How long? Couch to sub18 min 5k.

Or maybe an easier question would be:

How long did it take 'you' to go from never running to a sub 18 min 5k?

Thanks.

Or maybe an easier question is how many people who "get off the couch" for the first time at age 23 will ever run sub-18?

Answer < 0.1%

Less than one in a thousand will ever get there. Getting off the couch means a 20-30 minute jog three times a week. Jog a 5k with a friend or girlfriend at conversational pace, enjoy the post-race beer.

No, that's a completely irrelevant question....and answer.

Not how many will do it, how long does it typically take.

Obviously the amount of talent you have will make a big difference. But let's assume you have a relatively slender frame, average height, and an average amount of talent.

Your "6-7 months" figure for building your mileage to mid-30s and a 19min 5k seems doable, but if you have been a couch potato up to this point (and assuming you could stand to lose some weight) that goal might be a bit lofty. I might recommend a slightly slower build; maybe 9-10 months. I'm sure you're capable of running 35 mpw after 6 months of training, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should. The key being a decent distance runner is staying healthy so you can build your fitness over a long period of time. Consistency is important. Being too aggressive in your training early on can lead to injury and burnout. Biggest mistake of most young runners, myself included. Of course, 35 mpw after 6 months isn't exactly insane either, so just listen to your body I guess.

Now, about that 17:XX. I'm guessing it will take you at least two years to hit that mark, if at all. Sure there are lots of talented runners out there for whom 17min is a joke, but assuming you're an average athlete who has never run before, 17 will take some time. Again, patience is key. Allow yourself plenty of recovery between hard runs, get enough sleep, and build gradually to that sub-18. Get a coach or a running partner who knows what they are doing. Aside from the training advice, a good coach will know when to hold you back from pushing too hard at the wrong time.

You ask how long does it typically take for something that is not typical at all.

Thanks for the reply.

The second part of the post is what I've done. I'm currently in the low to mid 30s. 4 months after I started I did a 19:55 5k and a 41:30 10k off ~20 mpw but I seemed to have plateaued a bit since then. I've only just gotten to around 19:30 (after 6 months total running) and am not replicating my 10k time (10 and 20secs slower in my last two).

Anyway, thanks for all the useful info. I've been doing a bit of searching but between this forum and a few others it's been hard to find info. about stuff like this.

On a running forum populated by fairly serious runners, I'd say a sub 18 min 5k IS typical.

Honestly, if you're not going to be helpful, what is the purpose of your replies?

Thanks for the reply.

So far the consensus seems to be 'years'.

I need to adjust my future expectations a bit I believe.

The purpose of my replies is to adjust your future expectations a bit. Oh, I've succeeded.

Your replies have been and continue to be irrelevant.

I expect any future posts from you to be the same.

Oh, wait, that throws your 'success' quip out the window....

preponderanceofpondering wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

The second part of the post is what I've done. I'm currently in the low to mid 30s. 4 months after I started I did a 19:55 5k and a 41:30 10k off ~20 mpw but I seemed to have plateaued a bit since then. I've only just gotten to around 19:30 (after 6 months total running) and am not replicating my 10k time (10 and 20secs slower in my last two).

Anyway, thanks for all the useful info. I've been doing a bit of searching but between this forum and a few others it's been hard to find info. about stuff like this.

Ah, didn't realize you had already run under 20. That's pretty good. I'd say running sub-20 after 4 months of training is definitely not typical for someone who's never run before. You obviously have a little bit of natural ability.

You say you've plateaued at 5k and have actually gotten a little slower in the 10k. How are you feeling? Your progress could be halted due to my aforementioned warning of trying to push it too hard, too soon. Or not. Hard to say. What kind of workouts are you doing in any given week? You could benefit from backing off your mileage a little for a couple of weeks and then building back up. Or you may just need to be patient. Most runners go through periods of time where they stagnate for a while before reaching another break through. It's important that you stick with your training and try not to get discouraged. Your body may just need to recover a little from all the work you've been doing for the past few months.

By the way, Letsrun is as good a forum as you'll find for training info. But like any forum, you'll have to sift through some bad advice (and trolls) and use your judgement. I'm not going to give you any detailed training advice because I'm honestly not qualified. Have you considered joining a local running club?

Well the average mid 20's male does not run at all

Too difficult to say as the average runner does not usually do that amount of training

Slower runners also need to do more stuff like intervals to get their speed up and it's not something they normally do

These events attract people fairly to running or at least racing but you can bet most of the sub 20 runners have run more that 6 months

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/richmond/results/latestresults

Times a bit down as fairly quick but off road

You would also get quicker results with someone 18-21 rather than mid 20's as most peopl have done sports in school. 5 years out and it goes downhill

If someone had the desire to achieve the goal and the willingness to do the right sort of training rather than just plod round the I would say 6 months. But the average person is not going to have this. Not only will they not do this, even if they run for longer they are not going to do it ever

preponderanceofpondering wrote:

Allowing for the myriad of obvious circumstantial and personal variances, how long would/should it take a healthy, mid-20s male to go from never running to a sub 18 min 5k?(And no, "17:59" is not really a unique or beautiful answer)

Then, how much longer would/should it take after 6-7 months of building mileage to the mid 30s and running a mid 19 5k?

Any ideas? One year total? 9 months total? Two years total?

Ballpark figures would be ballimous.

