Is an 18:50 5K good for a 40-year old man on 30-35mpw?

Pretty good running actually. Depends on what you did as a youngster. In perspective I didn't run from the age of 30-40 due to many injuries. I trained for 8 months at 40 and ran 15:54 but my Pb's were fast when younger. Good luck keep running!

Rez wrote:

I am going to be honest.

Yes it is.

To all those saying it’s average is complete BS. If the average man trained at 35mpw for even 5 years I doubt they would break 20 in the 5k. It takes more natural talent than people realise. The genetic potenial of a 20 year old male is probably around 18-19 min (21-22 for women) so I’d say you have above avg running talent and that you are doing well.

Double your milage and get into the 16s.

I just ran 20 mins on 3mpw, had not exercised for 2 years before hand, apart from walking the dog. 18:50 on 35mpw is not great.

Okey wrote:Just OK but nothing wrong with that. 18:50 Age Grades around 72% for a 40yo. I think you'd need at least a 75% before thinking about trotting out Good.

This person nearly nailed it. You asked if it's "good," and I'd say that's exactly what it is. It is a good time for a 40yo man. It's not "very good" or "excellent," but it's better than barely "just OK" and certainly well above average.

Of course, this is a highly subjective question, and everyone can have a different opinion on the matter. I think *most* runners will agree that it's a good time.

Sincerely it's not bad at all, but you know where you're asking LOL

The problem is that you're running low mileage AND low quality, like 5k of quality in 30-35 miles??

In my view, if you go the low mileage route there should be way more quality and steady mileage.

You have room for improvement for sure!

I would consider this pretty darn good.

That is all.

Supertramp wrote:

I would consider this pretty darn good.

That is all.

Agreed. You won't be running in the Olympics or anything, but you could smoke 99% of your 40 year old peers.

asfasafsa wrote:

Rez wrote:

I am going to be honest.

Yes it is.

To all those saying it’s average is complete BS. If the average man trained at 35mpw for even 5 years I doubt they would break 20 in the 5k. It takes more natural talent than people realise. The genetic potenial of a 20 year old male is probably around 18-19 min (21-22 for women) so I’d say you have above avg running talent and that you are doing well.

Double your milage and get into the 16s.

I just ran 20 mins on 3mpw, had not exercised for 2 years before hand, apart from walking the dog. 18:50 on 35mpw is not great.

Okay well consider yourself lucky because a lot of people with average athletic talent couldn’t do that.

I run 18:45 (it took me 60mpw to get there) and if I didn’t exercise for two years my 5k would be north of 27 minutes.

Perhaps for a small country town. In the city I run with a few guys in their 50s who run in the sixteens. Keep trying.

I agree, 18:50 is really good for a 40 year old hobby jogger !

When I was 40 I was running 16:4x, but it was off more mileage (I did basically exactly the same 5x1000m workout weekly that you do, though). I ran a couple HM races at 40 at around 18:45/5k pace.

If I was only running 30 mpw at the time I would still be running in the 17:20-17:40 range, I'm thinking.

Either way, even if I was running 17:40, I would be lucky to place 2nd or 3rd in my AG occasionally in an average race of about 250 entrants. 18:50 would give me a 3rd in my AG if I went out of my way to pick the smallest, most low-key race I could find... maybe. The type of race that is won with a 17:xx time. I wouldn't call 18:50 good unless I was comparing myself to non-runners.

However, I would certainly 18:50 for a 40 year old "respectable." I think that's the word that fits best. It's fast enough that it shows you are at least trying to give it a go.

A couple different factors need to be discussed, how much cash do you make a year? And is your wife hot ?

of course your 40 just keep running you got this

That is a fine time for a man your age. If you have kids and a wife it is even more impressive. The real goal once you hit 40 is to stay out of a coffin, and by running moderate mileage, you are doing a good job at that. Running longer or harder is generally found to have a negative impact on life expectancy. Moderate exercise is the way to go.

Time is solid. Your long run is too long based on your mileage. It should only be about 20% of it and in your case its closer to a 1/3.

Yes, it is a good time. In most places you'll be near the font of your age group. You won't win it all the time, some 40+ guys are killing it, but most local races you will be competitive. In some smaller races you will be close to the front overall. There will be many others that can do what you can do. The good news is that there is room for improvement if you have the time and your body can add more miles.

Many people posting here are saying that if you are not winning a regional race your time sucks, that is not true. Enjoy your fast times, try and get better if you want. After age 40, don't put up with negative crap!

I agree with most that it's a pretty good time, all things considered. A lot of people here seem to have a really strange idea of what the "average" person is capable of.

When I was in basic training in the army, out of our group of twenty, only two of us managed to break 9 minutes for the 1 1/2 mile Basic Fitness Test run and most were well over 10 1/2 minutes, which is 7 minute mile pace. This is with an average age or around 22 and no one was remotely obese.

You are running over twice this distance at around 9 minute BFT pace, so that's pretty good at aged forty I think.

Sorry but we should not cheer this up. 18:50 is ok considering all those who do no sports or jog occasionally.

I am running 30-40 miles as a masters runner, consider myself as average, do my weekly tempos at sub 6 mile pace easily but I get spanked by the talented oldies at every major competition race. and there are many fast masters.

I'm 45 and around 15 mpw my current PR is 20:20

so I think the OPs time is most excellent, he'd be on the podium for sure in his AG on most smaller races near me [~=1000 participants]

To contrast...

I am 48, and clocked 15.40 for 5 km recently, and I am sure that another 20 secs could be knocked off my 5km time as the summer rolls by and the stars align for me that one special day.

I don't think much more than 20 secs though... I am red lining from about 2 km onwards.

50/60 MPW for me, with 1 km reps and 20/30/40 mins tempo run obligatory each week, with the rest easy miles

There is always a bit more we can squeeze out of ourselves... you will find it if running is important to you.