Can I break 6 minutes in the 1600 by next week?

Only one way to find out

Run the first 3 laps at 1:30 and then kick hard the last one.

A really crappy runner should be able to break 6 in the mile.

Are you male or female? Breaking 6 is a lot more impressive/difficult for girls.

Did you feel like you could have run a lot harder when you ran 6:15? How was your pacing? Have your times been dropping a lot lately? Were there conditions that made your 6:15 a bad race that wouldn't affect your next one?

I'm in almost the same position (just ran 6:10, hoping for sub 6 soon). I'm probably going to run an all comers meet or two so I can break it. Maybe that's an option for you? Some schools host "last chance" unattached meets.

Sub 6 in a week is possible, sure, but not too likely. You'll probably have to run much harder than before. It's more likely if you're a guy, IMO. But like I said, you could aim for something in between and then try to do another race so you'll have a better chance. If you can't do that, then you can either try to just PR and pace for like a 6:10, or go for it and try to break 6. Up to you.

In my next race (about a week) I'm going for about 3:00 at the 800— if I can run hard enough and have a good kick then I can go under 6 with a very evenly paced race, but that'll set me up nicely for running a PR anyway if I slow down.

OP here, Just to clarify I am a male.

So about 2 weeks ago I ran a 6:32 mile, It was my first 1600 of the season, so mentally I was pretty off the rails and I think that contributed to my bad time. Last week I was much more prepared, I went through in 6:15 but I feel like I could have done better overall. I just need to really kick that last lap for sure, also to push the 3rd lap.

Good luck dude!

If the 3rd lap doesn't hurt, you aren't running hard enough. Try to run even splits (another poster correctly stated you should run 1:30 for each lap). If you're doing that and on the 3rd lap you're still not hurting (with about 600 or 700 to go), then pick up the pace. You should be going 100% with 200 to go.

In that case, I think you can do it. You're in that early phase where you can probably expect some huge jumps in times.

I'm a big believer in practicing running at race pace— it's impossible to run even splits if you don't know what your pace feels like. Personally I'm a fan of running short distances (like 400s) at goal pace— the idea is to be accurate, not fast.

Perfectly even splits are probably unrealistic for you, it's tough to run even. I might go for 88, 90, 92, 88 (so 1:28 at the 400, 2:58 at the 800, 4:30 at the 1200). Maybe even a little faster at the beginning, like 87.

The key to running an even paced race is that you feel like you're speeding up. The first lap probably won't feel too hard. Don't worry about other people being in front of you. Unless it's windy and you need to draft off people, it doesn't matter much what they're doing. If it is windy, then you might try to stick with people, but you're better off running into the wind alone than running an 80s first lap. Obviously the exception is if you know that somebody is A) running around your goal pace and B) isn't terrible at pacing.

Be sure to make a conscious effort to speed up— surge on the second and third laps. I basically ignore what other people are doing on the first lap, then try to pass as many as I can in the next 3. Once you hit the fourth, you're basically trying to burn any energy you have left.

Anyway, I know I just threw a ton of instructions at you, but try not to stress about it too much— that's what works for me, maybe it'll work for you and maybe it won't. Run your race. Ultimately, just run smart and run hard.

Don't overthink it. Go out hard. Run like a dumb horse.

As long as you are willing to really work for it, I feel fairly sure that you can go sub 6. I am also not the fastest runner. I started running my sophomore year of high school and my all-out mile pace was 6:14. I dropped it with very little training. More recently I took around fifteen seconds off of my mile time in two consecutive races. The race strategy that has always worked best for me was to maintain a pretty solid pace for the first two laps, kick hard the third lap, and then let everyone else's kicks pull you through to a fast finish. It's a brutal strategy, but it might just get you a pr.

Skips Arm Day wrote:

Don't overthink it. Go out hard. Run like a dumb horse.

I can agree with this, you might end up beating sub6 by being reckless. If you try to get too technical with your pacing you will end up too much into your head and feeling like it's impossible by the 1200m. Just pace it smart for the first lap or two then get angry and refuse to fail.