Mile Record for 50 Year Olds

WEALTHBURG wrote:

So anyway, my guy ran 1:49, 3:41, 7:47, & 13:40 back in the day.

He has stayed in decent shape running about 1,500 miles a year or so for the past decade but has not raced in a while. Presently he is about 10 lbs. above his fighting weight.

He has recently put in an 8 week block of 50 – 60 miles per week and says his 5 – 7 mile tempo runs are @ about 5:50 per mile.

Me thinks he can run 4:50 or so right now and w/ some more base and sharpening, could get under 4:30.

What do you folks think? Any of you Old Timers make a similar attempt? What was your experience? Trouble getting quickness back in the legs? Suggestions?

our man should be looking at at the very least a 4:30 mile.

with a base of 50 miles a week, he can move forward with specific training.

add in:

half a dozen 300 - 800 m hill repeats with walk down recovery at a hard pace. 2 work outs per week.

every day do stride outs fairly fast but completely relaxed 100-150 m x 6-8 of them before and after every run. this gets you volume of work at speed, while avoiding any kind of regression / burnout that interval work will bring (minimal recovery)

keep fresh, if the legs are heavy, take a day off.

rest: don't be stressed and too busy on days off.

this kind of approach will have our man feeling comfortable at speed in about a month. two months is the ticket however.

it will be infinitely easier for your man to run the 4:30 behind a 4 minute miler who sets a steady pace.

if your man does the 430 then i'd look at doing a modified sebastian coe program type to get down to 4:20 or lower.

at age 50 i would do 1 month of coe's training over 2 months. with a light day of running between "coe" days.

Another positive upbeat post brought to you by the d-bag known as:

Bad Wigins wrote:

The mile is a has-been event. It is only run for nostalgic purposes at B-level meets where nobody will watch unless they can see someone "break the 4-minute mile." And at has-been meets like Oslo and Prefontaine, a meet in such sad shape it has two mile events.

What you should run is the 800, and you should do the running, as an 800 runner can be 185 pounds and still set world records like Juantorena.

Keep in mind that if you ever do break the world record, nobody will really know or care about it.

Wealthburg wrote:

A friend and I just hit the half century mark. Decided one of us should go for the age group record in the mile. Since he weighs 50 lbs. less than me, he has volunteered to make the attempt if I coach him. What are the American and World Records in the mile and what are your thoughts on this attempt?

So you know how to log into Letsrun i.e. use the www and you don't know what the world mile age-group record is for the 50-54 age group??!

Tony Young turned 50 last year (born 1962).

Adam C wrote:

Tony Young turned 50 last year (born 1962).

Hey, I'm the same age as Tony Young. I remember when he was close to running sub 4 in his early 40s.

My last track race was in 1985. Am I the only one who thinks it's easier to run under 5 minutes for a mile versus under 3 hours for a marathon at age 50?

Dammit, this thread has inspired me. I'm going to run under 5 minutes for the mile this summer. If I can do that then I'll go for a sub 3 hour marathon in the fall.

webfoot wrote:

My last track race was in 1985. Am I the only one who thinks it's easier to run under 5 minutes for a mile versus under 3 hours for a marathon at age 50?

Dammit, this thread has inspired me. I'm going to run under 5 minutes for the mile this summer. If I can do that then I'll go for a sub 3 hour marathon in the fall.

The 5 min mile at 50 yo requires more talent than a 3 hr marathon, and is therefore more difficult...for probably everyone.

subfive wrote:

Wealthburg wrote:

A friend and I just hit the half century mark. Decided one of us should go for the age group record in the mile. Since he weighs 50 lbs. less than me, he has volunteered to make the attempt if I coach him. What are the American and World Records in the mile and what are your thoughts on this attempt?

So you know how to log into Letsrun i.e. use the www and you don't know what the world mile age-group record is for the 50-54 age group??!

_________________________________________

Thanks for your sarcastic insight sub-five.

Yes, I could have used your approach but what I really wanted was some discussion on my guy's attempt.

Thanks for insulting me in front of LetsRun.com Nation. I will now weep accordingly. You should know by know that your pissing contests end w/ you drenched in your own urine.

Thank you to the other posters for your positive contributions. (not you bad wiggins)

_________________________________________

Hey Wealthburg, give us an occasional update on this thread how things are progressing with your buddy. I might post progress for my less ambitious sub-5 goal at age 50.

I was a mediocre college athlete, a 53.0 440 guy. I kept running at the 25-45mpw level after college. At age 45 my kids were old enough and my work was under control enough that I thought I would make a run at breaking 5:00 for the mile. I went to consistently running 45mpw with two mid-d workouts per week. At 47 I ran my 5k PR of 17:45 and was running miles in the 5:10-5:15 range. At 50 I ran several miles in the 5:02-5:05 range but never cracked 5:00. At that time I ran 26.7 for the 200 and 59.1 for 400. Someone more talented and able to put in a few more miles per week should be able to get well under 5:00 if they can stay healthy. I always found my limiting training factor was developing various overuse injuries (mostly achilles for me) with the intensity of mid-d workouts at that age.

