8 miles in one hour

[sash1]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Kauru
I'm in shape, so very easy for me. I run 7-9 miles consistently at 6:30-6:40 pace. If I was racing, even faster than that.

Cool. Care to post a link to race results showing that. Faster than 6:30 miles for 9 miles while racing? You'd be in the top 5 of any amateur half-marathon race in the country if not #1.

Are you serious? 6:30 pace over 7 miles is far from stellar. That's just what I do in practice. I've never raced anything over 5k before. Last year I ran 17:21 in states (about 5:35 pace I believe) and only came in 28th, 5th for my team. I'm just in really good shape so holding 6:40 pace isn't difficult.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: SonicFlux
To the OP (Ilmater):
8 miles in 1hr by April 29? Hmmm. You are a big dude. No, you are a HUGE dude which could pose a setback in your goal. What's your age?

If you hadn't attempted distance running once before, I'd be inclined to suggest you find another bet to take. But your 7miles at 1.5hr is a starting point and shows that you could be capable of achieveing your goal if you really put your mind to it. However, how long ago did you run those 7miles? Assuming you ran it yesterday, and you are seriously determined at realizing your goal, then April 29 is sufficient time. But you need to start now, not two months from now. Shaving 30 mins off of your previous time for a 7 mile distance will require extreme dedication on your part, partly due to your physique. And even if you are determined to see this through and end up training regularly, your size may prove to be a bit much for the constant pounding your legs/knees/feet will go through. Which means you may experience some injury related setbacks if you don't listen to your body.

Let me know if you really are serious and willing to see this through, and maybe I can help point you in the right direction. As a reference I'm 31yrs old, 5'11, 122lbs and have been distance running for 7yrs, parrticipating in the Houston Marathon 4 times with a PR of 3hr 6mins. I run 6 days/week at around 50miles/week and train with a group of other serious runners. Finding a group to run with is critical to achieving your goal.

Thanks for the help! This is exactly what I was looking for. I'm currently 27, and I ran 7 miles/day back when I was 20. Mind you, that was every day, and it was cross-country. Also, the more I think about it, maybe I was alotting 1.5 hours to the entire task, meaning a good 5 minutes to stretch before and after, and 5 more minutes to and from the park I started at. I'm definitely serious about it, and it would be a great way to get back into shape.

My first goal will be to lose another 20lbs by the end of January, which shouldn't be too tough if I get back into the gym every night. That will put me at ~270, and over the summer I was running every day, my weight went from about 280/290 to 250, so that should be enough to run on, even at my older age. I should be able to drop another 10 pounds from Feb 1 through Apr 1 (at least), and then I would be in good shape to train hard for the next 4 weeks.

My question is, what types of things should I do to get ready? Heavy lifting with my legs? Long distance running every night? Every other night?

 

[oboeguy]

Get a heart rate monitor and learn to use it as a training tool. You need to learn how to run within certain heat rate zones. That's how I'm improving my running (primarily a cyclist). Being able to sustain a 7:30 pace over an hour starting from nothing sounds tough, dude, good luck. I think you should definitely be cross-training with your bike, too, to reduce the pounding on your joints. You'll destroy yourself if you jump into training that hard from very little.

Anyway, you almost surely ran your seven miles faster than you said. At your height (thus long stride), I wonder if you could comfortably run that slowly.

Again, GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!

P.S. The HRM I have is the Garmin Forerunner 301 which unless you really get into things, is overkill. You can get a decent HRM which you can also use on your bike for probably around a hundred bucks.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: oboeguy
Get a heart rate monitor and learn to use it as a training tool. You need to learn how to run within certain heat rate zones. That's how I'm improving my running (primarily a cyclist). Being able to sustain a 7:30 pace over an hour starting from nothing sounds tough, dude, good luck. I think you should definitely be cross-training with your bike, too, to reduce the pounding on your joints. You'll destroy yourself if you jump into training that hard from very little.

Anyway, you almost surely ran your seven miles faster than you said. At your height (thus long stride), I wonder if you could comfortably run that slowly.

Again, GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!

P.S. The HRM I have is the Garmin Forerunner 301 which unless you really get into things, is overkill. You can get a decent HRM which you can also use on your bike for probably around a hundred bucks.

I appreciate the help, but I don't want to spend money to win this thing. If I have to spend money, I might as well not do it.

And again, you're probably right, I doubt I could have run that slowly. Please note that my judgement of distance was based on driving my car along the same path and subtracting some since I couldn't drive my car on the paths.

 

[SilentZero]

Oh boy here we go again...all the ATOT 4min milers are going to pop out of the woodwork now. LOL

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: SilentZero
Oh boy here we go again...all the ATOT 4min milers are going to pop out of the woodwork now. LOL

lol

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: eakers
I thought that 1 mile/ 10 minutes was about average for the average runner

Uh.. you'd have to be slower than me, a 5'3" 130lb guy with no endurance... even I can do 7 min miles pretty easily...

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: Ilmater

Originally posted by: oboeguy
Get a heart rate monitor and learn to use it as a training tool. You need to learn how to run within certain heat rate zones. That's how I'm improving my running (primarily a cyclist). Being able to sustain a 7:30 pace over an hour starting from nothing sounds tough, dude, good luck. I think you should definitely be cross-training with your bike, too, to reduce the pounding on your joints. You'll destroy yourself if you jump into training that hard from very little.

