by Robert Johnson
October 17, 2022
We at LetsRun recently received an email from a Supporters Club member that got right to the point.
Hi Team!
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I just joined the LRC Supporter’s Club and I’m curious if you have a 12-week program for my attempt at running a sub-5 minute mile…as a 50-year-old.
Ran a 4:12 mile back in my day and now I want to see what I can still do.
A SC membership normally comes with a 12-14 week base building plan but we decided to help him out and have agreed to coach him individually and let Suupporting Club members follow the journey as he goes for sub-5 at 51.
Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell‘s sub-5 at 51, our 51-year-old wannabe hero was a former D1 runner with a 4:12 mile PR. He describes himself as a “current advertising copywriter/former D1 dime-a-dozen mid-distance guy wanting to run a ‘fast mile’ (which will be a) cheaper mid-life crisis than buying a sports car.”
Married for 23 years, he has two kids who are now in college (Go Ducks!). As for his own college career, he reports he was the 5th/6th/7th guy in xc which he notes is “way more stressful than being #1 guy” which is indeed true and something we hadn’t really thought about.
I always say that everything in life has to average out to be average by definition and that is certainly true in this case as 23 years ago his marriage was counteracted by the fact he was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic.
In terms of odds that he breaks 5:00, he wrote back, “ 50/50. Odds sub 5 is still possible on these legs.”
We sent him a set of questions about his current fitness and here’s how he replied.
What has your training been like recently, if any?
After about a decade hiatus from running (raising kids, working, etc.) I started to run consistently again when the Covid lockdown hit 2.5 yrs ago.
For the last year, I’ve been running about 26-32 miles/wk.
My weekly routine for the past month has been:
Mon = easy 4 miles @ 9ish min pace
Tue = easy 4 miles @ 9ish min pace
Wed = 2 mile tempo run @ 6:30ish pace w/ 1.5 mile warm-up & 1.5 mile cool-down
Thur = easy 4 miles @ 9ish min pace
Fri = easy 4 miles @ 9ish min pace
Sat = variety of track repeats that equal 1 mile (e.g., 8x200s, 4x400s, 2x800s) w/ 2 mile warm-up & 2 mile cool-down
Sun = rest day or easy 6 miles @ 9ish min pace
What’s your longest run in the last month?
6 miles
What pace do you do on your easy days?
Around 9 min/mile pace. If I’m listening to a letsrun.com pod, it can dip to 8:30 pace.
What workouts if any have you been doing? Do you do anything to maintain your speed?
For the past month, I’ve been doing two workouts per week.
On Wednesdays I do a 2 mile tempo run @ 6:30ish pace.
On Saturdays I hit the track to get some “speed” work in. Here’s what my last 4 track workouts looked like:
– 4×400 w/ 100 slow walk rest between. 400s = 78, 74, 73, 71
– 10×200 w/ 100 slow walk rest between. 200s = 35-36
– Progressive Sets (Set 1: 2×150+200, Set 2: 2×150+300, Set 3: 2×150+400 w/ 200 jog b/w 150s + 400 jog b/w sets). 150s = 27-29, 200 = 37, 400 = 69
– 1×1600 (was curious how comfortable a 6 min mile <technically 1600> felt. Splits were 89, 91, 92, 84. Got a little carried away the last 400, but wanted to make sure I hit sub 6.
If you went out and ran a 5k today, what time do you think you’d do? What about the mile?
5k guess = high 19, low 20
1 mile guess = 5:30ish
How many days per week do you want to run? How much mileage do you think you can handle and / or have time for?
I always have an internal debate if I should run easy or rest on Sundays. Assuming we up the mileage on my easy week days, I think my legs would like me better if I take Sundays off. (Side note: my wife and I often take a 5-6 mile walk on Sundays.)
Are you injury prone? What injuries have you been struggling with?
I’m not injury prone, but when I tried to get in shape for this Sub 5 attempt a year ago when I was 50 (I’ll turn 51 this coming November) my calves locked up on me during a couple of track workouts. I haven’t had the problem since then, thanks to more hydration, longer warm-up runs, longer pre-track workout routines, better stretching, and daily rolling of the calves.
What type of workouts do you like to do?
I like track repeats, e.g. quarters. I also like some track variety, e.g. ladders. Haven’t done fartleks in years, but I like those, too.
What type of workouts do you struggle with?
I struggle with tempo runs, especially by myself. I think this is why I like the mile…less distance to have to talk myself into keeping going. I also have Type 1 diabetes which makes it challenging over longer distances. Even though I have the latest equipment to help regulate my blood sugar, the stress of running hard (tempos and track workouts) wreaks havoc with my system, so I’m rarely in the “normal” blood sugar zone. Translation: my energy level usually isn’t optimal when running hard, but I’ve learned to deal with it.
What’s the most you’ve ever run in your life?
26.2. I’ve run three marathons: Twin Cities (MN) ’95 = 2:59:50, Boston ’96 = 3:0something…probably set a record for most high 5s along the course, Humboldt Redwoods (CA) = another 2:59:50 to force another nerve-wracking final 400m sprint. By the way, I loved Frank Shorter’s quote during his interview with Wejo and Jonathan last week. “At mile 22 I said ‘why couldn’t Pheidippides have died here?'” I hear ya, Frank.
Where do you live? What’s the weather and terrain like for running? Do you have access to a track? Trails for long runs, etc?
I live in Manhattan Beach, CA (near LA), so the weather is usually comfortable…though the higher temps and humidity lately aren’t so nice.
The closest track is a 2 mile run from my home and there’s a beautiful 4-mile wood-chip path (similar to Pre’s Trail) that I use for longer runs, so I don’t have an excuse not to run.
LetsRun.com coaching guru John Kellogg has devised the first four weeks of training and we have started to chronicle his quest for sub-5 on our SC forum.
MB: Can he do it? Can a 50+ former 4:12 guy go sub-5:00 for his mid-life crisis?
When I asked John Kellogg about the whole sub-5 attempt, here is what he had to say.
“I know this is being as non-committed as you can possibly be, but I think 50-50 is actually about right if he’s trying to do it in less than s year. If he can hold up through the training and he’s willing to put in the work for more than a year, given that pretty solid 4:12 PR from BITD, I”d put the odds at better than 75%.”
“All runners need to stay in touch with short speed all the time but when you approach 50, you have to really work hard on your speed to get any of it back or even maintain it. When you are 20, you can just do buildups and even-speed strides without even concentrating and you’ll stay in touch with your speed. Plus it doesn’t take very long to get it back. In fact, when you are 20 years old, you could be 3 months totally removed from speedwork and if a pit bull jumped out and you had to sprint like Hotel Echo Lima Lima, you’d be surprisingly close to your all-time top-end speed … but you just couldn’t maintain it very long. But when you are 50, you have to work on it all the time. It’s not going to come back unless you really work on it.”
We’ve given our 51-year old SC member a month of workouts. He’s 3 weeks into them and you can follow along on our private SC messageboard.
MB: Sub-5 at Age 51? Can a former 4:12 Guy Break 5:00 30 Years Past His Prime?
More: Want to learn more about the LetsRun.com training principles? Read this: Wejo Speaks: Why I Sucked in College
Interested in being coached by the great John Kellogg? Email us at coaching@letsrun.com
A SC membership normally comes with a 12-14 week base building plan but we decided to help him out and have agreed to coach him individually and let Suupporting Club members follow the journey as he goes for sub-5 at 51.
