Times

[Biddyb34]

Hi there

Can anyone give me a little advice on how I'm doing in terms of times in my running. I ran a 5k in 26 mins and 5 mile in 45 mins, the 5 miler had quite steep and long hills, also in a 34 year old female and had a baby 5 months ago

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

I have to ask you - compared to what?? The World record for women over the 5k is 14 minutes 11 seconds - whereas compared to me, you are lightning fast Seriously though - it sounds good to me and congrats that you have had the determination to get out post-birth. WE have a lady in our local parkrun who usually runs around 22 minutes for the 5K - she gave birth to her 4th child not long ago - ran parkruns up to 2 weeks before she gave birth and was back about 2 weeks after. I'm not sure that I "approved " her pre-birth efforts but she did it !

[Nomoreexcuses]

I have to agree with Bazza1234 who are you comparing yourself to? Im female, 48 and this year and run 5k in 30 minutes and 10k in 60 minutes (that time also with hills). My youngest is 9 and I consider myself average.

There's quite a bit of evidence that women who have recently given birth can have enhanced sporting performance due to the surge of hormones and extra oxygen in the body e.g. Jo Pavey

I'm curious to know why you're asking. Are you entering an event? As long as you enjoy running I think you're doing fine.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

You have obviously been running for a while...as that is a very fast time...Have you been on the C25K programme ? Are you wanting to move forward to 10K.. we have this forum and there is a Marathon and Half Marathon forum too..?

[Hidden]

I think the usual rule is only to race against yourself. But I am a 50 year old female and much slower than that, my very best five k is 35 11 -and I did a hilly five mile (8k) last night at 1 hour 7. So stop worrying !

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

I see this as the biggest defect of the sport/activity/hobby of running.

Consider knitting -- is it ever asked , Who is the fastest knitter? Who is the best knitter? Even the outcome of a knitting "competition" is very subjective with expert judges deciding who gets the 1st Class ribbon (and we all know that an EX is a has-been and a SPURT is a drip under pressure). Trouble is that running has a definitive answer as to who is "best" - those that cross the line of a race first!!. But running is more than that - it is a pursuit and a hobby, an interest, a lifestyle - something that everyone can do but 99% don't! I would dearly love to invent some kind of running event, the outcome of which did not depend on how "good" a runner you are - maybe it would be some kind of "treasure hunt" held over a 10klm course Any other ideas??

[Millsie-J in reply to Bazza1234]

Every finisher is a winner in my book

[Maddee_6333 Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

Um yes, who is the fastest knitter is an actual question that some people get very uh- 'involved' in finding the answer to.

I do love the idea of a running event that is a treasure hunt. 😀

[roseabi]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking Are you aiming to run a 10k race? If so do you have a goal time for the race? You can get a rough idea of your 10k (or other distance) pace from a calculator like this one:

runnersworld.com/tools/race...

Or, here's another calculator to show your age grading, which helps you compare your times with other runners:

runnersworld.com/tools/age-...

Have you ran in a race before, or parkrun? You will probably find you run a bit faster in those situations. Anyway, I think you're doing really well - have fun!

[Maddee_6333 Graduate10]

Those sound like great times to me!