What mile time can you run off of 20 MPW?

This is a rubbish question. It needs needs way way more parameters...

20mpw over what time scale? Someone does most of 2019/20 at 100mpw, then a few weeks this year at 20mpw, do they count?

20mpw at what age? Gender?

20mpw based on what previous background? A mid 1990's Seb Coe, or a sedentary office worker who's just taken up running in his 30s?

etc etc.

My 7th grade son ran 4:54 in gym class on no training. He could probably run 4:40 on 20 MPW. His brother ran 4:10 in high school on 35 MPW. He could probably run 4:20 on 20 MPW.

I started running a little less than a year ago and I'm currently at around 20 mpw. I'm female and I just did a mile tt at 7:19 last week. I know that I can go a little faster, but I'm still pretty new to the sport and have a hard time pacing stuff like this.

To answer your question, there is a very big range. Some people have more natural talent than others and can run a very fast time with little training and for others (i.e. a person with average abilities/talent) it takes a long time. I'm not an expert at all, but I'd suggest: Don't compare yourself to others, keep working hard, continue to build a base, and improvements will happen over time.

Exactly. The fact that it took me 20 MPW to run an 8 minute mile shows how hard running is for the average person

I think the average person doesn't know how to suffer. I ran 0 mpw in high school and did 5:10 for gym class mile tests. I swam, though, so there was the aerobic base.

I probably ran 20 mpw in my mid-20s, and my mile repeats at the track would be right at 5. I'd guess if I did a TT back then, maybe 4:45?

I ran a 4:52 off a little less than 20MPW

Depends on how you phrase it.

What kind of mile time could you run if you never ran a week over 20 miles in your life, vs. what kind of mile time can you run if you went down to 20 mpw for a year.

In the latter, I could have run under 4:30, maybe under 4:20.

But without any base, who knows.

But probably 4:45 or a little better coming out of sprint training.

david45 wrote:

What mile time can you run on that mileage?

Off of one week of that mileage? Maybe high 5s, low 6s.

Off of months of that mileage, 4:30-4:45.

Most any healthy, younger male that is reasonably fit (i.e., not overweight) should be able to run low to mid 6s off of consistent 20 mph.

david45 wrote:

Virtual Racer wrote:

I’d say most healthy males can easily Run a low 6 minute mile off this assuming they have been doing 20 mpw for a decent amount of time.

Then how come I have been doing 20 mpw for a year, and I can only run a mile in 8:05?

You haven't been doing 20 mpw for a year and you're not running hard enough.

What's a typical week look like?

I ran sub 5 on about 20 miles per week. But then again some people will run faster then that and some slower. It kinda depends on how old you are and what your training history is and if you were active before you started actually running.

WTF? What event? What distance? Why not write these details?

20 miles is a pretty far distance. You could probably get pretty fast at events of 1 mile and less by running 20 miles per week of high intensity workouts.

On the other hand (the completely opposite hand...), what could you do in a race of 5k or 10k if you ran once per week, but it was a 20 mile run? That's a more comical hypothetical scenario, I think.

david45 wrote:

plant curious wrote:

Depends what those 20 mpw look like. 20mpw of just random base mileage? I'd run about 4:55 or so. 20 mpw of "ideal" training? Probably about 4:35.

Those times might sound fast to some people, but my frustration when I was training was always that I had a reasonably good baseline, but my PR from all in training wasnt a lot faster than that. I've always been the epitome of "90% of the benefit from 10% of the effort."

The 20 MPW was 80% easy runs and 20% interval workouts.

If you're only running 20 MPW, try changing to 40% easy and 60% "hard", that gives you more opportunities for specific training. The "hard" could be a mix of intervals, tempo runs, hills and racing. Hard doesn't mean 100% effort. 80/20 is for higher mileage than 20.

david45 wrote:

Then how come I have been doing 20 mpw for a year, and I can only run a mile in 8:05?

You waste your time while you're running the 20 mpw. If you're only running 20 mpw, you don't need any easy miles.

20 mpw also isn't nearly enough miles to promise any improved performance or fitness if you're running easy miles. You could easily have a crap diet and/or other unhealthy habits that 20 mpw will not overcome.

If you're sedentary other than running 20 mpw, you could be a person of any fitness level or any body composition. 20 mpw could be accomplished just as warm-ups for other activities.

The reason why you seem like a troll is because you aren't asking for help and will not accept help. Instead, you repeatedly post threads about how you are slow, you have bad genes, and how unhappy you are with your progress. Your threads have a constant theme of you comparing yourself to others.

If you truly want to improve, rethink your outlook on running and post threads that show you are open to allowing the LRC community to help you. One thread that tracked your progress with you accepting feedback and then implementing it, followed by you updating us, would be much more productive than what you are doing right now.

If you continue to post threads following the woe is me train of thought, then it seems highly probable that you are a troll.

Took 5.5 months off. 2nd week back running ran a 5:25 at end of progression. PR is 16:55

age and intensity matter most. Younger folks can get away with less milage. But I'd say intensity matters most. I know a guy who went from 7:22 to 6:15 by just running 1 mile a day for 23 months. I imagine someone doing quality miles could get down to the mid 5's on average...if they're under 30...over 30, maybe 6:00 to 6:30.

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

age and intensity matter most. Younger folks can get away with less milage. But I'd say intensity matters most. I know a guy who went from 7:22 to 6:15 by just running 1 mile a day for 23 months. I imagine someone doing quality miles could get down to the mid 5's on average...if they're under 30...over 30, maybe 6:00 to 6:30.

Should be 3 months, not 23 months...

you must enter a username wrote:

Question for you David... When you finish your 8 minute mile are you in extreme pain?

Yes. I was dying at the end of the mile.

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

age and intensity matter most. Younger folks can get away with less milage. But I'd say intensity matters most. I know a guy who went from 7:22 to 6:15 by just running 1 mile a day for 23 months. I imagine someone doing quality miles could get down to the mid 5's on average...if they're under 30...over 30, maybe 6:00 to 6:30.

Should be 3 months, not 23 months...

Then how come I ran 20 MPW for 1 year and only ran a mile in 8:05 minutes?

david45 wrote:

bartholomew_maxwell wrote:

Should be 3 months, not 23 months...

Then how come I ran 20 MPW for 1 year and only ran a mile in 8:05 minutes?

You run slow, therefore you run slow. Why do you keep asking?

20 mpw is not that much. If your goal is to run faster and you are only going to run 20 miles per week, then you should run faster. You have no need for "easy runs" if you're only running 20 mpw.

But honestly, no one here will be able to answer your question to your satisfaction. I (and everyone else here) would imagine that any person (except for the elderly or morbidly obese) that ran 20 mpw consistently for a year would be able to run one mile in less than 8 minutes. Your case is a true anomaly.