30 y.o. training for mile under 5 mins

Good luck. What is your current mile time?

sdfdffffff wrote:

Good luck. What is your current mile time?

Have never raced a mile. McMillan says the 5k pb is worth about 5:42. I'd guess I'm good for at least a bit faster, because I tend to do better with shorter races / workout reps.

You're working on a base only, or are you planning to do some anaerobic/speed work eventually before your mile attempt?

If the latter, the Tabata method seems to be a 'fun' workout. Can you run fast at all with your hip flexor problem?

I am a 30y.o. too so this interests me.

Week 1

- very boring, very low volume base training

M: off

T: 3 miles easy

W: 3 miles easy

R: 3.5 miles easy

F: off

Sa: 3 miles easy

S: 2 miles easy

total: 14.5 miles

Was just trying to get back out there after a summer of not running much. Wanted to ease in without much volume or quality. My goal is to get back to near daily running while gradually building volume. I've been focusing on the extra stuff like core work, hip mobility exercises, and a short yoga routine.

This all went fine. Not too tired. Easy getting out the door for each run. Hopefully that holds up. What's the best way to bridge the transition to full volume / full quality? Aiming for 40 miles and two quality sessions per week. Thinking of introducing some easy strides, a bit more volume, and some light tempo intervals this week.

for a 5 minute mile you're going to need a 5k around 18:00 to 18:15, so with 19:40 you're still quite a ways off friend. i would know, i'm sitting at 5:02 and 18:23 (which is soft). i would work on slowly but consistently increasing your mileage for a few months, your times should drop naturally. best of luck.

That's faster than me and I'm tryna run d3

i gotta tell you wrote:

for a 5 minute mile you're going to need a 5k around 18:00 to 18:15, so with 19:40 you're still quite a ways off friend. i would know, i'm sitting at 5:02 and 18:23 (which is soft). i would work on slowly but consistently increasing your mileage for a few months, your times should drop naturally. best of luck.

Not necessarily true.

Freshman year of high school I ran 20:15 in the fall for XC, then 5:03 for the 1600, followed by 18:45 the next fall. At no point was I close to an 18:00 during those 12 months. Sophomore year of track I ran 4:52 and I did not break 18 in XC until senior year.

The two best workouts for a sub-5 mile are:

1.) 3 X 5 minutes at around 5:30-5:40 pace, with 5-8 minutes recovery. The last 2 minutes of those reps should be faster than the first 3.

2.) 3 X (3 x 500m in 1:25) rest between reps is 45-60 seconds. Rest between sets in around 5 minutes (like a 400m walk).

If the first workout is too hard, do it slower.

If the second workout is too hard, make the reps shorter but keep the pace the same.

i gotta tell you wrote:

for a 5 minute mile you're going to need a 5k around 18:00 to 18:15, so with 19:40 you're still quite a ways off friend. i would know, i'm sitting at 5:02 and 18:23 (which is soft). i would work on slowly but consistently increasing your mileage for a few months, your times should drop naturally. best of luck.

This is not necessarily true. Mile fitness can be faked a lot more than 5k fitness. Or rather it's just a different beast.

I was injured for a summer a couple of years ago and ran a 4:58 mile and felt like I could have run faster about a month after coming back, but could only manage a 19:40 5K the following week and felt like I was going to die at the end. All while in my 30s

Speed speed speed!

Do you even have the basic speed to run a 5 min mile? Time yourself for 400m and tell us your time. If it's over 1:10 you don't have a chance.

I am waiting for the first idiot to tell you to start doing 100 miles a week

El Hefe wrote:

Speed speed speed!

Do you even have the basic speed to run a 5 min mile? Time yourself for 400m and tell us your time. If it's over 1:10 you don't have a chance.

I am waiting for the first idiot to tell you to start doing 100 miles a week

I do think that I have the basic speed to do a 5 min mile. In July I ran a speed endurance type workout 2x300, 1x400 in 53/52/69 with 5min rest. I'll do some strides this week and time a 400 next week.

My basic assumption here is that I am more suited to the mile than 5k, so I'll be able to cheat it a bit and have my mile PR a bit out of line with the 5k. I think this is partly my struggle with staying mentally tough in the 5k and partly that I'm not much of an endurance type athlete.

Do you by chance run 36s for an all out 200m?

would be hard to run a 69s 400 with neither 200 under :36

I know this guy wrote:

Do you by chance run 36s for an all out 200m?

Week 2

- again pretty boring, more base building. light tempo stuff

M: 5 miles easy plus strides (4)

T: 4 miles easy

W: 3.5 miles with 5x3min tempo effort

R: 3 miles easy

F: off

Sa: 5 miles with 1.5 mile tempo

S: off

total: 20.5 miles

The goal is sub5 mile some time this winter. There are two or three indoor mile races held nearby (jan/feb). Can't say that I'm quite on track, seeing as how I'm building up pretty slowly. But I've been injury prone and haven't been running much this year, so I think it's best to ease back into it.

Enjoyed the little bits of work incorporated this week (strides, tempo). Thinking I'll do mostly the same this week, with a bit more mileage. Considering a 400m TT some day this week if the legs feel up to it. Opting for a proper 20 minute tempo on Friday.

Planning a mile time trial on Thanksgiving, and it looks like that will be on mostly base / tempo training. Will set up a nice baseline to see if I'm way off with my goal.

Went to the track today for a 400m TT. Self-timed in 67s off of no speedwork whatsoever. Surely this is enough natural speed for a 5 min mile.

Meh. 5:20 at best off of 67. Even with great endurance, 62 is required at least for sub-5. Keep building your endurance. 40 miles/week is a minimal mileage base (3 months) for someone of you ability. Also start working in alactic strides and hill reps with full recovery. Fartlek once/week is OK. Once you can carry 40 miles comfortable, you can hit the track for intervals.

runfarfast wrote:

Went to the track today for a 400m TT. Self-timed in 67s off of no speedwork whatsoever. Surely this is enough natural speed for a 5 min mile.

I would recommend a lot more speed and don't wait until December to start. I would start with once a week hill sprints on a short uphill 8-12 seconds. Do a 6-10 x uphill relaxed all-out (95%+) with long rests - 2+ minute jog. You should feel sharper and more powerful almost immediately. Eventually you can transition to faster speedwork on the track with spikes on which will take more out of you.

(I just read the post above me and he suggested basically the same thing.)

Mayo Clinic wrote:

Meh. 5:20 at best off of 67. Even with great endurance, 62 is required at least for sub-5.

Just for an additional data point, I ran 5:27 with no specific mile training (I was marathon training) after a 67-flat 400. Not the same day.

The 400 was in trainers and I wasn't rested or tapered for it. Same goes for the mile, but I did wear spikes for that one.

I'm 38.

We have the same goal

Up your mileage to about a 100mls per week.