This coming track season I have a goal of sub 4:00 in the 1500. I will use this thread for advise and motivation.PRs:800-2:00.56(last spring)1500-4:16(last spring)mile-4:40(last spring)5k-16:22(this fall)10k-36:00(this fall)h...
Congrats! I‘m so happy for you and it‘s incredibly impressive that you‘ve stuck with this pursuit. The goal is quite the feet for the more normal guy out here. It‘s been fun to follow your journy as I‘ve been after the same goal. Now I‘ll pursue it alone, but you‘ve definitely been an inspiration.
Elusive dreams sends the 5 minute barrier home DEVASTATED! Knew you had it in you from that fast solo TT (if I’m remembering correctly) you did a while back. Congratulations
Now go for sub 2:45 marathon. You got the speed. Just need the long runs. Start a new thread. You're one interesting fellow. Most people would have gave up a long time ago. Congratulations!
Congratulations! Not only did you stay dedicated to the task of the sub-5, but you kept the thread going all this time. Many such threads have died early deaths. Your persistence is truly admirable.
Now go for sub 2:45 marathon. You got the speed. Just need the long runs. Start a new thread. You're one interesting fellow. Most people would have gave up a long time ago. Congratulations!
Thanks again, everyone! To be honest, I don't know whether I'll ever race anything longer than the 8Ks that I did last fall. I loved competing in the sprints and middle distances, but racing the 3K and up either on or off the track just isn't my thing. It sounds strange, but I'd rather be a mid-pack 4:59 miler than a front of the pack 16:59 5K guy at the local turkey trot.
In high school, a few of my teammates had an "extreme endurance goal" (for lack of a better term). Some of them reached that goal by completing a marathon; others reached it by doing a 100-mile bike ride. But for me, I scratched that itch in 2020 when I did the Mt. Whitney dayhike (~22 miles, ~6200' elevation gain). The summit was nice, but for some reason, reaching it kind of makes me less motivated to run 26.2 miles on a fairly boring road.
My only running goals now are to stay healthy, maybe squeeze out a 1500 PR, and run a sub 60 400 for as many years as I can. I broke 60 for the first time in 2004 and usually run at least one sub 60 a year, but I can't call it a streak since I'm missing 2 or 3 years. Oh well, I'll settle for a 59" 400 at age 40.
Another guy says he did 30 miles/week and ran a 3:43.8 solo 1200m time trial with splits of 77.2, 75.1, and 71.5. The following week, he ran 4:59.9 for the full ~1609m. He also says that he's definitely a shorter mid-d guy with high school PRs of 1:59 in the 800 and 16:56 in the 5K. His training and fitness at the time of that post was roughly on the same level as the OP's mileage and 1200 TT yesterday. But the big difference is that the guy in that thread ran a 4:02 1500 in college. The OP was never at that level and has absolutely no chance of getting a 4:59.9 or better in the mile next week if he does race.
Agreed. The OP's slightly negative splits may look promising, but from what I've seen, you still need at least a 3:40 1200 to have any chance at sub 5 unless you're a heavily strength-based runner with not much speed. The only possible exception would be for those like poster "dawgs" in that thread who ran way under 5 before and is trying to do it again as a middle-aged adult.
Unless the OP ran that 3:42 in a blizzard, he has no hope of getting sub 5 either next week or the week after that. I'm willing to put significant money on that.
I've got to admit that I was proved wrong. Congrats!
This is my first comment in this thread, even though I've been following it for a while.
Way to go, dude, you've shred the barrier to pieces! Fortuitous as it may seem, I'm the same age as you and also have the same goal. You've really fired me up right now! Hope I can do the same this year, cheers.
Agreed. The OP's slightly negative splits may look promising, but from what I've seen, you still need at least a 3:40 1200 to have any chance at sub 5 unless you're a heavily strength-based runner with not much speed. The only possible exception would be for those like poster "dawgs" in that thread who ran way under 5 before and is trying to do it again as a middle-aged adult.
Unless the OP ran that 3:42 in a blizzard, he has no hope of getting sub 5 either next week or the week after that. I'm willing to put significant money on that.
I've got to admit that I was proved wrong. Congrats!
it's one of those few occasions it's great to be wrong. :D
Here’s the really good news you probably don’t know yet. Whenever you tell a non runner you ran a mile in 4 minutes and xx seconds, all they hear is “I ran a 4 minute mile.”. The seconds don’t matter. Try it out a few times and bask in your elite status.
Haha, love the new membership perks and the playlist for race day, congrats! As a fellow socal runner, really enjoyed reading your story.
I've been trying to figure out what other metrics might let me know I am in good enough shape for a 5 minute mile. Some digging around shows a threshold of 5'45" is needed, or roughly sub 18min 5k. In your experience is that accurate? I am still whittling away at my threshold to get it closer to that mark before I try sharpening up with shorter intervals to go for it.
Haha, love the new membership perks and the playlist for race day, congrats! As a fellow socal runner, really enjoyed reading your story.
I've been trying to figure out what other metrics might let me know I am in good enough shape for a 5 minute mile. Some digging around shows a threshold of 5'45" is needed, or roughly sub 18min 5k. In your experience is that accurate? I am still whittling away at my threshold to get it closer to that mark before I try sharpening up with shorter intervals to go for it.
If you're speed based, you don't need a sub 18 5K to get under 5 in the mile. I've been following this thread fairly closely but haven't seen anything in the OP's training logs that indicates that he was ever in sub 18 5K shape. I think his 3K PR was only a few seconds under 11, that's maybe good for a 18:5x 5K at best.
A while back, another poster here mentioned that he ran something like a mid 18 or a high 18 5K when he was in 4:4x mile shape. And then there's this guy, who could only run a 19:02 5K despite having PRs of 4:35 in the 1500 and 2:09 in the 800:
But if you're distance based, a sub 18 min 5K is pretty much a necessity. The IAAF tables list a 4:59.9 mile as being equivalent to a 17:1x 5000m (17:10 for men and 17:16 for women).
Congrats! I haven't checked this thread in probably a year, I think I figured you'd have given up after so long. Glad I clicked on it though to see that you just smashed it! I'm hoping to break 5 some day and the determination you've shown makes me think I can pull it off :) I'm finally getting back into running so hopefully I can stay consistent and figure out some training that works for me.
Just catching up with this thread. Wish I'd had your tenacity when I had the same goal back in my 40s. Well done!
Agreed, the OP delivered on this one! It's rare on these boards to see continuity and updates. We usually get threads that say "I just did workout X. Can I run time Y for distance Z?", and we never find out their race results.
Anyway, did you run sub 5 before your 40s? Even if you haven't, you can always go for an age-graded 4:59.
Just wanted to add that my mile race at 58 was the first (and only) mile race since 43 when I ran 5:07. Which actually was an age-graded "equivalent" to my high school time, now that I check.
OP: Congrats again. Hope to see more of your results in the future. Thanks for a great thread.
Quick follow up from my side, I've been averaging 35mpw for about 13 weeks now, and while progress has been great I'm a long ways off. I haven't attempted a 1 mile time trial yet, but pace calculators have me right at 6' and I gotta say that feels right. I'm at a 44' 10k while staying pretty well within myself in my tempo run. I thought I'd be a "speed" type runner given my HS performances in the 400, but at 34 it appears I've drifted firmly into the distance category. My sprint speed is still surprisingly good, but i'm just not ready to hold it for any significant time. Puts into perspective what an achievement this was for OP. I think I have 3 more months if progress stays pretty linear.
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