Running scale

It is easy to say I am a numbers guy. I frequently check the watts/kg chart to see how I am doing for bike power. So when I tried to skip some trainer time in favour of some running, I was surprised that there was no such chart for runners. No wonder they always go around bragging about how far they ran, because no one has ever showed them the concept of speed! Well ladies and gentlemen, buckle up as I am about to show you my masterpiece. I have created a lovely running pace chart for men and women based on actual running times, and I had a top notch female runner (who is probably faster than anyone that will read this) look it over to confirm its accuracy. I will explain how I made it, but if you don't care then just skip down and take a look.

1. I started off finding the world records for each distance.
2. The bottom of the world class was found by looking at results from the London 2012 Olympics.
3. Next I went to the weekend warrior/brag line and thought about what I would want people to run for me to be impressed. And by me being impressed, it means that I know that they would have trained a fair amount to be able to pull that off.
4. I went to the bottom and went to basically walking pace.
5. I interpolated the data to fill the rest of the squares.

So the numbers could be off slightly in each range, but there is no clear-cut categories to group runners as there is in cycling. So the groupings themselves are pretty rough. So an amateur racer is training 10+hours a week at the bottom end to pull off those numbers. Weekend warriors were probably former racers, or just like to go out and feel a good burn. Out for enjoyment people don't have any desire to feel pain in their legs, they just want to get out and have fun.

I can confidently say that after looking at the chart, I cannot brag about my running currently. In grade 12, I did manage a 7k cross country run at 28mins, so for that day, I might have been able to tell someone that I was a fast runner. By no means is it meant to bring you down about your running abilities. It is more so to provide inspiration, as you can see what people have accomplished. We are all human right, so if they can do it, why can't you? And anything you have to say to that is just an excuse... (I know, I am a hard ass. Ask my spin class attendees and they will wholly agree!)

Ok here is the grand master chart. I could have added many other distances, but these are the major ones. You can interpolate the numbers to get something in between if you want it.

And because I have been on fire with excel recently, I made some pretty plots of the chart. Note the x-axis is on a logarithmic scale so the lines end up being straight. (Note: if your pace is at or below the brag line, then I consider you to be a fast runner. You can sleep happily knowing that I admire your abilities.)

I will get back to biking posts soon. I have a new bike on the way, so my next post might be debuting this beauty! Happy riding and running!