Sub 4 in my 30s? Train me.

You won’t break 4:00 but you can significantly improve your 5/10 times.

Sub 4 is going to require 50 / 1:50 speed. Are you going to develop that, plus 60-ish-plus mpw, starting at age 34? Given that it would take 2-4 years from current fitness, yikes, that's a tall order my friend :)

Having said that - I'd suggest looking up "Joe Rubio’s Fundamental Training Principles for the Competitive 1500m Runner" and start there.

It's possible, but will be close. You'd have to give it your all and even then it probably won't happen. So you have to decide how bad you wanna try. You're gonna have to get back to your college PR shape which is gonna take at least a year and a half? Probably longer. Then from that point, you're going to need to take another 30 seconds off of your 5k time (around that), to have a chance of going sub 4.

You might find it quite easy to get back to fitness if you stayed in reasonable shape, but there's a big difference between being in reasonable shape and being in 14:30 5k shape. Anyways, gl

If you aren’t getting paid to run , you won’t hit it with a 4:09 pr. I’m not trying to demean you but it won’t happen.

Helium balloon attached to you.

I think 50/150 are faster than what would be necessary for a more strength based runner (I think probably 52/153 would get me close, still a very tall order)

Thanks! I think this is a good summary of the situation and what it would take

Right - so then, you are looking at needing to improve on your old distance PRs. That means, starting at age 34, getting mileage up to something like 80+ and dropping 5k fitness to significantly sub 14:30, while improving current 400m to at least 52 flat.

Or - maybe it's not as bad as all that. Given that you were training for and running a variety of distances, perhaps a simple focused approach might give you a shot. Something like -

Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri easy doubles AM/PM 45 min

Wed - Either tempo run or 1K repeats (alternate them). Starting at 20' tempo and gradually lengthen to 30'. Start at 5 x 1000m with 200m jog and increase it up to 8 x 1000m. 4-6 x 100m hard accelerations after. Alternate one week of that with one week of something like a 10-mile progression run: 8 mi steady pace, 2 miles hard. So, cycling thru tempo, progression run, K's, progression run, repeat.

Sat - alternate something speedy like 6 x 200m hills with long 5 min rec (plus drills/weights/plyos) with a classic mile-specific progression starting with 3 x (4 x 400m r1) r5) then 10 x 400m r90" then 8 x 400m r1

Sun - off, old timer gonna need a rest day :)

Maybe something like this, focused for a year with a taper/peak, repeated for 2-3 years could get you there. It ain't fancy, but I think it covers the basics. Just an idea from a nobody, hope this helps!

Love it!

Biggest hurdle will be staying healthy and motivated. You'll likely gain a ton of fitness very quickly, but then plateau for a while. Staying motivated through that period won't be easy, especially around a full time job, wife, kids, etc.

But physically? Still plenty capable at 34 years old I'd say.

Wow, no way. It's easy to post can I do it, but 4:09 when you were likely 100% into running vs 12 years later, no group to train with, and you are going to go from 4:09 to sub 4 when maybe you can run 4:30 at the moment? These are the thoughts of folks who run a bit, get back into ok 4:30 shape and think with more training, I could be better than ever if I just trained more. Not to discourage the effort, but dreams and reality 99% of the time don't coincide. You get back to sub 4:10, then maybe, and it's a big maybe, you might be forgiven such thoughts. Still, I applaud all efforts to find one's limits regardless of age.

Don’t forget this is letsrun- where our dreams DO become reality! But yes I’m in agreement, it’s a very tall ask but I also wasn’t the most dedicated runner in college thus some of my “unfinished business” feelings

this is an interesting thread… I am 65/35 on this, favoring you breaking your PR… I think given your age that you have more strength, and focus than you did in college… but getting back in to fitness will take time but not impossible… I would also suggest hiring a coach to plan your workouts and hold you accountable… good luck and keep us updated…

Your problem is going to be staying healthy doing the work required to crack 4. Of course, you’ve got super shoes to help you out in recovery and less of a beat down on your body.

Nick Willis has some standards that indicate readiness, search them up. I don't think you need a ton of mileage. One element was a sub 12 flying 100.

Its going to be tough but can be done. A few years back I was trying to get back into strong fitness at around 31 years old. I had zero issue running 15:10-15:20 for a road 5k. At 32 however the wheels fell off and had I been training seriously I would have probably died I have a heart condition. Don't run anymore but do a lot of Stairmaster. First thing you need to do if you are going to really hit the training hard get the Okay from a doc let him know what your intentions are and make sure you are good to go for the effort and training that you will need to do in order to crack 4:00. A little over a decade ago a rival of mine had me by about 13 years and broke 4:00 for the first time at around 37 or 39 years of age. Today more and more men over 40 are running sub 4:00 miles. Reyes Esteves from Spain is close to 50 and ran something like a 28:57 10,000m last year.

Who are these more and more men over 40 breaking 4:00?

No chance you can do this. Agree that he might have more strength and focus but I think it’s impossible to overemphasize how we were able to devote ourselves almost completely to running while in college. It was the only thing that really mattered. We structured everything in our lives around workouts and races. Our team was our peer group. You can never get the support network and commitment back unless, as someone said above, you’re getting paid to run.

It's not happening. Just enjoy exercising, find a balance in life and enjoy your health.