So, I'm working on defining some fitness goals to go along with my weight loss goals, and I decided I'm going to run in next years Carlsbad 5000. :tu: I figure I should be able to run 3.2 miles without dying a year from now.

When I first spawned this idea, I arbitrarily decided I wanted to place in the top 50 for my age group division (35-39). Well, I just looked up the results for this years CB5K. The 50th place runner finished in 19:05, a 6:07 pace. I'm guessing that the pace is per mile. Anyway, I'm wondering if that's feasible. I only recently started eating clean and working out (on week 4), so I was wondering if anyone had experience training for something like this. Is it reasonable to set a goal for myself to run a sub-6 minute mile at this point? Or should I aim for something else?

I remember in high school I ran cross country for 3 years. I was a high-4 low-5 minute miler depending on the race (we had 5 and 10 mile races). But I was doing that before I ever started training (my first mile I ran for the coach during P.E. was 5:35 and I wasn't really trying that hard), so I have no idea what it takes to train to a specific goal like that.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

If you give yourself a year, I think you might be able to muster it.

But before you try to place so high in your age group, I'd go out there and run a 5K as fast as you can 6 months from now, and then re-evaluate your goals.

Then do the same thing every month until the event, and see where you stand from there.

I think you will be surprised how quickly you will be able to run the 3 miles without pain. It takes about 12 weeks of hating every step before you get to where you really enjoy it, but from there it just takes off. I went from 3 mile runs to 6 mile runs in no time. My longest has been 9 miles.

Runnersworld.com and Halhigdon.com both offer training guides to help you set up a work out program that works for you.

I think you can easily shoot for a solid time in a year. Some people train 1/2 that time for a marathon.