In Feb 2011 I started running for the first time consistently in years. It took me a few weeks, but in early march I ran the first 5k of my life in 37:35. Mcmillan indicates that this is the equivalent of a 10:50 mile.
I never really kept track of mile times, but my overall times improved. Took time off here and there.
Im home for Christmas and went out to my old high schools track and ran a few miles and then decided to try to run a mile as fast as possible. Ended up with a 5:51. That was after a big lunch and running a few miles so I knew I could do better. Went out this morning after some water and a gu and a better feel for pacing and did it in 5:24.
So it took me nine months to drop 5+ minutes off my mile time, realistically how long to drop that next minute to get the time down to 4:30? Weight was a big factor too Im sure. 6’2 215lbs last Feb and now 173lbs. I plan to drop another 8-10lbs.
5:24 nine months after a 37:45 5k is outstanding. 30 plus pounds is going to account for quite a bit of that but it sounds like you’ve got a fair bit of natural talent. Give it another 6 months,lose the 10 pounds then give it another go.
It would require a lot of work, going from a 6.5 minute mile to 5.5 minute mile would be easier than 5.5 to 4.5. One year I ran a 5:04, was my best time of the season every other race was around 10 seconds slower. The next year I ran a 4:56 first race was my fastest time. I guess you would have to be patient since you can’t really expect to drop one minute right away unless you’re that out of shape.However, it is possible so don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.
I would say age might play into this equation as well. If you are in your late 30’s early 40’s it might be a little harder to get down into the 4:30 range, but I am sure there are plenty of late 30’s early 40 year olds running 4:30, but they probably have been running that pace for quite some time. Also, is your ultimate goal to run 4:30? I have ran a sub 3 marathon and a 17:33 5k, but I don’t think I can run a 4:30 mile. I believe if I trained to run a 4:30 mile I could accomplish it, but that is not my ultimate goal. If I get there by training for my ultimate goal then so be it, but I am not going to train for a 4:30 mile. I think anything is possibly if you put everything into it and approach it logically. If that is your goal, then go get it!
with running, i find that every person hits a wall once they are “in shape.” it sounds like you are still losing weight and are losing time fast! losing time in the mile will be easy until your body starts to maintain a certain weight. at this point, I would consider you in athletic shape. This is when the drop in mile time will be the hardest. So honestly, it is hard to tell you how hard it will be. Just keep training and know that it is possible! The fastest I could ever go was 4:12. It took me 6 years of training in high school and college so just keep at it!
Ps if i had to guess, I would say that it will take you another 3 months of hard training to reach 5:00. Once you are in athletic shape, you can usually drop six-ten seconds a year until you start to reach your physical/training limits. So maybe 2-4 years for a 4:30?
I agree with other posts. Not hard with the right training when you’re in your 20s. Much harder in your 30s. I trained with former 4:00 milers in their late 30s and they were happy to be sub 4:20. Of course, they go could go sub-2:20 in the marathon. Age gives you a mental edge in endurance, not better muscles…
I don’t want to come off as being snarky, but how important is the one mile time for you, really? Considering you based your comparative data on a 5k, I guess I would be more interested in seeing what you can do for the 5k now, if you’re going to be doing sprint tris or whatever. I guess what I’m saying is that I would focus on more race-specific distance and pacing, based on the race distance you’re shooting for. If your goal is a marathon, being fast at 1 mile is probably less important.
Anyway, just some food for thought. If you’re not into racing and just want to be fast, more power to ya! That’s a damn good run and a hell of an improvement in 9 months - good job!
First, great job so far. Unfortunately, the difference between a 5:30 and a 4:30 is huge. Don’t be too disappointed if you never make the drop. Few do.
To add to what IM sparticus said, you’ll have to see if you can do a set of 4x400m with each one in around 64-65 seconds and then build the aerobic capacity to hold it with no rest at 67 seconds. Go check out your 400m time and see where you stand.
There are very few people on this board who can run a 4:30 mile. A better question would by how long until you can run a 5 minute mile. From your progression, probably 6 months to a year.
realistically how long to drop that next minute to get the time down to 4:30?
you should search out cdw in the search function. He details his attempts to break his mile PR which is low 4’s. It’s about 3-4 years old but he has several good posts about the work required.
At first I thought you must have meant a 10k in 37:35. That is an amazing improvement. I don’t think I’ve ever read such a large improvement in such a short time. With the 5:24, you are getting close to twice as fast!
I haven’t really read any of the other posts but sorry if i’m repeating.
