Not yet a sub-5 minute miler.
August 11, 2008
Not wanting to fall into the trap of only reporting success and never failure, I thought I should report that I failed to run one mile in less than 5 minutes at the track meet. You can find the results at the FTC website. I did 5:11 for the mile, and then I did a “cool down” 2 miler (which was more of a tempo pace) at 12:25.
I want to thank Brian Menaker. He’s much faster than me, but he paced me for the race. I didn’t make my goal, but I really appreciate his help in my attempt.
My plan is to try again about once a month until I hit it. I’m going to try a new training method: run 6 x 1000m repeats at 5:00/mile pace. Any training or racing suggestions would be appreciated.
June 24, 2009 at 9:48 am
6×1000m sounds more like a 5K workout to me. I’m thinking 5-6×400m @ sub 1:15 with very short rest (20-30 sec.). A better alternative to that would be 1×200m @ :36; 1×300m @ :56; 2×400m @ 1:14; 1×300m @ :56; 1×200m @ :36- all with 30 seconds rest b/n. Might want to shoot for 1-2 seconds faster even. I think this mimics running a sub-5 mile race a bit better.
For a lactic threshhold work out I’m partial 2-4 sets of 4×400m w/ 800m jog b/n reps; 1600m jog b/n sets. When you get done with your jog rest your heart rate should be 120. If it is higher you went too fast on the 400m and if it is much lower you didn’t go fast enough. If higher than 120 you need to wait until your HR gets lower than 120 before you go again. These 400m repeats should feel real slow at first (suggest 1:45-1:55 pace?). I’ve found this workout best when done 3 days prior races/speedwork.
Good luck- with that fast marathon under your belt your are certainly more than capable of a sub-5 mile.