what is an average not too fast not too slow time for a mile run?

[juicychops]

i started running 3 weeks ago today and i have got my mile down to 10mins 10 secs which i know is quite slow. what is a good 'average' time for a mile just so i know what running speed is around 'average'.

I know everyone is different etc but just for a guideline

Male/female/age/weight/do you mean average mile speed over a longer run or a single mile sprint?

an average mile speed over a longer run for a woman

There is no average really as pace is very individual! Best thing to do is think whether your 10 min/mile pace is your slow, steady, tempo or fast pace and then work from that. You can judge that by your effort level using either a heart rate monitor or by perceived effort level . Over time the goal should be to improve as you get fitter! Good luck.

Agree wrt perceived effort. If you think you can run faster, do!

Your current pace would give you a time of an hour-ish over 10k, which is very respectable for a 3wk old runner.

I think anything between 9 and 10 minute miles is quite acceptable

ok great everyone.

i did only a mile last night as it was raining and beginning to get dark so i pushed myself harder. i forgot to take my stop watch but was definately going faster. dont think i could have kept that speed up much longer though as my lungs were killing me!!

I run slow, don't think I will ever get much quicker TBH.

I average 10 min miles on hilly offroad trails, I can get down to nearer 9.30 min miles on roads but I can feel the extra effort IYSWIM.

Having watched the London Marathon a few weeks back I was pondering how fast the elite runners run whilst out on my run, picked up my pace a bit and promptly fell over

I've gone back to running slower now. I can happily plod for quite a while, did 14 miles yesterday, but I don't think I am built for speed.

You goal should only be to enjoy yourself. Don't look at a watch, look at the flowers instead!
Honestly I used to worry about timings and felt under pressure to better my time. I would worry about going to fast/too slow etc etc.
Now I run over hills and dales, stop and chat to cows, sniff flowers and can run for 10 miles happily

A lot of people talk about 9 minute miles because if you ran that fast you'd do a half marathon in less than 2 hours and a marathon in less than 4. But that might be an unnecessary high standard for some people