Expectations for runnier over 45

"Hlmt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a lot
and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at that
speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is
this realistic ? or should one accept that I have just be content where
I am now?

39:30 is the best you can do.

Quoted message said:

Thanks

Carlos

Hlmt said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

Imminent, sudden chest pains, followed by death.

"Hlmt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a
lot and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at
that speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is
this realistic ? or should one accept that I have just be content
where I am now?

Simple answer ask your parents. That's a back door way of saying it
depends on genes and how hard you want to work. I could crack 40 minutes
through age 51. Other in my age group could not muster 50 minutes. The
answer - keep trying only you know the answer.

-DougF

Hlmt said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a lot
and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at that
speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is
this realistic ?

No-one knows for sure. But based on my experience, I'd say 45 minutes is
certainly not out of the question. I'd say 40 minutes is a long shot, but
who knows ? Only one way to find out.

Quoted message said:

or should one accept that I have just be content where I am now?

Not at all. In fact I'd go so far as to say that provided you are able to
train reasonably hard without being sidelined by injury, you will knock
minutes off that 10k time. Neither I, nor anyone else can tell you how many
minutes, but you should be able to make steady improvements for some time.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

Hlmt said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a lot
and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at that
speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is
this realistic ?

If you've only been running 1.5 yr, you should still see improvements.

Quoted message said:

or should one accept that I have just be content where
I am now?

only if you choose to accept limits and not train to see what you can
do. Trying is the only way you'll know. Set goals in increments, and
strive to be all that you can be.

Dot

--
"If we reach all our goals, we are not setting them high enough."
- Matt Carpenter

Hlmt said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a lot
and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at that
speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is
this realistic ? or should one accept that I have just be content where
I am now?

Thanks

Carlos

Depends on a lot of things: how much you're training, what drugs
you're on, what you eat, your genetics, any medical issues that might
be hampering your running, etc.

If you're prone to becoming overweight, and get injured, you'll need
some way to keep the weight off while you recover, be it swimming,
low-carb, liposuction, drugs, etc.

"Hlmt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My question is: what is reasonable to expect for a runner over 45?.

I am 47 and have been running for a year and half. I had improved a lot
and my pace is about 5 min / km. I have done just one 10k race at that
speed and there were a few moderate slopes in it.

I would love to go down to 45 min for the 10k or even to 40 min. Is this
realistic ? or should one accept that I have just be content where I am
now?

Carlos - as others have said - 45 mins for 10K is certainly attainable. You
should still be able to make steady improvements over the next few years.
I've been running for 6 years and at age 44 I'm still improving my
times...Around 6 months ago I ran a 10K in under 37 mins...

Good luck,

Anthony.

Totally realistic. If I ran 42 on the way to a 70-minute 10-mile at
age 53, you can burn my butt at 45.

I was training 40 mpw and doing 3 miles total of all-out repeats once
a week (plus warmup/warmdown) in various formats: halfs, quarters,
miles.

This was the wrong way to train. I wasn't increasing
speed-with-endurance.

For that, I suggest you do everything at about 70% of MHR except your
speedwork, and just do mile repeats most weeks, with a few quarters
every third week for leg speed. Walk a full lap <slowly> between
repeats of all lengths.

If you're able to run high mileage (50+), you can do just about any
kind of speedwork you can handle without getting overtrained, and
it'll accomplish substantially the same effect. This is Phil
Maffetone's advice, and he's got the stats to prove it; e.g., Mark
Allen didn't begin winning the Hawaiian Ironman until he started
training with PM. Maffetone's book Training for Endurance is very
good.

George Beinhorn
www.fitnessintuition.com

Totally realistic. If I ran 42 on the way to a 70-minute 10-mile at
age 53, you can burn my butt at 45.

I was training 40 mpw and doing 3 miles total of all-out repeats once
a week (plus warmup/warmdown) in various formats: halfs, quarters,
miles.

This was the wrong way to train. I wasn't increasing
speed-with-endurance.

For that, I suggest you do everything at about 70% of MHR except your
speedwork, and just do mile repeats most weeks, with a few quarters
every third week for leg speed. Walk a full lap <slowly> between
repeats of all lengths.

If you're able to run high mileage (50+), you can do just about any
kind of speedwork you can handle without getting overtrained, and
it'll accomplish substantially the same effect. This is Phil
Maffetone's advice, and he's got the stats to prove it; e.g., Mark
Allen didn't begin winning the Hawaiian Ironman until he started
training with PM. Maffetone's book Training for Endurance is very
good.

George Beinhorn
www.fitnessintuition.com