If you’ve made that large of a drop in time in that short amount of time you obviously have the work ethic to do so. I understand the goal, but is that all you want to do? If you were to focus on running a 4:30 mile you could probably do it in about 4 or 5 months if you focused on 4:30 and not much else. From 5.5 to 4.5 is gonna take some significant form work, speed work, base work, and explosiveness training considering your size and experience. Not saying that 4.5 is all you’ll have to show for your work you’d definitely have better 5k times and what not. You also might have to cut out biking if you do that regularly, keep up the work and if you really want to do it practice on pacing I think that’ll be your biggest help. Negative splits on the mile are harder than they sound! All in my opinion of course.
IMHO unless you are in your early 20’s or younger and have a history of speed (either a background in track, or you were a very fast soccer player, etc.) and have low bodyfat have the time and interest to run shorter intervals two to three times a week, it is very unlikely.
A 4:30 mile is a decent time for an average high school miler. But keep in mind that average high school milers are a pretty specific group, and they train specifically to run the mile, and they have youth on their side.
First, congratulations on the weight loss and time drop!
Second, as others have posted, it requires exponentially more work to get faster, the faster you get. I mean, 5:30 and 4:30 aren’t breaking any landspeed records, but making my point by analogy, Bugatti added 200 more hp to the 1001hp Veyron to get it to go ~5mph faster. You’re getting into the region of pace/speed where low marginal returns for high marginal training increments become the norm.
There are 2 ways to go about running that fast (4:30/mi). 1. You could train specifically for the mile. 2. You could train for another distance like 5k, get in really really good shape, then run the mile. The second approach would require a lot more effort so it’s almost an apples to oranges comparison, but IMO being able to run 1 mile in 4:30 because you are a really fast 5k runner is a lot more useful than being able to run 1 mi in 4:30 because you trained specifically for the mile. Fewer people can run a 4:30 using method 2, while #1 is something any good high school miler should be able to achieve.
Thanks for the commentary guys. To answer a few things, I am 28 and have no real running background. I ran in high school for a semester and didn’t take it seriously. Ran the 800m and the mile. I ran a 7:55 mile at a track meet once. So no background.
The 4:30 isn’t something I plan on working on. I ran the mile yesterday out of curiosity and I guess I was wondering how long until I hit 4:30 off of training for 10+ miles. Sounds like never based on the responses. I’m only interested in running the mile insofar as it improves my longer distance times.
Regarding my training, I just run a lot (40-50mpw) and when I do I push myself based on my planned distance for the day and what McMillan says I should be running for that distance. I also don’t run fewer than 5 miles in a session. So if I’m going out to run 10 miles, and McMillan says I can do that in 1:10, then I warm up a little and go the rest of the 10 miles at a 7 minute pace to finish the 10 miles in like 1:12. The only exception to this is if I’m doing a slow recovery run every week or two and I go out without looking at my garmin.
Thanks for all the responses I think I’ll just continue doing what I’m doing and see if between that and losing 10 more pounds I can break 5 minutes in the mile in 3-6 months.
Huge difference.
I ran 2:02 halves and 54s quarters in high school, slightly faster in college until I got cut. I never ran a track mile but I suspect 4:30 would have been about my “reach” time if I had. Much later in life I ran 5:00 flat at a pickup track meet with lots of distance running and no speedwork…could also run 6:00s for a long long time.
A minute in pace at that speed is the grand canyon. I watched a few low 4:00 performances by my teammates in college and the guys putting down these times were just fleet. One also ran a 46.xx quarter in addition to his 4:06 mile. In speed workouts he’d roll past me like a ghost, no noise, no external effort, nothing. Different species man.
Yeah, based on your follow-up I’d say a 4:30 probably isn’t in the cards as a by-product if you’re looking primarily to improve at longer distances.
A 5:30 is a pretty realistic mile goal for just about any healthy adult middle-aged male with a resonable amount of training, but 4:30 is getting into rarefied territory for anyone without a half-decent background as a mid-distance runner in HS/college (of course I’m not talking NCAA-caliber, which could do 4:30s hung over and in street clothes).
A heck of a lot of work and as has been said probably specific work not as a by product of general training.
That sort of drop roughly means lapping 67s for 400m rather than 82s so 15s per lap faster which means you need to be nearly 90 m up on yourself each lap.
Big ask, depends on what goals you have and what sort of training you like. Read an interesting quote from Cavendish about Chris Hoy who said that what he did was endure pain what Chris Hoy did was really hurt himself, I’d put a mile at that pace as well into the hurt camp!
