What's a decent mile time for 40?

For an East African?

Or western?

4:30

5:20-5:50

Anything near 6:00 for hobby joggers

Former competitive milers - 5:00

Masters men who stand out - sub 4:40

Brehkele wrote:

For an East African?

Or western?

4:30

5:20-5:50

Western hobby jogger. How good to you have to be to go sub 5?

I just ran 4:40 in a mile race on the road. I'm 40 years old, nearing the end of a marathon training cycle, so no mile-specific workouts, nothing faster than tempo pace in many months. But I have/had pretty good top-end speed.

For you, I would say go to the track. Try to run one lap at 75. That should give you a glimpse of how hard it will be for you to break 5.

I think the mile is a very bad distance to try to be decent at at an older age.

(I think that running a fast mile at an older age requires good fitness, a high maximum heart rate, and good running form).

I think that strength and fitness are sufficient for other distances.

I am 46.

800 - 2:19 (Racing my 16 year old son on a bet). I think I could go 2:17 in a race

1600 - 5:15 (I have tried to go faster a whole bunch of times)

5k - 18:05 (I think this also sucks vs. 800 and 13.1)

10k - 37:55 (This was part of triathlon. This is actually my fastest run)

13.1 - 1:19:57

I am not fast but I can grind out an OK 800.

I don't have a high maximum heart rate but I can grind out an OK 13.1.

Everything in between sucks.

I think this is pretty common for adult onset athletes.

People who ran track in Highschool or College seem to fair better in intermediate distances.

So my answer is that sub 5:15 is actually a decent time for a 40+ adult onset runner.

I know that that sucks for a Highschooler.

But you could do a lot of stuff few Highschool athletes can do.

Probably your average non-competitive HJ over 40 should break 8.

Your competitive HJ over 40 should be sub-7 to low 6s.

Your competitive sub-elite over 40 should be low 5s to sub-5s.

And with PEDs there are probably some over 40 hitting mid to low-4s.

And then there are just some guys in there 40s who are talented and consistent enough to run 4:40s without any aid, although it is hard to tell the difference between them and the cheaters. But thanks for painting with the broad brush.

Smoove wrote:

MASTERS ELITE

4:00 Neville Davey 2017

4:57 Cindy Abrami 2013

4 flat is good.

Smoove wrote:

And then there are just some guys in there 40s who are talented and consistent enough to run 4:40s without any aid, although it is hard to tell the difference between them and the cheaters. But thanks for painting with the broad brush.

Of course it would be hard to distinguish between the clean runners and the one's using EPO...virtually impossible. Remember Christian Hesch? He was smoking up the road racing scene several years ago while fully loaded on rocket fuel. He even ran a 3:57 at the 5th Ave Mile (2011). He was never tested and most everyone thought he was the real deal until someone looked in his gym bag at one of his races and found the EPO.😄 Just because a guy in his 40s who appears "talented & consistent enough" to run very fast mile times doesn't mean they're clean. Do you think some of these guys who are doping are going to tell "anyone" that they're messing around with rocket fuel? It's their little secret...forever. Wake up and smell the coffee and read the Hesch story. The Eddy H story is another good one.

Thanks for the profound wisdom. I know that there are tons of guys out there on testosterone replacement. I see the evidence in my Facebook feed every day.

But your assertion that guys who are running mid to low 4's in their 40s are cheating is a ridiculous overstatement. I am pretty confident I could run low 4:40s and probably even under 4:40 at age 45 and it just strikes a chord when you see these broad strokes being used. Not as annoying as watching guys run age graded times that are significantly better than they ran in college, but annoying nonetheless.

masterer wrote:

Smoove wrote:

MASTERS ELITE

4:00 Neville Davey 2017

4:57 Cindy Abrami 2013

4 flat is good.

A 3:48 mile at the age of 22 is also good.

But this is the real world.

If you age well and or you never stop training like an Olympic athletes... 1 sec/year (after age 28)

4:00 at 40 = 3:48 at 28 (with optimal training/aging

2 sec/yr for light training/average

3 sec/yr no training or weight

Example.

Let's say you are 40.

It takes you 3 years to reach optimal shape.

You didn't exercise from age 28-35

You exercised lightly from 35-40

You train like an Olympian from 40-43

Extra time for age:

28-35: 7 x 3 = 21

35-49: 5 x 2 = 10

40-43: 3 X 1 = 3

Running 4:34 at 43 is like running 4:00 at 28.

Now Lagat never took time off:

28-43: 15 x 1 = 15

Lagat could run 4:00.

And is as fast.

Low-T centers are cropping up everywhere in the U.S. A retire pro football player on a SB champion team promo's a low-T center in the city I reside in. With these places it's basically if you've got the "dough" you're in the "show." A 60 yr old friend of mine from the gym who's also an avid runner went to one of these of joints where they didn’t even check his T levels! I imagine this will be the wave of future for master's athletes with the emerging popularity of low-T centers, and some insurance plans even covering it. But again, who will know if these athletes keep quiet and are not tested at competitions?

Is every 40 yr guy running low 4s using PEDs? Of course not, but the line is blurred between those that are and those that are not. Read the Eddy H story with his use of EPO and enormous performance boost he said he received from it. Many who defended Eddy as clean because of his talent level were in "shock & awe" when he was popped for EPO. And if Hesch wasn't so stupid to leave his EPO in his workout bag at one of his races, he would have never been busted (he was never tested at any event including when he ran the 3:57 at 5th Avenue!). I think there's a lot of EPO going on out there because of it's availability over the Internet & across the border. It's not a controlled substance and therefore not regulated by the DEA. And there's been threads here where D-1 runners have said they don't even test at the collegiate level. So, no testing sounds like a free reign on doping...no?

if you're busting a legit 2:19 you can break 5 easily w/ different training; i'm somewhat surprised you haven't beaten it and yes, you're 5K time is poor for your speed.

This guy is wrong. Your 800-5K are well-aligned. 5:00 is equivalent to 2:15, so you lack the speed, as I'm sure you are aware. Your 10K and especially your 13.1 are strong.

Not sure how you arrived at this, but it describes me to a "T". I ran 4:38 age 43, so fell a bit short :)

From memory only 2 have ever done it Lagat & Coghlan and they are not the only elites that kept training.

Sub 5 has got to be the target and achievable for runners doing about 17 flat for 5km with some specific mile training.

+Anthony Whiteman....you know, that UK dude.