a question for the runnery types:
i’ve recently become interested in the idea of running a 5-minute mile. last week i went to the track and soloed a 2:20 800m, this was a tough effort but not absolutely max. so, do i have what i takes to go sub-5 on monday?
-mike
You should try and develop speed down to the sub-2:10 800 meter level. It is good that you said 2:20 is not that hard for you, you may already be there. The key is laps are 1 and 3, make sure you go out hard enough, but do not blow it out. Try to hit the same split on lap 3 as lap 1. Once you hit 4 you are home free. Do not try and hold you kick for any longer than 200 meters until you get in better 1600 shape.
Find a local high school kid to pace you, many freshmen are trying to break the same time barrier. So they are usually good company.
The ratio of (1600m world record time)/((800m world record time) = 2.21
Your time for 800m = 2.333 minutes
2.333 minutes x 2.21 = 5 min 9 sec
Keep training a bit longer. But you never know - perhaps you are better suited to the mile and you would be able t break it now.
I think you can do it. When I could run under 5:00 I was usually around 2:35 for 800 repeats, so you seem to be in better shape than that. Some people have that one speed they can hold for a while, so you never know. Give it a shot!
If you can do a 2:20 800, you can probably do a 5 minute mile right now, if you have any level of aerobic base. If this is just something you want to do, go for it, but try to run even splits. Also remember a mile is 1608 meters, so it is just a tad onger than 4 full laps on the track.
If this effort wasn’t absolute max, then you have at least a 4:55. Don’t try to negative split, just go out as hard as possible and then try to hold on. This isn’t a tactical race, it’s you trying to run as fast as you can, to give you the confidence to run hard at other races I would imagine.
I’d say you can do it. If you were heart through the roof barely breathing stumbling across the line on teh 2:20 800 maybe not yet but if you didn’t kill yourself a 5:00 mile doesn’t sound like a major problem. Go out on 1:13, 2:26-28, watch that third lap and kick hard the final 300 or so. Good luck
so yeah, the 800 was a TT, run pretty much fresh off a long track-style warmup, if memory serves. i also TT’d a 27 for the 200 and something like 69 (?) for the 400 in that workout. last winter my 1000 (indoor track, spikes) became a pet project and got down to 2:57 before i left for field research and everything went to crap.
everyone seems to be saying “watch out for the third lap!” i’ll definitely keep that in mind, and would love a pacer but none of my friends have careful enough control on the track. ahh, triathlon. . .
i’ll keep you posted,
-mike
1609.344 m = 1 mile.
I agree with Erik, keeping pace on lap 3 is key. The 1 mile is a long race for sprinter types who might find a 800M no problem whereas a marathoner might find 2:20 800M quick but bang out miles at 5:00 pace.
Back when I was 40 pounds younger and ran, I never had the speed for more than a 2:10 800M, but I could go sub 5:00 pace for 5km. It just depends on the motor.
You may not be able to do it Monday, but certainly if you trained to, a 5:00 should be attainable for a 2:20 800M runner.
-SD
Man that is cookin. What is your 10K time?
Find a local high school kid to pace you, many freshmen are trying to break the same time barrier
Talk about a back-handed compliment! “You’re about as fast as a 13 year old!”
have had a really crummy tri season so far for all sorts of reasons; i went 38:08 off the bike at the very beginning of the season (mid may!) and haven’t been that quick since. alas. though i’m thinking a 5 or 10k road race is in order before i pack everything in for the year. my current 5 k PB (17:40) is over a year old, and i’m only 25, so there’s hopefully so room to improve on that.
it was definitely reading “The Perfect Mile” that got me jazzed about going sub-5, though.
-mike
sad, but true. it’s like getting my ass kicked by 12-year-old swim-team girls at the pool: happens all the time.
alex kipchirir’s got the junior world record for the mile, at a brisk 3:50. don’t think i’ll ever be in his postal code, but i’d be honoured to have him pull me through 1200.
-mike
very cool, I think you can do it.
I thought I’d share my story on a sub 5 attempt. For my 40th b’day I set it as a goal and gave myself about a month to prepare. I would go to the track about twice a week and slowly built up my 200 and 400 repeats trying to learn how to run fast again. I got faster on these repeats and was actually pretty impressed with the speed I developed. 200 repeats got down to 31-32 pretty comfortably and 400’s were around 1:10-12. I never did a practice attempt but I did a few 800’s and although I could hit the 2:30 I knew the band was tight at that point and keeping the pace for 800 more was pretty unrealistic. Nevertheless, I had run my mouth and several of my training buds held me to my attempt, so the evening of my b’day a group shows up at the track(family, friends, kids, etc…there must have been around 25 people there cheering me on… we were having a party afterwards). By chance a college aged kid was finishing up a workout and asked us what was going on. After we explained he asked if I would like him to pace me because he could hold 5 minute pace pretty steady. Knowing deep down I wouldn’t make it I agreed to his suggested stratedgy of letting me lead the 1st lap and then allowing him to take the lead the remaining laps. Well, we take off and in my mind I knew that if I didn’t have a cushion for the final 800 there would be no way for me to make it, so I hit the 1st lap in 1:10(Whoops, amazing what adrenaline will do, I swore I was going slow). The college kid comes around and says “that’s a bit hot, back off and follow me”. We slowed the pace and hit the 800 in 2:30. Around 1000 and I know it’s over cause I was dying. We hit the 1200 @ 3:52 and then the final lap + 10 yards took me 1:28 and I finished with a 5:20 total. That last lap was horrendous, I felt like every fiber of my body was about to blow up. I looked more like someone having a seizure than a runner. Anyway, I haven’t tried it again and I still don’t think I could have done it but obviously my pacing was way off, so I may give it a try later this Fall when the temps go down a bit. It was July 1st and I’m in the Southeast, so it was hot and muggy that evening of my attempt. I would say based on your 200, 400 and 800’s you would have a very good chance of making the sub 5 but definitely watch that 1st lap and if possible do it in the morning.