Trying to get my mile time down (at 5:52 right now) - General

I hope to get to around 5:20 by track season. It's already dropped quite a bit from the beginning of cross country season, when I was running 6:42 miles. Any suggestions as to how to train to run faster miles? I'm more of a distance runner, and half marathons are more my forte, but I'm absolutely awful at 2 miles, and I'm pretty sure we don't have a 5k.

That's damn good.. My best mile time is 7:20 O.O

I'm not an expert on running, put just practice would be good. You should try adapting your technique, that worked well for me when I was trying to get my mile time down.

if you're running on a 400m track you'll need to do each lap at a 1:20 for a pace for a 5:20 mile so run a lap at a 1:20 pace and then slow down for the next lap and run the next lap at a 1:20 pace and then slow down down for the last lap. You want to get used to running at your target pace and gradually increase the amount of time at which you are going race pace and decrease the time you spend running at the recovery speed. For example the next time you do the workout try to hold the 1:20 lap pace for 1.25 laps and go at recovery speed for .75 laps. That's my best guess as to how you'd achieve a 5:20 mile. I don't run track competitively but I run a lot and I've pulled off a 5:20 mile in the past and that's just how I would train if I were trying to improve my mile time.

[QUOTE=hansjurgen;34149859]if you're running on a 400m track you'll need to do each lap at a 1:20 for a pace for a 5:20 mile so run a lap at a 1:20 pace and then slow down for the next lap and run the next lap at a 1:20 pace and then slow down down for the last lap. You want to get used to running at your target pace and gradually increase the amount of time at which you are going race pace and decrease the time you spend running at the recovery speed. For example the next time you do the workout try to hold the 1:20 lap pace for 1.25 laps and go at recovery speed for .75 laps. That's my best guess as to how you'd achieve a 5:20 mile. I don't run track competitively but I run a lot and I've pulled off a 5:20 mile in the past and that's just how I would train if I were trying to improve my mile time.[/QUOTE] Thanks for the advice. I've never trained for distances this short before, so I hope this works.

Our coach had us do sprint sets. AKA sprint 100 meters, walk 200 meters, sprint 200 meters, walk 400 meters, sprint 400 meters, walk 400, and we did the sprint 400x1 walk 400x1, like 3 times It was horrible and painful but it worked great. You actually have to push it hard as hell though, give it your all

If you want to get faster with distances under a mile you also have to get used to what your body feels like when it is tired. A lot of people will kind of panic after sprinting a quarter mile cause their legs start to burn and they're gasping for air and if you asked them to do another 3 laps at that speed they would say they absolutely couldn't. If you had a gun pointed at them and told them to maintain their fastest quarter mile pace for an entire mile or else you'd shoot them, you could bet your ass they'd be able to. When you start to feel the burn in the legs and everything else that comes with expending energy, you just have to calm down and tell yourself "ok I'm just a little tired, I'm still perfectly capable of keeping this pace" it helps to focus on things like breathing and your form and keeping your pace fast and consistent. You probably know most of this cause long distance is pretty similar when it comes to mental toughness, but I figured I'd throw it out there. Good luck

[QUOTE=Septimas;34152136]Our coach had us do sprint sets. AKA sprint 100 meters, walk 200 meters, sprint 200 meters, walk 400 meters, sprint 400 meters, walk 400, and we did the sprint 400x1 walk 400x1, like 3 times It was horrible and painful but it worked great. You actually have to push it hard as hell though, give it your all[/QUOTE] We had to do something similar in Cross Country. 4 200s, walk 100 after each time, 2 400s, walk 100 after each time, 1 800, walk 200 after, and then backwards.

I'm terrible at running for long distance like miles. I've always been a sprinter and the fastet my mile time ever was , was around 8:00 flat . I want to start running again and see if I can go lower but I haven't done any huge cardio like that in so long running down the street has me heaving. I tried a mile the other day and out of energy and nauseous by the time i was done. Any tips on getting better or do I just have to stop being a pussy till im good?

Do different kinds of work on different days. Because you're working on a mile time endurance training isn't as important, but you should still go on longer, easier runs every once in a while to give you time to rest but also keep your cardio up-to-date. Alternate between different kinds of workouts: Hill repeats (going up as hard as you possibly can, then jogging down, doing as many as you can), fartleks (alternate between running hard and jogging, 15 seconds off, 15 on, 30 off, 30 on, 1 minute off, 1 on until you get to 2 minutes), and my favorite: intervals. A good interval workout consists of a few 400 meter dashes, a few 800s, and maybe 1 1200. My preferred workout is 4, 8, 12, 8, 4. Your goal for the workout is to go as hard as you can, but have your last 400 time be the same as the first. These kinds of workouts will not only be taxing aerobically, but they will help you with your pace so you can know how fast you're going. When I'm training for anything involving running, I usually do speed workouts (fartlek, intervals) on Monday, easy run on Tuesday, workout of choice on Wednesday, easy run on Thursday, a hill workout on Friday, and a long easy run on Saturday or cross-training (biking, rowing, whatever). I also try to do core on every workout day (pushups, situps, core isn't rocket science).

[QUOTE=AgentBoomstick;34299024]Do different kinds of work on different days. Because you're working on a mile time endurance training isn't as important, but you should still go on longer, easier runs every once in a while to give you time to rest but also keep your cardio up-to-date. Alternate between different kinds of workouts: Hill repeats (going up as hard as you possibly can, then jogging down, doing as many as you can), fartleks (alternate between running hard and jogging, 15 seconds off, 15 on, 30 off, 30 on, 1 minute off, 1 on until you get to 2 minutes), and my favorite: intervals. A good interval workout consists of a few 400 meter dashes, a few 800s, and maybe 1 1200. My preferred workout is 4, 8, 12, 8, 4. Your goal for the workout is to go as hard as you can, but have your last 400 time be the same as the first. These kinds of workouts will not only be taxing aerobically, but they will help you with your pace so you can know how fast you're going. When I'm training for anything involving running, I usually do speed workouts (fartlek, intervals) on Monday, easy run on Tuesday, workout of choice on Wednesday, easy run on Thursday, a hill workout on Friday, and a long easy run on Saturday or cross-training (biking, rowing, whatever). I also try to do core on every workout day (pushups, situps, core isn't rocket science).[/QUOTE] thanks this helps heaps!

i run a kilometer in 3:37 :)

[QUOTE=mooty;34477185]i run a kilometer in 3:37 :)[/QUOTE] Cool story bro.