Does anyone else have a hard time finding women who can even maintain 7-8 min/mile on a typical run?

Hardloper wrote:

Who is it? There are only three options:

1. TXrunnergirl

2. xcrunnergirl1 or whatever

3. xenonscreams

I'm going with #3.

I'm definitely not engaged

xenonscreams wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

Who is it? There are only three options:

1. TXrunnergirl

2. xcrunnergirl1 or whatever

3. xenonscreams

I'm going with #3.

I'm definitely not engaged

And TRG is married to or dating Nikeman.

And as for why it's hard to find reasonably fast women, I've noticed that a lot of the really fast women stop running after college. Some of them burn out, some of them get preggers. The 20-24 age group for women is pathetic at almost every race because most of the fast 20-21 year-olds are in college and most 22-24 year-old post-collegiate runners are taking breaks, if not from running completely, at least from running seriously.

Once you get a little older I think the women who took breaks tend to get back into it, or you get women who didn't run in college who have been training for a few years and are getting fast. 25-29 is always loaded where I'm from. 30-34 is still strong. You generally find those women in running clubs, but you need to find the real competitive ones. Go to a local fast race (preferably some kind of championship race, club XC will also do), see who the top female finishers are, find out what clubs they run for, join that club if you're that interested in meeting women. It'll be slightly stalkerish but nobody has to know.

Maybe it was just the area I lived in, but when I was a grad student in TX I had no problem finding fast women. Now, I rarely saw fast women around the university or on the side streets that I often did my tempo runs because they all tended to run at the lake. The last half marathon I did there I averaged 6:04/mile and I got beat by at least 5 girls my age.

Another option would be going to races and approaching the fast women there, starting a conversation and asking if they'd like to go for a run together sometime. I've made many connections that way.

I've had a few female running partners, both of which were able to hold 6:30s/6:45s for at least a few miles. Both were pretty good D3 or D2 runners though. And they loved to run fast. And I wound up having a thing with both of them. Guys like girls that can keep up. Girls like guys that can keep up/push them, especially if they're looking to get faster.

That's my experience, too. If multiple of these women show up they both move to the front to set the pace, but feed off each other and cause the pace to go even faster.

flip dis biotch wrote:

I've lived in two different cities where there were women who ran the Sunday long runs with the guys. In both cities the women always set the pace. And god forbid two women are in the group, because the pace always got ridiculous then. Worse than having a one-stepper in the group.

wow, you got it all wrong. You want a women who can stay home, cook, clean, and look after the kids. Other important things are looks. Asian women are good candidates. Women who like to run too much probably aren't going to fit this description. If she is out running, you are going to be the one home looking after the kids. Your welcome for the advise. (In advance of your anticipated thank you! :^) )

To the OP, I'm not sure whether you are mysoginistic or just terribly sexist that even allows you to bring up the topic. Aren't you so very special that you are so fast the women can't keep up with you? You must be so proud of your running ability. With that attitude you'd be lucky to get any women to run with you at any time.

I guess I'm just lucky that in my old age, I've got a few fast women who are willing to do recovery runs with me or slow down enough on their warm-ups and warm downs that I get the opportunity to run with them.

I think that you are looking at this the wrong way. I train hard and run my easy days at around 7 minute pace. My girlfriend probably runs around 9 minute pace. But, I still run with her once or twice per week because I enjoy it. She probably speeds up to about 8:30 or 8:45 on our runs, but I don't care that I have to run slower.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to sacrifice your training; in my mid-late 20s I trained balls out and was not willing to budge from my training plan. But, when you get a bit older I think you will realize that you simply don't care as much about having a strict training regime and you will realize that there is a lot more to life than tearing up your local 5k.

So, don't sweat it if you can't run with someone you date now. Focus on finding someone you like and who exercises. Eventually you will want to run with her even if you have to slow down.

themanontherun wrote:

Anyway, we're engaged now, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I should have yelled "two"!

I dated a cute girl in high school that ran 18:30 5k and could do 10 miles at low-mid 7s. It was really awesome except that sometimes she asked me to hold her hand when we were running lol.

Married to a woman who runs 8 minute pace now, about to turn 40. We run together daily-- commute to work (both at same hospital), me pushing the running-stroller with the 3 year old to the on-site daycare. The running stroller is a decent equalizer, so running together is great. Helps relationship a lot, cuts on commuting costs; we like it so much that when we recently moved we only considered places within running distance to work (we set that at 5-6 miles, ended up 5 miles out).

My wife runs about about 3 minutes per mile slower than I do, so we can't really run together. Sometimes, we head out and run the first mile together on the weekend or on vacation. If I take her to run trails, I can run ahead and double back to make sure she doesn't get lost.

However, what is really great is that she tells me to stop moping and get out the door on the days when I'm tempted to skip my post-work run. When we're traveling, she asks me when I'm going to get in my run and lets me plan a reasonable schedule. Sometimes, we're on the same schedule and heading out for our separate runs at the same time, but usually we're not.

If you're running together today, that may not mean that you will always be able to do so. What is important is that your partner supports your commitment to running (or other exercise, as you get older) and vice versa.

dd wrote:we like it so much that when we recently moved we only considered places within running distance to work (we set that at 5-6 miles, ended up 5 miles out).

Yup. Except in winter (MN), when too cold to push running stroller, one of us drives in with kid, other runs. Then vice/versa on way home. Try to add on to make it 7-8 if time, but since usually running late, and my times are less important to me now than they used to be, often it's just 5 from December-February. Plus the occasional day (like today) where I had to go to a meeting after work, so ran in AM and drove in. But yeah, allows decent mileage, and since some of the time would be commuting time anyways, is easier to squeeze in with kids.

generic login wrote:

If I take her to run trails, I can run ahead and double back to make sure she doesn't get lost.

Awww, ain't that sweet. You "take" your wife on trail runs and you make sure she doesn't get lost. Because, as we all know, she is utterly and completely lost, dazed and confused without you. How quaint. *barf*

Lighten up Francis wrote:

How about being a little less needy sweetheart. How about just going for a jog with a woman even if it doesn't fit into your precious training plan. Guess what? You're also gong to encounter women that don't want to carb load or go to bed at 9:00 the night before your long run. My god people, the world's elite runners don't act like this about their running, why do so many above average local 5k guys have to be so square? LOL, I can just see it. Dude goes for a 5 mile jog at 9:15 pace with a woman then comes here and asks everbody if that qualifies toward his weekly mileage. The only thing worse than the question is the fact that he will get several different, but serious, opinions.

Yup. How does lower-end aerobic running hurt your training exactly? My fiance runs 3-4 milers in the morning for exercise at around 9:00 pace. You know what, it's incredibly pleasant to join her for those as we get a chance to be away from work/life/dog obligations and I find it a fantastic warmup for the rest of my run I do immediately after. Stop being so rigid in you "training" and you might find the multitude of ancillary benefits of running.

Alexander Bucephalus wrote:

generic login wrote:

If I take her to run trails, I can run ahead and double back to make sure she doesn't get lost.

Awww, ain't that sweet. You "take" your wife on trail runs and you make sure she doesn't get lost. Because, as we all know, she is utterly and completely lost, dazed and confused without you. How quaint. *barf*

Reality is hard, eh?

man and woman wrote:

Alexander Bucephalus wrote:

Awww, ain't that sweet. You "take" your wife on trail runs and you make sure she doesn't get lost. Because, as we all know, she is utterly and completely lost, dazed and confused without you. How quaint. *barf*

Reality is hard, eh?

Yours may be, not mine.