Sub 5 after 50?

Had my first attempt yesterday and it was a big failure, so I've been
hesitant to post this update! The short of it, ran a 5:50 so I'm a long, long
ways off from where I need to be. Can't lie and say that there isn't a part of
me that questions whether I can still do it. But not ready to write this off
quite yet!

Now for my excuses and how I'm rationalizing to myself that running 5:50
isn't truly representative of my current ability. I fell last Sunday, my 50th
birthday, as I was running in the rain from awning to awning with my 4 year old
when she cut in front of me. Trying to avoid knocking her over led to my face
planting on a concrete sidewalk narrowly avoiding going head first into a
retaining wall. Two bloody knees and multiple bloody toes later (I was wearing
flip flops), I had a sore back and a rough night of sleep ahead of me. That
morning, May 14th, I had started my 50th birthday out by running a 5 mile tempo
run targeting 3 KOMs on Strava followed by a track workout.
Following the fall that evening, I took a day off to recover and gingerly
returned with a slow recovery run on Tuesday. After another recovery run
Wednesday, I raced a 7 mile trail race on Thursday, part of a series in
which I was tied for 3rd overall. It was the final race of a six race series
and I finished 4 OA in the race locking up my 3rd OA position in the
series.

Mixed in last week were two days with insulation jobs, Tuesday and Thursday.
Tuesdays job was only around 3 hours in an attic with only loading/blowing
around 30 or so 30lb bags of cellulose. But despite the small size of the job,
I found my chest to be extremely sore afterwards. Following Thursdays much
bigger job where I spent over 8 hours crawling around in multiple levels
blowing in over 50 bags plus other work, my chest was extremely sore. I questioned
how that job would affect my trail race, but was able to race and perform
adequately. But since that day, breathing deeply hurts and coughing is agonizing.
Apparently I must have done some internal bruising or cartilage/ligament damage
during my fall a week ago and my work has exacerbated things!
As if this all isn’t enough for an excuse, Sunday morning comes around and
in the process of wrangling two kids under 5 to church, I left an important bag
in the garage. I was wearing my running clothes under my church clothes and had
an old pair of racing flats on that I would warm up in prior to putting on my “cheater
shoes” or my Nike VaporFly 2’s. We arrive at the race site with 30 minutes to
spare when I where I discover I was missing my bag along with my VaporFlys, heart
rate monitor and GPS watch! Not enough time to go home and get it, so I ran with what I had...

That is the whole long story with multiple excuses in there! I honestly
believe I’m closer to 5:30 shape which is still a long ways off from sub 5.
Regardless, proof is in the numbers, not what I believe.

There was one Missouri state 1 mile record set by my family yesterday. My
four year old daughter only had to complete the mile to get the record. A bit
of a mix-up led to running the first half completely alone which she found
really upsetting so when I had finished and run to her around the same time my
wife with our 2 year old in a stroller had met up with her, she was crying and would only
walk the rest of the way. So the MO state record on a records eligible 1 mile
course for a 4 year old female is going to be 18:36! Easy mark for the younger
child to take down in 2 years…

Hi, thanks for the update. Other nearby mile races you can look into later:

-Ad Astra Mile - Lawrence, KS - this year was on St Patrick's Day before the parade in Lawrence

-Grand Blue Mile - Des Moines - late April

-KC Metro Mile Championship - coming up June 8 this year - appears to be a track mile, not road

Not familiar with the Macklind but based on recent results looks like good depth! Good luck!

Thanks for the reply and race suggestions! I might check some of them out, but I do have a few other Missouri mile races I'm targeting:

July 4th Firecracker Mile in Sedalia, MO

December 30th Run for the Ranch in Springfield, MO

Late February One and Done Cape Girardeau, MO

So besides breaking 5, I really would like to get a MO state record so the race has to be in MO. I did have a really promising workout this past Sunday. 5x300 at current mile fitness, 1/2 mile easy jog, then 5x300 at goal mile pace. 1:05, 1:07, 1:05, 1:04, 1:04 then 55, 54, 54, 56, 56, easy 100 jog between the first 5, 200 between the second 5. Encouraging as I know I need to be able to easily run 1:15's for 400s and the second set of 300's let me know I still have the leg speed to do that, just need to keep up the training!

Before next attempt suggest you do a mile predictor workout or a mile TT

You really need something to tell you where you are at in favorable conditions.

You go into the next attempt with that 5:50 in your head it will work against you.

My favorite mile predictor is a 1200 TT . Shoot for under 3:45.

Great to see the update. I made it to 5:13 at 56, 58 now but too dangerous for me to continue, injuries, and I'd rather run 5:20 to 30 most anytime then always limping around. I found weight training, squats, lunges, jumps, etc. were helpful to build up the leg power you will need. It's a long way from 5:20 to sub 5 is all I can tell you once you even get to that point. Keep us updated every once in awhile although age is going to grow as your main obstacle. Vicarious interest from another old runner.

now that i see an actual OP replying--even a year later--i figure you mean business. that's important. i'm 55 and sub-5, and while i come from a pretty good open pedigree in my youth, i still think it's possible for many, but requires a fairly serious commitment. my advice:

1) find teammates if possible.

