before you! I might be able to manage that if a guy was chasing me with a machete or something. I have done speed work and gotten down to about 7:00-7:30 p/mile on shorter runs, but it isn't reliable (or comfortable!). I am so d@mned competitive (at everything! lol) that I tried running w/ a faster partner for aout 3 mos and wound up in PT for a bursitis likely from pushing too much...I'm just going to hope that graduating to a higher age bracket during my 'hiatus' will help. That and entering plenty of smaller races....Tee hee.

Let's see... Started running in Sept '05. I was about 210 pounds at the time. Took me about 20 weeks to get through a 12 week "couch to 5K" style program, but I made it! Decided I liked it. Started logging runs in late Dec' 06. My paces were all over the place, so let me just go by race times. 5K time: 1/14/06 ..... 44:09 (Not sure what I weighed at the time, but it was probably between 200-205) In the previous month I'd been averaging maybe 5 miles per week. Started tracking weight in RA in May '06. I was 195 pounds at the time. 5K time: 5/6/06 ..... 39:10. I'd been averaging maybe 9 miles per week. Found a really flat and fast 5K course in Goldsboro, NC in August '06. I was 189 pounds at the time. 5K time: 8/5/06 ..... 36:04. I'd been averaging around 15 miles per week. This 5K time stood for a good while, as I started training for longer distances (completed a half-marathon on 10/22 in 2:59:34!) and stopped racing 5K's. Didn't beat it until just last month. At a race that was not flat... I was 179 pounds at the time. 5K time: 1/6/07 ..... 35:12. I'd been averaging 20+ miles per week (a few low (15-ish) weeks and some weeks around 30. December was an odd month for me). This year my big goal is to run a marathon. Specifically, I want to run in the Outer Banks Marathon in NC on 11/11/07. I'm shooting for a time around 5 1/2 hours, but will be happy with finishing uninjured and feeling like I did my best and trained well. I think that sums it up for me!

My first running career (8years) was in jh/hs/college. Didn't really run for the right reasons and didn't really enjoy it either (Always hurt, unmotivated, inconsistent, exhausted, stressed from the pressure to compete all the damn time). Weight 105 and not a happy camper. The second time back (after a six year hiatus) running has been a blast. Started in January 2005 walking (new years resolution-weight 130) then progressed/snowballed to running in May and ran a 5k in July 2005 (28:21). In 2006 ran a trail 5k run in April (26:37) and got a idea to run a half marathon in July. I finished my very first half marathon in September 2006 (1:57:17 chip time). Weight 120ish and running is the me (relatively stress free) time away from work. Next goal: finish a full Marathon in May. I'm a different, happier runner now. Run my long runs on trails and take my dog along as a running partner, don't worry about the times and just enjoy getting outside and running through the mud.