Running.

[Snackwarrior]

I’m 52 and have started running on a treadmill, 2k takes me 20 mins. Is that ok or should I be quicker?

[nowster Graduate]

Are you starting running from "cold" or are you following a programme like Couch to 5K?

10 minutes per km is not unusual for a beginner runner.

[dreamrun Graduate]

There is no should involved when it comes to speed - other than you should be running at a pace comfortable to you!

It is always easy to compare yourself to people who can run faster, or farther, or both. And those people are indeed out there. And likewise, there will be people doing slower, shorter runs than you. But those comparisons do nothing to help you on your journey! Comparison is the thief of joy after all.

Huge congratulations on running for 20 minutes and for achieving 2km! Are you following the week by week couch to 5K plan?

Enjoy your journey and all the best 😊

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on starting running.

Couch to 5k is the perfect way to safely and progressively build a running body and counterintuitively, it is an easy conversational pace running that builds your stamina and endurance, not fast running.

Say this sentence out loud to yourself "Am I going slow enough to enable me to speak this sentence in one out breath?" If you cannot, you are going too fast.

There is no point comparing yourself to anyone but the pre running you....we are all different.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Enjoy your journey.

[KayBee1000 Graduate]

What the others said!

You could take a couple of months to start C25k from scratch (which sounds counter-intuitive when you’re already running for 20 mins), but if you’ve started running from ‘cold’ you might find the progression through the programme a better way of building your stamina. Or even starting from, say, week 4 or 5 and building up to running for 30 minutes.

As we don’t have details of your running history it’s hard to comment, but assuming you’re relatively new to running, the right pace for you is one that feels comfortable, keeps you injury free and allows you to run without gasping for breath.

If you feel like you want a faster time/longer distance you would need to look at your own stats, decide what you fancy working on improving, then set yourself some goals.

You can gradually increase your pace over time (as your body gets more used to running at your current pace), or you could gradually increase the length of time you run to build stamina, which will help you run a bit faster if you want.

Some runners do a mixture of shorter faster runs, coupled with longer, slower runs each week. This helps with boredom, as well as building speed and stamina.

At the end of the day, no-one can answer the question of ‘is running at this pace right?’ as we’re all different. If you can comfortably run without gasping for breath it’s the right pace! If you’d like to go faster you can build your speed over time, there is lots of great ‘how to’ advice on here.

Well done for being able to run for 20 mins - that’s great in itself 👍

[John_W Graduate]

No that is NOT ok.

The official HealthUnlocked C25K Minimum Qualification Entry Standard for 2k for a 52 yr old male is .... (*looks up spreadsheet in the Big C25K database*)

.... 8 minutes and 15 seconds.

You have work to do.

---------------------------------

That was a joke

2k in 20 minutes is absolutely fine. Are you doing C25K at all?

[Rennur Graduate]

2K is further than the Couch to the biscuit tin. You are doing fine. Pace will come eventually. Just get to 30 minutes by the end of the programme first.