1) Whether you're healthy or not is no where near the biggest factor here. Running a sub 18-minute 5k takes a little bit of talent...more than 99% of all runners will never be able to do that. Do you have the talent to do it? Maybe.

2) It could be that you do it in 3 months of training or it could be that it takes you 4 years like it did another poster. BUT, not everyone can do it, no matter how long they try or how great their training is.

3) My first road race ever came at age 14. It was a 10k, and I ran 37:48 (either that was it, or a 30:06 5 miler I ran which is right about the same level). I "trained" for about 4 weeks for that 10k race. According to this calculator here -

, that's equivalent to about an 18:12 5k. Of course I was still a kid then. I once trained over a summer when I was in my late 30s and went from a 22 minute 5k down to 17:48, but I am a former 14:58 5,000 meter runner. Today at age 44, being hampered by injuries that never seem to be gone for long, I don't think I could train myself to get below 18 minutes again; maybe 20 minutes. If I jumped in a race right now, assuming I could get through it without limping, I would probably run a 23:something.

I actually am feeling pretty good these days. The last two weeks have been 22 and 25 mpw (trying to 'taper' a bit for races) so I feel fresh, which makes my last 10k result (20 secs off PB) that much more puzzling.

After my 41:30 10k in Feb I got sick for a good two weeks. Before hand I was doing 3 speed work sessions a week including a tempo and 2x2km repeats in 7:30 and I just felt really worn down. Then I raced, got sick and figured I'd probably overreached a bit too much.

Afterward I tried to read up a bit on proper training paces and I slowed down my intervals to 3:55/km pace and would do 2x3km or descending 3k-400m. I also slowed my tempo workouts from 5km at 4:05ish pace to 5-6km at 4:10-4:15ish pace. Since doing that I don't feel wiped out and I'm not getting all the little random aches and pains that I did before, but my results haven't improved either.

Maybe that's a bit of the reason why I slow down so much around kilometer 7-8 in 10k races? Since I only do 5-7 kilometers worth of intervals or tempo work?

Anyway, most of the races around here are finished until fall. I have a 5k race in the States that I want to do at the end of August and then a few more 10ks starting in Oct. I figured I'd cut the speed work back to just a tempo run and maybe a fartlek or something and try to build up to 40mpw over the next 12 weeks.

I live in a country where I don't speak the language very well (or at all, really) and while there are two running clubs in my area, they're more fitness runners than racers and my lack of language skills makes it a bit difficult to sort things out.

I'll keep with the training. Thanks for the reply and advice.

["You would also get quicker results with someone 18-21 rather than mid 20's as most peopl have done sports in school. 5 years out and it goes downhill

If someone had the desire to achieve the goal and the willingness to do the right sort of training rather than just plod round the I would say 6 months. But the average person is not going to have this. Not only will they not do this, even if they run for longer they are not going to do it ever"]

________

Hmm. Yeah.... I turned 27 not long ago. During college I was an elite amateur cyclist (US Cat. 1) but hung it up after going to Europe and getting destroyed. Since then I've just been living and traveling abroad. Started running last winter but I never really got fat or anything of the sort before that.

Coming from cycling (though a while ago) I'm quite familiar with hr training and periodization and was trying to incorporate that into my running but I never really seemed to figure out a proper correlation. Recently I've been doing more pace-based stuff without paying too much attention to the HRM except on easy days.

Anyway, thanks for the reply.

99% of runners will never do it? Really?

I didn't think sub 18min was really that fast. Reading these boards I sometimes get the impression that sub 16 isn't even that fast.

I realize in terms of the general population that might be good, but I've always considered myself a good athlete and have had a bit of success in endurance sport before.

This board seems to be populated by a lot of serious racers as well so I figured most of them will have gone sub 18. Maybe they all started in school, though?

4 weeks of training to knock out a 37 something 10k sounds phenomenal!

Thanks for your reply.

Funnily enough, I'm in a very similar position to you, so I was pleased to see this thread. I used to be a sprinter (not fantastic, but club level) up until about 5-6 years ago, then did very little (just some recreational soccer once a week). In January, I started running to get myself fit again and have been wondering whether sub 18mins is a realistic goal. I was overweight when I started (nearly 180 pounds), but I am now down to 152 pounds (I'm 5ft 11 inches). After 8 weeks of running I ran 13:03 for 2 miles and after 9 and a half weeks I ran 20:01 for 5k. At the time I was maybe doing 12-15 miles per week, but running every day, even for just a couple of miles. 3 miles was a long run!

Now, I'm running about 25 miles a week, with 5 days of running and a game of 5-a-side soccer that I make sure involves both aerobic and anaerobic work. I'm thinking of running a 5k on Saturday and I'm intrigued to see how much I've improved, if indeed I've improved at all. I was kind of hoping that I could get sub 18 by the end of this summer, with a sub 17 goal for next year. I wonder whether this is realistic or not...

preponderanceofpondering wrote:

99% of runners will never do it? Really?

99% of all people will never do it.

If only looking at runners (= anyone who participates in races like a 5k run):

99% of females will never do it

90% of males will never do it

Ah, mate, come on with these random, made-up statistics.

Not really relevant to the conversation in the first place.

Again, on a website populated by serious racers/runners, with loads apparently having gone under 18 mins, how long did it take to get sub 18 after you first started running.......??