Using An Age-Graded Running Calculator Helps Me Stay Positive…
So the only things that were rolling through my head this morning as I ran down Long Beach Boulevard on Long Beach Island were thoughts about the Robert Earl Keen song “The Road Goes on Forever”. And that’s what it seemed to do! The second part of that thought was ” I haven’t seen a party yet!” The run was a two-mile straight run from 7th street to 52nd street. At 52nd street, I made a right turn and went slightly uphill to Ocean Boulevard. There I turned and headed north back to my starting point. The total run was four miles. And while it wasn’t that warm out, it was very humid. As a result, I was drenched in sweat when I stopped!! But it was a good run overall!
The Results
Total Distance:4.1 miles Total Time: 44:55 Average Pace: 10:56 (m/m)
Mile Splits Mile 1: 10:31 m/m Mile 2 – 11:02 m/m Mile 3 11:00 m/m Mile 4 11:16 m/m 0.1- 10:27 m/m
Average Heart Rate ; 144 bpm Max Heart Rate 163 bpm
Calories Burned: 593 cals.
My New Obsession Age-Graded Running Times
So my new favorite thing is Age-Grading, which is a way…..
….of putting all race participants on a level playing field, regardless of age or gender. This age grade calculator lets you compare your race times to older and younger runners, as well as those of the opposite sex. Simply input your data and your age-graded score and age-graded time will appear automatically.
As an example, a 40-year-old man who runs a 3-hour marathon would earn an age-graded score of 70.24%. To find your score, input your data in the dropdowns above.
Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.
Your age-graded time is your finish time adjusted to that of an open division participant using a factor for age and gender. Thus, the times for women and older participants are adjusted downward, while the times for most open division participants (such as 25-year-old men) remain the same. Read More at Runner’s World
My Age-Graded Time Makes Me Feel a Whole Lot Better!
So here’s how this makes me feel good about my slow plodding along. When I input my time (44:54) for this morning’s run into the age-graded calculator I get the following…..
Age-Graded Score: 48.35%
Age-Graded Time: 34:57
That gives me an age-graded mile pace of 8:44 minutes per mile. Which is a to about the pace I could maintain 5 to 6 years ago! Anyway knowing that I am maintaining an equivalent pace considering my age makes me feel better. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to get my race time lower (remember this was just a training run) because I do want to and now I think maybe I can!!
So if you’re an older runner like me, after your next run put your time and age into this calculator and see if it makes you feel a little better and makes you want to go out and run again!!
The Soundtrack for the run was Monuments from EdGuy.They are a heavy metal band from Germany. From The Metal Music Archives…..
Edguy is a power metal band from Fulda, Germany formed in 1992 and is currently signed to Nuclear Blast. The current lineup features Tobias Sammet on vocals (and occasionally keyboard), Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer on guitar, Tobias Exxel on bass, and Felix Bohnke on drums. They released their first album, Savage Poetry, in 1995 (re-recorded in 2000), and followed up with Kingdom of Madness in 1997, both when all members were still in their teens. Read More
