[Evelina 69]

I am 41 and have just completed the Manchester Bupa 10K and am eagre for some sound advice.

Dont laugh but I have done absolutly no training at all and have not run more than 400 metres in the last 20 years. ( I also weigh 15 stone at 5" 7 so am well overweight)

I completed the race in 62 minutes which I feel was quite fast. I feel I could have easily beat the hour mark.

What time could i realisticly expect to acheive if I was to start to do some training.

I dont want to increase the distance just to better the time.

All help appreciated

 

[Greg]

Well done. 62 mins off no training is very good going. It's really difficult to give a time you could hit, as it mainly depends on how much training you're prepared to put in, and for how long.
As a guide, you can expect to gain 30 seconds over 10k for each kilo (2 lbs) you lose. So if you did no specific training but lost a stone you could expect to be 3:30 faster. If you do some specific training, then your times will improve markedly at first, possibly about a minute a month for the first 6 months. Then, you start getting diminishing returns, and you need more training to get the same time benefits.
But once again, these are very generic guidelines.

 

[No.8]

In addition to what Greg has said, look at doing some structured training.

Plan your week and aim to do a longish run - around 8 miles, and some shorter runs through the week and do this regularly. This will build up your fitness and help to improve your race times as well as helping lose weight and make you feel good.

If you search the internet there are lots of resources to get a 10k training plan, you just need to fit it around your week and make it work for you.

 

[Stotty]

wow everlina that was really brave of you. congratulations. Ive just done my first 5k and that was with 5months training behind me. How did you feel the next day? I felt awful a couple of hours after my race the backs of my knees were so tight i could hardly get up the stairs

 

[4minutemiler]

I'd put your effort into getting into shape rather than looking at times....well done for doing it but dont go mad!