Mile run wager

Middle aged wannabe runner wrote:

During an alcohol fueled conversation recently I was challenged to run a mile in under 6:00. Another guy involved who runs a fair amount told me to hit a track and run ten 400's in 90 seconds, starting a new rep every three minutes for simplicity sake. He said the difficulty of this workout would determine how close I am to winning this bet. I finished the workout but it was very difficult. I don't have much time to train with the challenge on saturday. So am I close, and would doing this same workout today or tomorrow provide any benefit?

Now to Saturday gives you 0 useful time to train, but if you want a sense of where you stand, I suggest running 800m hard, 400m jog/rebuild, 400m hard. If you keep the 800m under 3 flat, the jog/rebuild under, say, 2:10 and the last 400m under 1:30 you've got a shot.

Is the actual mile on Saturday on a track or is it a road mile? If on a track, is it the full 1609.xxm or is it "just" 1600m?

Middle aged wannabe runner wrote:

During an alcohol fueled conversation recently I was challenged to run a mile in under 6:00. Another guy involved who runs a fair amount told me to hit a track and run ten 400's in 90 seconds, starting a new rep every three minutes for simplicity sake. He said the difficulty of this workout would determine how close I am to winning this bet. I finished the workout but it was very difficult. I don't have much time to train with the challenge on saturday. So am I close, and would doing this same workout today or tomorrow provide any benefit?

3 minutes of rest is WAY too much downtime. Most folks say about 90 seconds of rest or even jogging a lap between 400s is the best thing to do. Doing 400 meter repeats in HS we would get 90 seconds of rest and we'd be able to do 12-16 400s at slightly faster than what we run in the 1600.

I read the OP to mean he was starting the repeats 3 minutes apart, which is to say taking about 90 seconds of standing rest between 400m pickups that were taking him about 90 seconds, so "going on the 3 minutes" rather than taking 3 minutes rest.

p.s. to the OP: if you're going to do anything hard before Saturday, I suggest doing it today.

The guy gave you good advice about the 10x400. It should feel difficult if you are around 6:00, which you seem to be. Do a another session of say, 8x200 in 40-ish, with some strides (5x100) reaching near top speed today, if you want to get something in to sharpen a bit (creates muscle tension for springier legs on Saturday).

Make sure you do at least one 400 at 90 before the "race" in order to dial into the pace, and keep the race as even as possible, even negative split.

Thank you for the replies. I started a new rep every 3 minutes so about 90s rest. It will be done on a track and the antagonist made sure to remind me that we would be stepping off 9 meters to make it a legit mile.

I'll go out tonight and hit one of the two workouts mentioned here then hope for the best Saturday. By the way, there were also side bets being thrown around about how fast i could do a 400. I think we finally negotiated a 70 second lap as the over/under. With my size and sporting background i am stronger in the shorter distance but have no idea how fast I could do this. I had friends bet both sides of it. Will probably have to do that one the following saturday.

Middle aged wannabe runner wrote:

Thank you for the replies. I started a new rep every 3 minutes so about 90s rest. It will be done on a track and the antagonist made sure to remind me that we would be stepping off 9 meters to make it a legit mile.

I'll go out tonight and hit one of the two workouts mentioned here then hope for the best Saturday. By the way, there were also side bets being thrown around about how fast i could do a 400. I think we finally negotiated a 70 second lap as the over/under. With my size and sporting background i am stronger in the shorter distance but have no idea how fast I could do this. I had friends bet both sides of it. Will probably have to do that one the following saturday.

Got it. Few quick comments / questions:

-Has anything been said about a pacer? Could definitely be a big help if allowed.

-I'd suggest targeting splits along the lines of 88/90/92/88 = 5:58.

-If you've never run a mile for time before, be prepared to have to fight like hell to maintain pace through the third quarter. If you can get to 1209m right around 4:30 you should be ok. What you DON'T want to do is go out in, say, 80 and fall apart. Probably a good idea to wear a watch and if you hit 209m under 43 to settle back a little bit. On the other hand, as soon as you see a 200m split that's over 46, it's time to start trying to dial up the effort.

Good luck - looking forward to hearing how it goes.

No rules against a pacer, but I'm not going to use one. Was pretty spot on 44-45 during the workout so I should be ok. I'll be sure to start conservatively. I'm actually less concerned about winning the bet than I am about how it's going to feel trying to win the bet. Thanks for the tips, I'll post an update when I can.

All good - looking forward to hearing more.

p.s. did you end up doing one last workout today, and if so, how did it go?

Middle aged wannabe runner wrote:

I'll be sure to start conservatively.

Bad idea. You gain nothing in a mile time trial by starting slow. Go out in about 85, hang on for two slower laps and then kick.

If you don't consume caffeine, consume some about 30 minutes beforehand. It's legal. 50% of speed is in the CNS.

Did a workout but nothing informative. Was traveling, and it was 97F and didn't know where a track was. Hit a club and got on a treadmill. For simplicity sake I just alternated 90 seconds at 10mph with 90 seconds at 4mph ten times. Wasn't that hard. At the end of rep 9 I just kept going for another 90 seconds in order to get off the damn treadmill sooner.

Good advice given so far... I think the biggest thing is effort...the third lap will be where you have to force yourself to push hard, and the last lap is where you can "see" the end, and the pain is less noticeable....I agree with going out conservatively, since you haven't been training, going out just a bit too hard could really kill the rest of the race for you....But sounds like you have a decent chance at getting under 6, the trouble will likely be having no one to chase down or run with.

Good luck! Post how you end up!

I made it. 5:50-51. Just tried to run as close to 6:00 pace as possible the whole time knowing I could drop under the last 200m. With a lap to go was right on pace and then did a 80-81 final lap.

nicely done! impressive kick and a good job of pacing. Enjoy the win

Dave

awesome - CONGRAT.S!

Awesome run! Congrats!

Wow...an entire advice thread that remained civil, with good advice well-taken, and a positive result. A letsrun first!

Good going Dave, what did you win?