Runners- quick question

[jen812]

Whats a decent time for a difficult, hilly, 7 mile road race as a first timer?

My FIL ran his first today & wanted to know how he did for a guy in his late 50s.

[moonstone523]

I'd say if a 50-something year old dude, running his first race, can hold mid 8min miles on that course he is doing pretty damn good. There are a lot of other factors though that would make me change that number.

So let's say this-
Under 8min miles - this guy has some serious potential to be a bad ass runner.
Under 9min miles - this guy is good. Keep it up.
Under 10min miles - hey. Not bad for almost 60.
Under 11min miles- You did it. Dont quit your day job just yet though as running is merely a hobby.

[jen812]

www.falmouthroadrace.com/course-information

Does this help? I don't know anything about road races.

[moonstone523]

Having zero elevation here, I'm not sure how much that would effect things. I'm sure with big climbs it could make a mile a minute or two or even three slower maybe. Not sure though. So how did he do?

If he wants to "compare" he should check out the results for his age group and see where he placed among them

[jen812]

He placed 6,662 out of almost 12,000 runners. He finished in a little over an hour. Someone told me the record was like 32 minutes. That seems crazy to me! Is that even possible? Was this person making shit up?

ETA: I guess it is. The winner's time was 31 minutes. Wowza.

FIL has been pouring over the results page since he got home. I think he did great. Better than I could do.

[jen812]

Is the division place his age group?

[mrsjason]

Aug 12, 2012 20:37:26 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

I'd say if a 50-something year old dude, running his first race, can hold mid 8min miles on that course he is doing pretty damn good. There are a lot of other factors though that would make me change that number.

So let's say this-
Under 8min miles - this guy has some serious potential to be a bad ass runner.
Under 9min miles - this guy is good. Keep it up.
Under 10min miles - hey. Not bad for almost 60.
Under 11min miles- You did it. Dont quit your day job just yet though as running is merely a hobby.

Ahh, reading this made me cringe! Haha. I am totally training for a different race, but during my runs I think I do pretty freakin' good if my average pace is under 9:30 minutes. But a 7 mile race is much different than a 26.2 miles race

I constantly have to remind myself to run slower during my long runs, the point is distance not speed. I have scaled it back to 10-10:30 minute miles for my long runs which has been tough for my brain to process! But this is coming after I battled an episode of shin splints. After 2 weeks off from running and a new pair of running shoes I am finally back at it. However, I am having serious doubts that I will actually survive marathon training and I haven't even *officially* started my training program yet :\ Taking it one day at a time, one day at a time.......

Umm, yeah, sorry Jen, I totally took over your post so I could complain, LOL.

[jen812]

That's okay. I have a new appreciation for runners.

I don't know if many races are like this, but it was nice to see a sense of community. FIL ran for a local charity that means a lot to our family. It was touching to see how supportive his team & all the other teams were of each other.

[moonstone523]

Aug 12, 2012 22:57:04 GMT -5 mrsjason said:

Aug 12, 2012 20:37:26 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

I'd say if a 50-something year old dude, running his first race, can hold mid 8min miles on that course he is doing pretty damn good. There are a lot of other factors though that would make me change that number.

So let's say this-
Under 8min miles - this guy has some serious potential to be a bad ass runner.
Under 9min miles - this guy is good. Keep it up.
Under 10min miles - hey. Not bad for almost 60.
Under 11min miles- You did it. Dont quit your day job just yet though as running is merely a hobby.

Ahh, reading this made me cringe! Haha. I am totally training for a different race, but during my runs I think I do pretty freakin' good if my average pace is under 9:30 minutes. But a 7 mile race is much different than a 26.2 miles race

I constantly have to remind myself to run slower during my long runs, the point is distance not speed. I have scaled it back to 10-10:30 minute miles for my long runs which has been tough for my brain to process! But this is coming after I battled an episode of shin splints. After 2 weeks off from running and a new pair of running shoes I am finally back at it. However, I am having serious doubts that I will actually survive marathon training and I haven't even *officially* started my training program yet :\ Taking it one day at a time, one day at a time.......

Umm, yeah, sorry Jen, I totally took over your post so I could complain, LOL.

LOL. She asked me what was good, and good is such a relative term. I took it to mean what an experienced runner might do.

I would be lucky to hold 10 minute miles on hills probably in the best shape of my life.

And you totally have this marathon! Take it one run at a time. And getting over the mental block of slower down a minute a mile or so for distance is HARD to do. VERY HARD.

You got it. Which marathon are you running? Disney?

[mrsjason]

Aug 13, 2012 8:45:58 GMT -5 moonstone523 said:

Aug 12, 2012 22:57:04 GMT -5 mrsjason said:

Ahh, reading this made me cringe! Haha. I am totally training for a different race, but during my runs I think I do pretty freakin' good if my average pace is under 9:30 minutes. But a 7 mile race is much different than a 26.2 miles race

I constantly have to remind myself to run slower during my long runs, the point is distance not speed. I have scaled it back to 10-10:30 minute miles for my long runs which has been tough for my brain to process! But this is coming after I battled an episode of shin splints. After 2 weeks off from running and a new pair of running shoes I am finally back at it. However, I am having serious doubts that I will actually survive marathon training and I haven't even *officially* started my training program yet :\ Taking it one day at a time, one day at a time.......

Umm, yeah, sorry Jen, I totally took over your post so I could complain, LOL.

LOL. She asked me what was good, and good is such a relative term. I took it to mean what an experienced runner might do.

I would be lucky to hold 10 minute miles on hills probably in the best shape of my life.

And you totally have this marathon! Take it one run at a time. And getting over the mental block of slower down a minute a mile or so for distance is HARD to do. VERY HARD.

You got it. Which marathon are you running? Disney?

Oh, I was totally teasing you about the times My goal is just to COMPLETE the marathon, not any set time since this will be my first marathon.

And yep, I am doing Disney........so I am like 6 months out. But I still worry that I don't have enough time to train! LOL. Right now I am averaging 20-25 miles a week or so but the last month (or even 6 weeks....eeek) my longest run out of those 20-25 miles has only been 6 miles. I really, really, really need to get a good, solid long run in even if I don't officially start my training program until mid- Sept.

Oh and I can't find anyone who will train with me. I see doing those 20 mile runs by myself torture!

But like I said earlier, all I can do is focus on one day at a time!

Good news is, as of today I am down 20 lbs since May. Yay me! But I think that weight loss is mostly due to the thyroid medication I started taking in May and less to do with my training. Although, I am sure running has helped

[moonstone523]

That is amazing about the 20lbs.

And I know you live in the middle of nowhere Texas, but if there is a town even an hour or so away (and it has a running club!) I would highly suggest driving there to group long runs.