Is half marathon the most ideal race for average adults over 30?

The average adult cannot or will not run enough mileage to reach anywhere near their half marathon potential.

Well, let me rephrase to someone with average talent. Like 30 year old with 17 min 5k after year of solid training.

Best distance for adults wrote:

The reason I say this is because the longer the distance, more of your hard work comes into play and marathon is difficult to continuously train without injury risk.

So wouldn't the answer be the 100 meter dash then? Idiot.

The 100 is probably harder to improve based on age, injury risk, mastering technique and declining strength past age 30.

Xavi wrote:

Best distance for adults wrote:

The reason I say this is because the longer the distance, more of your hard work comes into play and marathon is difficult to continuously train without injury risk.

So wouldn't the answer be the 100 meter dash then? Idiot.

Can't tell if you're a troll or not, but damn bro, chill out. I'm fairly certain you're intelligent enough to get his point..

Xavi wrote:

Best distance for adults wrote:

The reason I say this is because the longer the distance, more of your hard work comes into play and marathon is difficult to continuously train without injury risk.

So wouldn't the answer be the 100 meter dash then? Idiot.

Some people just can't get laid

Op here wrote:

Well, let me rephrase to someone with average talent. Like 30 year old with 17 min 5k after year of solid training.

Huh, I guess the fact that I was always in the top 10% for the mile all throughout grade school without any running specific training and the second fastest guy on our team that made D1 states doesn't mean anything.

Everybody ran 4:30 in HS yeah...right.

17 minutes sucks in the grand scheme of things but is wicked fast compared to 99.5% of the population.

This is letsrun. An average 5K for a 30 year old male is 15:25. And to tell the truth anything slower than 14:20 sucks pretty bad.

thoughts1 wrote:

The 100 is probably harder to improve based on age, injury risk, mastering technique and declining strength past age 30.

Yet Carl Lewis, Justin Gatlin, Dwain Chambers, Kim Collins, and MIchael Johnson all improved past age 30. That's probably as good if not better than the best distance runners post 30.

Op here wrote:

Xavi wrote:

So wouldn't the answer be the 100 meter dash then? Idiot.

Some people just can't get laid

You're the one who started this topic on Friday night, loser.

Tommy Runs to Place wrote:

The average adult cannot or will not run enough mileage to reach anywhere near their half marathon potential.

Op here wrote:

Well, let me rephrase to someone with average talent. Like 30 year old with 17 min 5k after year of solid training.

How does that rephrasing change things AT ALL?

Tommy had it right. Reaching your full potential going to require years of hard work, a mix of strength, speed, and endurance depending on the event. You're not going anywhere NEAR your half marathon potential anyways. It does not matter which event you choose.

Accra wrote:

Op here wrote:

Some people just can't get laid

You're the one who started this topic on Friday night, loser.

Yea, it's bc I already get laid so I don't have to go out on Friday night if I don't want to. It's a nice choice to have when i don't have to be desperate like some of you here with serious beer goggles on.

Accra wrote:

Tommy Runs to Place wrote:

The average adult cannot or will not run enough mileage to reach anywhere near their half marathon potential.

Op here wrote:

Well, let me rephrase to someone with average talent. Like 30 year old with 17 min 5k after year of solid training.

How does that rephrasing change things AT ALL?

Tommy had it right. Reaching your full potential going to require years of hard work, a mix of strength, speed, and endurance depending on the event. You're not going anywhere NEAR your half marathon potential anyways. It does not matter which event you choose.

How it changes is that I'm talking about someone with average talent who actually trains instead of talking about average adult who decide to not train. Do with average talent, you need to increase your distance as you'll probably top out on short distances pretty fast. However, marathon is too risky with its distance so hypothesis is that half marathon is the distance that most adults who want to run should train for if you want to reach your long distance potential without risking high probability of injury.

Most Americans could probably run a 21min 5k and go sub2 hrs for a half marathon if they gave a shit, but they have other things going on in their life AND have no idea how to train the way a let'srunner would. Usually a quick fix like p90x or crossfit class or couch to 5k program works best for them

Letsr wrote:

Most Americans could probably run a 21min 5k and go sub2 hrs for a half marathon if they gave a shit, but they have other things going on in their life AND have no idea how to train the way a let'srunner would. Usually a quick fix like p90x or crossfit class or couch to 5k program works best for them

No I'm talking about someone who cares about running but have average talent so they run like 17 min 5k after one year of solid training. I think most people with average talent who train year around could achieve 17 min 5k. Maybe 18 min 5k. Anyways, I would think that half marathon would be the distance to maximize their talent.

Again, I'm not talking about average people who won't train or dedicate themselves to running. So I thought half marathon would be the distance that someone could train continuously for several years and improve.

This is very true. If an adult chooses to run for fitness and general well being, then races of 5k are good. Getting upwards of 10K racing is extreme where the benefits of participation are greatly diminished. Everyone is free to make their own choices though.

I would disagree that someone with 1 year of training who runs 17 for 5k is "average talent." You take a high school team with 20-30 boys, and after 1 year of 30-45mpw, maybe 5 of them run 17 or faster. And keep in mind that HS aged kids have low body fat at that age no matter what they've been doing, even if they eat crap. And HS kids usually haven't wrecked their bodies/joints doing dumb things, ski jumping, have excess flabs of body fat nor have they been in a car accident, etc.

You take an adult on a couch to 5k program and how good can you get him? 17min after 1 year? Doubt it. Maybe sub 21 after 1 year would be great if you're lucky!!!

In the competitive running scene 17 is very mediocre, but a 17 still puts you at top 1% in a local charity 5k & may even take the victory in some local races.

Also, once you get a talented HS kid or adult with oNLY one year of experience to 17 in the 5k, if you have them do a half marathon, because they do not have much endurance base developed over years of training, they will probably struggle to break 1:20 for the half marathon, even though a 17 suggests more like a 1:18 half marathon.

The training for a half marathon and marathon at the highest levels isn't all that different. But I think concentrating on a good half marathon is a good start because the marathon requires so much, from fueling strategies to recovery after it, not to mention an inexperienced runner will usually go out too fast anyway and probably blow up on the first one and run 10-30mins slower than projected finish time.

Ok, 17 min might've been too fast, but I would say average talent can get to 18:30 in one year. High school cross country is a bad example bc most high school runners don't run year around. Most of them only run during the season. Also, I would say that most cross country runners except for the varsity guys are below average talent who couldn't play other sports so they had to settle for cross country.

I think if someone with average talent runs twice a day for 30 min to 1 hour almost everyday will get to 18min in 5k easily. Yes, twice a day is tough to start off with so after running consistently for three months, people can bump it to twice a day as long as their runs are under an hour each time .

I'd like to see some 10 miles races. That has always been my best distance.

Also, I had to train hard to break 18 min for 5K, but I was older (37 years old) and not really talented.

17:37 5K & 1;19:50 half a few weeks apart. I think that was consistent.