I am about to turn 50 (so i hope your friend doesn;t lower that record too much) - after building up my milage to a level i never ran when younger (ave'ing 93 miles for a full year) and got my long run up to 30 miles (again something i had never even remotely touched as a youngster)...i have spend the last 2 years adding in some quality tempos and speed.

I have always enjoyed the tempos (they seem to come easy to me) mine have been as fast as 5:30 pace for 10 miles at the longest....so i got the quality mid-distance stuff going.

I found getting the pure speed took a lot more patience (not that it isnt't there or cannot be attained) but you have to start where you are and work slowly. I have had to pull up in the middle of a few workouts whenever i feel the slightest tighening (on occassions when i didn't pull up i ended up having to sit out a few days to a week)

in my workouts i may start out running as slow as :40 seconds on some of my 200 repeats (in fact, i find the slower i start is usually better = gives the body more time to prepare)...but by the end of the session i can get down to :30. Of course, it tooks many months to go from :32 to :30...i had to be patient and really worked on form and relaxation. I also don't try to go for huge volume on these days. I often shoot for about 12-15 X 200's and call it a day. I also like to block these into groups of 3 or 4. Recently i was building in longer sets and did something like 10X200 and then 8X200 and then 6X200 = that was too much for me.

i was also being helped by a master world record holder in the sprints (who got me to improve my stide a little) - that really seemed to help. Never too late to make changes

i only got one early season indoor meet in - running in a college meet...the young guys go out so fast they really don't want to get beat by an old man - but this makes racing hard. in my 1,000 i was in last place by 10 meter going out in 30.0 at the 200 (which was as fast as my fastest 200 in practice) and then died (we all died) to a 2:47. Not very good. came back in the mile at 4:50 an hour later. Not very pleased with the time, but under the conditions: it was a place start.

I would enourage your friend to look into a foam roller (to work out the legs)...this really seems to help keep the injuries at bay.

You guys do know that if Johnny Gray (b. 1960) wanted to he would set that record out of reach. At 40 he went 1:48. With the belief that speed goes away with age he has a lot more to loose than the rest of you knuckleheads.

As something for us young 50-year-olds to dream about, the world record for the 4x800m all-70's time was set at the 168th St. Armory on Tuesday by the Central Park TC group that I believe had the 60-year-old record too, set more than a decade ago. Time was right at 12:00. Not bad for old guys, and I'll probably never get another chance to run in a race where I can say my team beat another team as they set the world record. But maybe they'll all be back in 10 years to do it again.

Gray Matter wrote:

You guys do know that if Johnny Gray (b. 1960) wanted to he would set that record out of reach. At 40 he went 1:48. With the belief that speed goes away with age he has a lot more to loose than the rest of you knuckleheads.

The first thing Johnny Gray would have to want to do is lose about 50 lbs.

age ain't the problem - the problem is between the ears.

guy runs slow for years then is suprised that he can't run fast.

then he goes straight into harsh 200m intervals ands says - i can't believe the speed is not there anymore, or its so tough or whatever.

train like a gazel - not a slug.

you have to reeducate your leg muscles to be powerful, strong and flexible, duh.

train in the style of coe (BUT NOT JIM RYAN) - bring it up gradual and take double the time off and recovery of coe.

WEALTHBURG wrote:

Me thinks he can run 4:50 or so right now and w/ some more base and sharpening, could get under 4:30.

What do you folks think? Any of you Old Timers make a similar attempt? What was your experience? Trouble getting quickness back in the legs? Suggestions?

The key to be able to do this is avoiding the injuries. If he took a lot of time off he is in for a big surprise with injuries. The fast shorter (400-800's) intervals play havoc on an older runners as the muscles are not as elastic as they used to be.

Good luck

Wealthburg,

I attempted this last year and felt I was close until a health setback. FYI you can follow my progression on the 50+ masters training and racing thread.

I'd like to ask if your friend would consider picking up where I left off, as it looks like with his credentials he should have a good shot at it, and if Mike Blackmore doesn't get there first. Would he consider attempting the record to raise money and awareness for our cancer research fund, which is all about exercise and specific to no one cancer type, WorkOut Cancer?

In fact, it would be cool to see if we could get Mike Blackmore on board too to increase interest or wagering if you were to also use something like CharityBets and see who gets there first or do it in the same race like the Matesters Mile in Portland in June.

For me getting under 5:00 wasn't a problem, the next 20 seconds takes training, and the next 15 takes speed work and no injuries. Best luck with all of that to him. Running for a cause is a big motivator should motivation ever wane.

Our research fund website: workoutcancer.org

Thanks!

Ken Martin

3:57.84 mile

2:09.36 marathon

Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor

Follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient

Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma patient

Bone marrow transplant candidate

American College of Sports Medicine

International CardiOlogy Society, honorary

Hard Work doesnt do it anymore wrote:

The key to be able to do this is avoiding the injuries.

Good luck

This.

Same with whatever age you are, but more so the older you get. What was a couple of days for a minor injury becomes a couple of weeks.