Anyway, you almost surely ran your seven miles faster than you said. At your height (thus long stride), I wonder if you could comfortably run that slowly.

Again, GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!

P.S. The HRM I have is the Garmin Forerunner 301 which unless you really get into things, is overkill. You can get a decent HRM which you can also use on your bike for probably around a hundred bucks.

I appreciate the help, but I don't want to spend money to win this thing. If I have to spend money, I might as well not do it.

And again, you're probably right, I doubt I could have run that slowly. Please note that my judgement of distance was based on driving my car along the same path and subtracting some since I couldn't drive my car on the paths.

Understood. However, I would like to point out the oddity of spending huge amounts of time in training... but no money on it.

 

[RaDragon]

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: eakers
I thought that 1 mile/ 10 minutes was about average for the average runner

Uh.. you'd have to be slower than me, a 5'3" 130lb guy with no endurance... even I can do 7 min miles pretty easily...

I'm a petite girl and running isn't my forte but my fastest mile is 9 minutes/mile. I'm 29 and that's my limit. My 5K pace is normally 10 minutes/mile and my 10K pace is around 10:30-11:00 min/mile. As the distance gets longer, my pace gets slower (as high as 13 min/mile marathon pace (Chicago Marathon).

I do know that I can probably go faster because when I was 21, I was able to run at a 7 minute/mile pace, but that was because of the sport I played (Women's Lacrosse) and the training did way back when.

With regards to your training, heed what oboeguy mentioned; also do some speed intervals and strengthen your core (abdomen). Vary your training to prevent peaking. If you have a local running club, join them for runs -- they most likely know about the best running routes and the distance for these routes. You can also ask questions and perhaps get some feedback about your gait (if some are knowledgeable).

If you don't have a running club around your area (doubtful), check out Hal Higdon's site. He has a couple of training programs that work for all types of runners.

Best of luck!

[ e d i t ]

Got 2 months? That's totally dooable.

 

[SWScorch]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Kauru
I'm in shape, so very easy for me. I run 7-9 miles consistently at 6:30-6:40 pace. If I was racing, even faster than that.

Cool. Care to post a link to race results showing that. Faster than 6:30 miles for 9 miles while racing? You'd be in the top 5 of any amateur half-marathon race in the country if not #1.

It's possible. I could do it, and I'm not a terribly gifted runner. I'm trying for 6:15 miles for 9.3 miles this summer. I'm pretty average (for the level I'm at). The winners of half-maries usually run low 5-minute-miles, not 6:30s. So his claim, while superficially impressive, is fairly realistic. I know nick1985 here can run close to a 4-minute mile and whoop anyone else here.

To the OP, as stated, 8 miles in an hour is 7:30 miles. For someone in good shape, 7:30s should feel comfortable. It should be possible to work up to that level, given enough time. Even though you are a larger guy, I think that if you can already run that distance, you will probably be able to drop your pace.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: eakers
I thought that 1 mile/ 10 minutes was about average for the average runner

I do that while walking. In fact, I just did it on Wednesday when it was around 30 degrees.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother

Originally posted by: meltdown75
i seem to remember 5 minutes being pretty good for a mile.

a 4-minute mile is a standard of greatness for runners, or so I thought.

you can dooo eeet

I don't think that anyone here could get a 4 min mile

<----4:09


meh, close enough...



**EDIT**

I see a lot of people doubting that people here can run 9 miles at 6:30 pace, well It is very possible. 9 Miles at 6:30 pace is really not all that difficult when you are in shape, it just seems really fast to the lazy out-of-shape people here on ATOT.


Personal best for 1 hour = 11 miles. I puked my guts out at the end, but I made it through it.

 

[SonicFlux]

I mentioned it once.
RaDragon mentioned it too.
And since I feel it's such an important issue for anyone out of school wanting to run distance, whether to get in shape or achieve a certain goal like 5k, 10k half or full marathon, I'll say it again:

Join a running club.

Not only will you get the correct information and training tips to meet your goal, you will make tons of friends (all ages) and become part of a great community. And that's what running (or any amature recreational sport) is all about... making friends, feeling good about yourself, and being part of a community.

For those that suggest 7:00 to 7:30 pace for long distances is nothing special for your average fit person, it's taken me 4 years of serious training, two of which have been borederline hardcore (6 days/wk at 50-60mi/wk) to achieve a 7:00min/mile marathon pace, not to mention my physique is built for running and I'm approaching the peak male age for marathoning. And in a city as big as Houston, there are only ~80 people more hardcore than I am, and only a few that have insane training schedules with goals of 2hr 30min marathons. The reason I'm saying this is so non-runners can gain a better perspective of how truely awe-inspiring a 7-ish pace is for long distances. Not many people can achive it.

RaDragon's 10min 5k pace is a nice accomplishment, but an amazing accomplishment that earns her tons of respect is that she ran the Chicago Marathon! It doesn't matter what time she ran it in. What matters is that she trained for and completed a 26.2 mile race, period!!!

So join a running club and experience it for yourself.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: oboeguy
Understood. However, I would like to point out the oddity of spending huge amounts of time in training... but no money on it.

No, there IS money on this. I get as much as $150 if I can do this.