Um - Ive been running for 12 weeks now and thought i was doing well with my 12:10 mm pace - I'm 31 and 124 lbs. Now i feel like a loser - thanks

Just Kidding - i think your goals are probably too ambitious, and you might end up injuring yourself. Just get your miles up and stop worrying about your speed.

quote:<HR> i think your goals are probably too ambitious, and you might end up injuring yourself. Just get your miles up and stop worrying about your speed. <HR>

This year I dropped my 5K mile pace by roughly 45-50 seconds per mile, and over 2:30 off my 5K time. The original poster appears to be in really good shape. If he/she ups their mileage they should be fine.

Yes, that is a very good pace for a new runner. You made the jump to sub 24:00 quite quickly - I was training regularly for a year and a half before I'd built up the stamina to run that fast for that long. Having gotten there, I was able to get to 22:00 and change within another few months - my next race, I think. Then the quantum leap improvement stopped, and I have been working very hard for the last 3 or four years to break the 21:00 barrier. I doubt that I have the potential that you have - I think you'll be into the low 20:00 or even sub 20:00 area by this summer if not this spring. Racing by itself will make you a better racer. Read up on different racing plans and training paces/strategies. Losing weight will definitely make that goal easier as well.

Like you said, spending your winter months building up endurance with easier running and cross training will help you to stay injury free - you can't get faster if you can't train. Good Luck - just stay away from the Albany area - we have enough fast 40-45 masters already.

Also, feel free to join us in the "40's on the run..." weekly thread, or over on the "Boomers and Beyond" forum, where there are a lot of people our age (I'm 43) who have been training and racing for a long time.

Brian

Hi! I have been pretty ambitious about my speed goals over the last year after I got badly hooked on marathoning. At first, I wasn't too interested in being fast, but when I did my first marathon, I wanted so bad to do it faster. I learned lots from Jeff Galloway's books about speed training. He suggests that you work on building up your speed for about two months at a time, and then maintain that level for two months before working on it to go even faster if you want to. Speed drills and running on hills are the key components in building up your speed. While I am training for a marathon, I basically just maintain my speed capabilities. If I want to be faster for a short race, I would concentrate on building up my speed during the few months prior to that race. I found it very helpful to focus on speed trainng during the few months when I am not training for a marathon. I strongly suggest you check Jeff Galloway's book on running, he has some very specific suggestions on how you would go about it.