I assume that the most anyone has ever done would be 2 just through competition (prelims+finals). But how long could someone keep up a sub-4 minute mile streak?
I assume that the most anyone has ever done would be 2 just through competition (prelims+finals). But how long could someone keep up a sub-4 minute mile streak?
I think this has been talked about here a long time ago...don't know what the result was. I think you have to allow 1500m conversions if you want anything that might resemble a streak of more than 2 ...
If there was a competitive mile race every day until they no longer can break 4?
It’d have to be 5 to 10 days for 3:46 mile type of guys?
Someone like El G, Bekele, Farah etc could do a significant amount of days in a row I would assume. The slowest of the 3 mentioned above is Bekele at roughly a 3:50 mile however his 5k pace was like 4:02/3 per mile and his 3k pace was slightly under 4:00 per mile.
My point is that a 3:59 mile would not be overly taxing for these elite athletes. It’s also worth noting Farah has went 3:59 in a workout and then done a 1200/800/400 after.
One mile at 3 to 5K pace isn't that easy. But if you only do one rep and are a seasoned pro athlete who can spend the rest of the day recovering you would probably be able to go on like that forever. I'd bet the streak would be over when Bekele would slip past 4:00 due to some reason not directly related to accumulated fatigue, like accidentally swallowing an insect.
nonary ant wrote:
One mile at 3 to 5K pace isn't that easy. But if you only do one rep and are a seasoned pro athlete who can spend the rest of the day recovering you would probably be able to go on like that forever. I'd bet the streak would be over when Bekele would slip past 4:00 due to some reason not directly related to accumulated fatigue, like accidentally swallowing an insect.
+1
Agreed! I think most sub-4 milers would be able to go at least 3 days in a row (given a prelim/final race setting). But with a group of 3:45-3:55 milers and given a solid recovery over the next 24hrs after the race they might be able to stretch the streak for 1-2 weeks.
In July/August of 1997, Komen was setting PBs and WRs almost weekly. His ability to race at such a high level, and so frequently, makes me think that he was the most capable person for this challenge. My guess is 20 days for him in 1997.
The Light Wave would help a ton. You would want to be as close to 3:59.99 as possible, but if you hit 4:00.00 and needed to take another crack at it later in the day, that would be very hard to come back from.
dfjkdfbsvbv wrote:
In July/August of 1997, Komen was setting PBs and WRs almost weekly. His ability to race at such a high level, and so frequently, makes me think that he was the most capable person for this challenge. My guess is 20 days for him in 1997.
The Light Wave would help a ton. You would want to be as close to 3:59.99 as possible, but if you hit 4:00.00 and needed to take another crack at it later in the day, that would be very hard to come back from.
Cheptegei just averaged 60.4 for 12.5 lap. In peak shape, going to the track and running 1 mile slightly faster than 5k pace for him would end up being how long can he retain fitness while only running a mile a day. Not the fatigue part.
3 Weeks easy at a minimum. Could be something a lot longer.
odds wrote:Cheptegei just averaged 60.4 for 12.5 lap. In peak shape, going to the track and running 1 mile slightly faster than 5k pace for him would end up being how long can he retain fitness while only running a mile a day. Not the fatigue part.
3 Weeks easy at a minimum. Could be something a lot longer.
He could probably run the mile at 3:58 or 3:59 then do a short warm down. After about 20 minutes then head out on an easy 5 mile run or something like that and call it a day. The next day get up and do the same thing.
Us mere mortals could relate to it more this way. Say a 15:40-15:50 5000 meter runner going out and running a 4:59 mile. It shouldn't be too taxing on the body. Then go out and run a 5 mile run afterwards.
I feel like Cheptegei could do one 3:59 mile every day of his life, probably.
Im-not-a-scientist wrote:
nonary ant wrote:
One mile at 3 to 5K pace isn't that easy. But if you only do one rep and are a seasoned pro athlete who can spend the rest of the day recovering you would probably be able to go on like that forever. I'd bet the streak would be over when Bekele would slip past 4:00 due to some reason not directly related to accumulated fatigue, like accidentally swallowing an insect.
+1
Agreed! I think most sub-4 milers would be able to go at least 3 days in a row (given a prelim/final race setting). But with a group of 3:45-3:55 milers and given a solid recovery over the next 24hrs after the race they might be able to stretch the streak for 1-2 weeks.
I am not sure if doing 1 mile at ~3k pace/day is enough to stay in peak shape. I have a feeling that over 3-4 weeks you would slowly detrain a bit. If your mile potential goes from 3:50 to say 3:55, the odds of hitting an off day when you run 5-6s slower than max and failing to break 4 goes way up. My wild guess is about 3 weeks for some sub 350 guy...
My guess is he will be unable to go sub-4 after age 45, probably before.
Bekele seldom raced the 1500; he was certainly capable of <3:30 at his track best.
6 days! You’re welcome for being the only poster so far to actually answer the question
4-minute endurance wrote:
I assume that the most anyone has ever done would be 2 just through competition (prelims+finals). But how long could someone keep up a sub-4 minute mile streak?
At least a year, if it was a top athlete with this sole focus. Even a sub-3:55 mile I think El Guerrouj could have kept up for a month or more.
Juice Springsteen wrote:
6 days! You’re welcome for being the only poster so far to actually answer the question
I would guess more than 6 days. I'll put my guess at about 30 days. It could be even more though.
Assumption: The person is capable of running well under 4:00 to start, so they would never need a second attempt to get under 4:00 for the first several days.
Option 1: They pretty much only run this 1 mile time trial per day. Eventually they would start to lose some fitness and endurance because they're not running very much.
Option 2: They continue relatively normal training while also doin a 1 mile time trial every day. The rest of the training load would make the time trial really difficult some days and it would be harmful for recovery days.
I think any prime superstar in the 1500-10k could do this for a year straight with pacers and wave lights. The only interesting aspect of this challenge would be structuring the rest of their training to maintain fitness. I imagine that doubling with a 5-10 mile easy run most days and a 4-5 mile tempo once per week would be decent. Maybe toss in the occasional post-race workout while being careful not to dig too deep and ruin the next day's sub-4 effort. The main challenge would be maintaining fitness while doing something that would normally be considered disruptive to proper training.
I vote for 30 days. Hard to stay fit and not get injured when running a sub 4 minute mile every day. He did say sub 4, not 4:01. So if the guy tries to cut it close, he will have a day where he falls asleep unless he has wavelight.