what's a good 5k time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Double the world record (WR) for any running distance has always been my goal. The women's 5K WR is 14:39, so anything under 29:18 is, by that standard, "good". If you want to use the age-graded WR, that's up to you.

That’s similar to mine! My goal is never to be lapped by the world record holder for double the distance (and to use the men’s record when I’m comfortably under the women’s).

Ha. Good goal. This is going to sound braggy, but I couldn't do it now, so although it is braggy it is braggy of my 16 year old self. In HS I often ran the 2 mile in spring track -- sometimes b/c the race was so long they'd put the boys and girls on the track at the same time to reduce the length of the meet. I was a good runner and I'd lap a lot of the girls. And ... some of the boys. That must have felt like crap to be lapped by a girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I just want to report that from when I posted this in May to now, my mile time has gone from 11:15 min/mile to 9:40 min/mile. So I think I'm on the way to a sub-30 min 5k!

AND WOW!! GREAT job!!! Good for you!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any time that means you finished. My first 5k was so slow that they almost took down the markers but I finished and improved on it the next time. We can't all be DK Metcalf. Some of us just aren't that fast and that's ok too.

This 1000%

Just keep doing you. If you are pushing yourself hard enough that you are getting the cardio benefit out of it, who cares what your time is?

op here. I care! it’s fun to compete.

OP-

If you are running 5ks in the DC metro area, there are going to be TONS of people running miles in the 6 and 7 min mile range. This is not feasible for you, so not really sure what you want to hear. As others have said, it's all relative. I think aiming for a sub 30 minute 5k would be a good goal for you. Most people wouldn't consider that "good" in the absolute sense, but since you are newer to running and in your 40s, seems like a great time to aim for. Once you get to that, start aiming for reducing your time from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any time that means you finished. My first 5k was so slow that they almost took down the markers but I finished and improved on it the next time. We can't all be DK Metcalf. Some of us just aren't that fast and that's ok too.

This 1000%

Just keep doing you. If you are pushing yourself hard enough that you are getting the cardio benefit out of it, who cares what your time is?

op here. I care! it’s fun to compete.

OP-

If you are running 5ks in the DC metro area, there are going to be TONS of people running miles in the 6 and 7 min mile range. This is not feasible for you, so not really sure what you want to hear. As others have said, it's all relative. I think aiming for a sub 30 minute 5k would be a good goal for you. Most people wouldn't consider that "good" in the absolute sense, but since you are newer to running and in your 40s, seems like a great time to aim for. Once you get to that, start aiming for reducing your time from there.

I actually checked the historical records for 5ks in DC (like the Rock n Roll) and a 30 minute time appears to put me in at least the top 10% of my age group. So that seems pretty dang good to me!

https://www.runrocknroll.com/washington-dc-results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I just want to report that from when I posted this in May to now, my mile time has gone from 11:15 min/mile to 9:40 min/mile. So I think I'm on the way to a sub-30 min 5k!

AND WOW!! GREAT job!!! Good for you!!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I just want to report that from when I posted this in May to now, my mile time has gone from 11:15 min/mile to 9:40 min/mile. So I think I'm on the way to a sub-30 min 5k!

AND WOW!! GREAT job!!! Good for you!!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!

OP here. It’s hard to know how much of the improvement is mental, and how much is physical. I pushed myself harder and harder on each fast run every week and the times went down. I can tell my baseline is faster now for similar levels of effort, but I have also trained my mind to be able to push harder. I probably look like a complete maniac to the other joggers and dog walkers, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I just want to report that from when I posted this in May to now, my mile time has gone from 11:15 min/mile to 9:40 min/mile. So I think I'm on the way to a sub-30 min 5k!

AND WOW!! GREAT job!!! Good for you!!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!

OP here. It’s hard to know how much of the improvement is mental, and how much is physical. I pushed myself harder and harder on each fast run every week and the times went down. I can tell my baseline is faster now for similar levels of effort, but I have also trained my mind to be able to push harder. I probably look like a complete maniac to the other joggers and dog walkers, lol.

and thanks for the cheers it’s fun!!

[Anonymous]

Are you looking for an Olympic medalist time? Because that’s “good.”
But for everyone else….just run to be healthy and happy. If you want to get faster, train harder and you will get faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for an Olympic medalist time? Because that’s “good.”
But for everyone else….just run to be healthy and happy. If you want to get faster, train harder and you will get faster.

I guess it’s hard to understand, but some of us are just motivated by competition. Even if it’s against myself, or even if it’s just going from the bottom 1/3 to top 1/3. Obviously I’m never getting a gold medal!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for an Olympic medalist time? Because that’s “good.”
But for everyone else….just run to be healthy and happy. If you want to get faster, train harder and you will get faster.

I guess it’s hard to understand, but some of us are just motivated by competition. Even if it’s against myself, or even if it’s just going from the bottom 1/3 to top 1/3. Obviously I’m never getting a gold medal!

YES. Doing MY best - that DOES motivate me. I know there are factors that influence my time - for example, the temp and humidity and where I am in my cycle both influence how I run - but when I see gains - going further, going faster - I'm motivated. And setting a goal. Last night I set a goal of 5 miles for this morning. I planned my route, I visualized me running it. I knew it was going to be hot and humid, so I knew I needed to run slower than my body usually likes, but being able to run the extra mile (I've been running about 4 miles recently) was motivating for me to slow down and keep going in the humid soup of a morning!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking for an Olympic medalist time? Because that’s “good.”
But for everyone else….just run to be healthy and happy. If you want to get faster, train harder and you will get faster.

I guess it’s hard to understand, but some of us are just motivated by competition. Even if it’s against myself, or even if it’s just going from the bottom 1/3 to top 1/3. Obviously I’m never getting a gold medal!

YES. Doing MY best - that DOES motivate me. I know there are factors that influence my time - for example, the temp and humidity and where I am in my cycle both influence how I run - but when I see gains - going further, going faster - I'm motivated. And setting a goal. Last night I set a goal of 5 miles for this morning. I planned my route, I visualized me running it. I knew it was going to be hot and humid, so I knew I needed to run slower than my body usually likes, but being able to run the extra mile (I've been running about 4 miles recently) was motivating for me to slow down and keep going in the humid soup of a morning!

you rock!!