I ran a 4:58 1600m as a high school sophomore. Depending on the decimal point it might've converted to a sub-5 mile. In my book, it was a sub-5 mile.
During junior year XC, I developed some achilles issues that eventually ended my high school running career. Then due to repeated arch, calf, and hip problems in college, I gave up on running and switched to casual weightlifting and basketball.
Now I'm in my mid-20s and want to re-break 5. I'm still as injury prone as ever (mostly problems with both hips) so I'm going to try this while running only 3-4 days a week. I'm making this thread to document my training and to chat with anyone who's interested in following along or offering advice.
Here's what I've done so far:
May: During lifting sessions I did some strides just to get a feel for running again.
June 3: 6x400, ? s/rep, ? s rest — Moderate effort — Lifting B (3x6 single leg deadlift, 3x12 row, 3x6 overhead press, 3x15 pushup)
June 5: 6x400, ~90s/rep, 90s rest — Moderate effort — Lifting A (3x6 lunge, 3x6 overhead press, 3x15 pushup)
June 8: 3x1000, ? s/rep, 6m rest — Moderate effort — Lifting B.
June 10: 30m, 3.27mi, 9m10s pace — First time going for a continuous run in years. Felt like I was dying — Strides. Lifting A.
June 12: 8x200, ~38s/rep, 1m rest— Moderate effort — Lifting B.
June 14: 37m, 3.93mi, 9m25s pace — Much easier than 6/10, thank god — Strides. Lifting A.
June 16: 6x400, ~79s/rep, 90s rest — Moderate effort. Right calf a little tight — Lifting B.
I know the traditional wisdom is to start with base mileage, but my hips tend to give me trouble when I do longer runs, so I started with track work and am trying to gradually introduce more easy/moderate mileage as I go. Will possibly also reduce my lifting as I focus more on running.
I'm hoping to do a mile time trial within the next month or so, just for fun and to get an early benchmark. Will update this thread when I do that, or sooner. I think I need some new shoes also—my feet seem to have gotten a little bigger since I last ran regularly.
If you wanna chat or offer advice (besides run more), shoot. Please excuse my slowness (I'm a guy).