2) set smaller benchmarks a month apart--could be any distance--and work towards them. prepare to readjust as you go. focus more on process than result.

3) have a weekly benchmark workout--could be a track workout that you do every other week to see progress, could be a tempo run that you do every week to see progress. be prepared, though, at times for two steps forward/one step back.

4) the side-effects of life are more real, and more prominent, with every year. as a h.s. coach, i used to be able to coach at an all-day track meet then run a race myself and do just fine when i was in my 40s. now, if i have a busy week of work i'm finding it affects my races more often. or maybe i'm evolving (devolving) into an excuse-making wu$$. or maybe a little of both. can't be sure.

5) since charlie just posted above, i figure i'll offer a suggestion i've taken from his book: eat a raw beet every day. i've had 18 months of pretty good health and fitness since i've done this.

6) do some fast strides/speed every day after your easy day runs. you can vary how you do it: my go to's are: 10x100 with every 3rd one fast; or, 3x150 "buildups" on a track, with first 50 jog/accelerate out of the turn to approximate mile race pace for 50, then last 50 hard, walk 150 back; or, 3x200 (200 jog), first one at mile pace, second at 800 pace, third at 400 pace. i suspect most of "the risk" older distance runners are afraid of stems more from lack of consistent speed work. personally, i've gotten injured more often from sporadic speed work, and less often from consistent daily speed. use it or lose it.

hope this helps,

cush

when you can do 8x400, 1 min rest, in 1.15 or under average, you can run a sub 5 min mile. until then, you probably can. do that workout every 2 weeks until you get there

my dad broke 5 at 50 so it is possible, 30-45 mpw and I think he did the same 2 workouts every week, 200s @75 and some kind of tempo just under 6:00.

I may have missed it somewhere in the thread, but what's your training like?

Thanks for all the replies and interest for those who have posted since my last update! I should have responded/replied to many of your posts weeks ago, but life gets away from me, especially as a 50 year old with a 4 year old and two year old girls! Socalcush, you mentioned Charlie writing a book and you got me curious, what is the title of the book?

Since my last post, I won a 5k with a 19:10 on June 10th. Kind of a solo effort, led for the first mile with a 6:03, got passed about a quarter mile later, but then that runner stopped at the turn around and stretched allowing me to take the lead back and hold him off while running a 6:15 and then 6:24. The 19:10 didn't inspire me into thinking a sub 5 was in reach, but it was over a minute faster than the previous year and I had some good track workouts following the race.

This past Saturday was the Macklind Mile and I managed to run a 5:09! Not quite to sub 5, but definitely headed in the right direction and a full 17 seconds faster than last year. Next up is the Firecracker Mile July 4th in Sedalia MO which looks to be pancake flat. I'll do a track workout Thursday AM, maybe I'll try a ladder to 1200 and try to hit 3:45 on that 1200...

One I believe I have in me still, sub-60 400m.

Another, I would need imperial to metric conversion, I get disoriented doing turns, swimming. Maybe sub-whatever, 50m splash & day in a 50m pool.

50m swim would be tough.

sorry, i was using the term "from his book" figuratively. i just took his advice and started eating raw beets every day. you may want to look at the over 50 training/racing thread--lots of information, maybe even too much...

Keep up the consistency. You're almost there.

That makes sense! I visited that thread, last two pages of it and saw your incredible mile run of 4:39, congrats on that!!! wow, I'm now trying to figure out where I can find raw beets! Do you eat them like an apple? No doubt there is a lot more to your run than eating raw beets, that might be the easiest part of your regimen... Very long thread, I'll have to slowly pick through some of it.

I also have quite a few running books on my shelf, but I'm much better at collecting them than reading them!

We have the "Show Me State" games coming up towards the end of July, I might have a crack at the 400 myself there. I've never raced a real 400 race, I can currently run a 1:10 or so on my own while training for my mile racing, would be curious to see what I can do in an actual 400 race.

triathlete guru, I am psyched to see your progress. I ran 4:20 1500m at 39 and ran some good races at 45, 2:38 marathon, 55:46 10M, 33:38 10k, but am now 54 and have not had any quick races in 9 years because of recurring calf problems and other issues (just over 3 flat in 2021 for a marathon, while injured, was the last race). I have pain and a tight band on the inside of my left knee but have been able to run around 100 mpw. The problem is that I am so tight every morning that it takes me miles to get down even below 8 minute pace. I have access to a track where I am now for the next month and I am going to alternate track workouts with 400m hill sprints to try to get down as close to 5 minute shape as possible. I started very slowly today. I was so stiff that I ran 200m in 47 seconds, then 43 and 42 after a 2M warmup. Then I ran 3x1600m in 6:23, still bad, 6:15, feeling a little looser, then 6:03, closing in 88. So, it looked terrible but I was already dropping 20 seconds for the mile by the end. Previously, I've been able to drop from this level on my first track workout to the high 5:30s on mile repeats within a couple weeks. I am doing walking lunges and body weight squats to work on the leg problem and the calf issues that always come up with speed.