Sub 5 after 50?

For sure you can run sub-5! Keep that 200 speed and work on your endurance. Plus use this:
https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/ to figure out some training paces plus equivalent times. Plugging in your 18:32 there, it gives an equivalent of 5:25 for the mile, so you aren't far off! Get yourself in a mile race with others to run with, and you might even break 5 now...

hello and much success with the mission. the numbers have something fascinating (sub 5 after 50). apart from that, there is something physically stopping you from returning to previous fitness levels: it's age 50. it's hard to stay injury-free and and to train systematically. you can't ignore that. from my experience, you have to react creatively at the first signs of an injury, for example instead of forcing yourself to run do some high cadence spinning / cycling, uphill. get in one good speed workout weekly without overdoing at first. fast finish runs here and there are great.

your 5:45 mile time indicates that you may try to go sub 5 /1500m at first. pretty good at age 50.

Something about turning 50 "broke" me. I broke 5:00 at 48. Didn't run it at 49.

Turned 50- I couldn't handle the training to break 5:00. I managed to run 5:15 and 5:20 soon after turning 50 but never broke 5:00 again.

I'm 63 now and would love to break 6:00. = (

Totally empathize with this. I’m at 16:4X for 5k at 48 and a half, but the pace of the mile feels like a sprint. My 800 would be pathetic. It takes luck to stay healthy.

The short answer is yes, you can. Whether you actually do it or not is another question.

The fact you you run it before definitely shows you have the ability to do it.

You will need to be lucky and stay injury free in your training.

Lots of 1km interval sessions building up to goal pace with a low number of reps with full recovery should work.

Wouldn't go mad on the 400 sessions. Just the odd one maybe every 2 months to see how you feel at goal pace and faster. Again with full recovery and 6 reps is plenty for an older guy.

Run 2k at 3:30-3:20 pace at least once a week.

Start every session slower than you finish. Have a little bit of energy left after almost all your sessions that you haven't gone too deep.

Make sure you're not carrying too much weight.

Last of all run the mile every 2/3 weeks on your own to see where you're at.

If all goes well you'll get there this year or next.

Don't panic and the fitness will come!

When I was able to run 4:57 for 1600m at age 50, the last 2 months consisted of two track workouts/week

10 x 400 74-76 sec /60 sec rest or 3 x (4x300) in 54-56 with 34-36 sec 100m jog (90sec/lap)-- in between sets 3 minutes

3 x 1600m at 5:35-40/ 60 sec rest or 4 miles in 23:30

The rest of my runs were 7:30-8:00 runs to total 35-40 miles/week on 6 days

Anything more, I would get nagging injuries--getting old

Best of luck!

16:4x at age 48 is a top performance and sub 5 is well in the cards. stay healthy!

game over for me at age 52. i time trialed 1500m in a high 4:43 out of curiosity. no way i can break 5/mile again. should focus on my gravel bike and mountain hiking. :)

We can shake hands, i have a very similar time and age as you. Running sub 5 for a 50yo would be really amazing and great. No doubt about that.

But as someone mentioned, is it a good distance for us?

One problem with aging is the recovery time. We all know, the recovery time gets longer as older we get, especially for higher paces, like mile pace. So this is a problem. Also if you want to be good at 1600m you have to primarily focus on it. Is it worth it? Or is it better to focus more on 5k, 10k or half?

Weight is always a topic in running, a weak point for me.

Going down from 05:45 to below 05:00 is a long way. I am not sure if we can do that to be honest, assuming we train 7-8h/week. How much hours do you train on average per week?

The mile has always presented a disconnect -- mind vs body -- for me.

At 17, I figured 4:40 was in the bag, but never broke 4:45.

At 43, I assumed I could still break 5, even without specific training. I ran a few track races, and only managed 5:06.

Took 14 years off from racing.

At 57, I went to the local track, seriously planning to run 3 x mile at 6:00. Ha! Couldn't even do one. I was shocked.

A few weeks before turning 59, I figured 5:40 was possible. I had trained more seriously for a year, although nothing faster than 5K pace (raced 15K @ 59:59, marathon @ 3:07:23).

Signed up for a track mile -- 5:38.8. Finally!

i feel sorry to write the following nonsense but it's stronger than me...

why are so many people obsessed with the mile? 1609,344m, to be exactly. championship distance is 1500m. i have seen people running 4 laps (and not 4 laps plus crazy 9,344m) - and proud of their "mile" result. i know, it's a classic distance. if the choice is 1500m in 4:59 at age 50 or the mile in 5:19 at age 50 - honestly, i would prefer the 4:59/1500.

Personally, I've never had someone ask me how fast I can run the 1,500, but non-runners will ask me what I can run the mile in. Even other runners will ask mile time, obviously with the historical nature of the sub 4 minute, plus that's what is emphasized in news, etc.

Plus, I should add, I've never run a 1,500! We have the "Show Me State Games" here where I live, so I'm looking into running my first this year.

I'm at about 6 or 7 hours a week, 25 to 30 miles. But I'm ramping it up from doing 1 run a week most of last year. I've got 14 more lbs to lose and when I've done that and have been averaging 30 miles a week with two workouts weekly, I think I will be much closer to that 5 minute barrier! Went out last night with no warm up and did a 7:17, 6:32, and 6:29.

When you mention focusing on longer possibly, I'm still hopeful that with running 30 to 40 miles a week, but with some short/mile focused track workouts, that will translate well to running some fast 5k's and 10k's possibly?

you have a 4 year old and 10 month old at age 49?!

I tried and failed at this and I was sub 4 in my youth. I ended up with a 5.03 on the track and 5.02 on the road after turning 50. I did plenty of cross training and about 20 miles per week of running, going through plenty minor injuries, aches/pains and stiffness upon waking.
I’m 56 now and am planning another come back when I get close to 60. Keen to try the new super shoes.

If you have to ask, then your time might be better spent on r/running.

you are right. in my country (and the neighboring countries), hardly anyone is interested in the mile, that's the reason why i ran 1500m (4:34 at age 51). it will be exciting for me how long i can run in the 50+ category 1500m in 4:xx. the post from "tried and failed" shows that the most important factor is to stay healthy.

For 1600m and 5k (or mile or 1500m :)) you need also some anaerobic capacity. Less so with the 10k+ as it is more aerobically. So i would say 1k6 and 5k is good transferable, and 10k a little bit less.

But we should not forget we are hobby athletes, and should pick the distance we have the most fun or best challenge or whatever ...

I like that list it motivates me to create my own list.

"High intensity + high mileage."

Thanks man. I was wanting a new boat!