How fast can you run a mile?

thirstywork

I noticed alot of people on here running marathons and 10k's ect.
would like to know how fast everyone can run for a mile.

Maybe some of you could take a couple of months out of the year and train for a mile or some track races???
would break up your marathon training and help develop your basic speed.

Some people on here say ''im no good at 5k's''
this is silly cause if you dont train for them you wont be any good.

Woddle

I think your right. After a bad marathon performance I've now decided to start an 11 week 10k program, this will include vo2 sessions of 6x800 @ 5k pace,5x 3min hills and basic speed sessions of 12x 100, 8x 200, 6 x 300 and lt intervals of 2x 2 mile. I can't wait to get started and will hope to set a new pb in the 5k, 5 mile and 10k along the way.

I def see it as a welcome break from the marathon training, I'll run a mile and let you know how I get on.

RoyMcC

I broke the mythical 7-minute barrier on Christmas Day - 6.59 Despite being balked by a baby buggy on lap 3 :pac:

aburke

Race a mile .. then you'll know.
http://www.athenryac.com/magic-mile-meet-dangan-galway

rainbow kirby

I've never tried for a flat-out mile, but the first mile of my last 5k race was run in 8 minutes.

tunguska

Actually just did this the other day in training. Clocked a 5:08. Pretty happy with that but I reckon with a bit more specific training aimed at just mile racing I could definitely get it below 5 mins

christeb

There's actually a 1 mile race on in Raheny this Thurs @ 8pm. Maybe I'll squeeze it in before football training...

robinph

Never run a mile as far as I can remember. The fastest I'm aware of running one though is 6:16 for one of my splits during a 10k so I'd assume that I can go a bit faster than that over just 1 mile, how much faster I really haven't a clue though.

I would be interested to know for myself though, but it's not going to be any time that I'd disclose to my family though as it contains a former sub-4 miler so as far as he's concerned I'd just continue to deny ever having run one.

silverside

probably between 5:10 - 5:30

doing middle distance at the moment but will prob move to shorter stuff next year, have good natural speed i think.

Running Bing

thirstywork wrote: »

I noticed alot of people on here running marathons and 10k's ect.
would like to know how fast everyone can run for a mile.

Maybe some of you could take a couple of months out of the year and train for a mile or some track races???

Thats what I'm planning to do over the summer.

My ultimate goal is to run fast marathons but Im going to gradually build up through the distances. For the time being Im focusing on the mile (my main target) and the odd 5k.

I dont really know how fast I could run a mile but based on recent 5k times I imagine its around 6:20. So the first goal will be to get under 6 and then I can go from there.

Im planning to run a mile race in a couple of weeks so we'll see how it goes:D

shels4ever

Babybing wrote: »

Thats what I'm planning to do over the summer.

My ultimate goal is to run fast marathons but Im going to gradually build up through the distances. For the time being Im focusing on the mile (my main target) and the odd 5k.

I dont really know how fast I could run a mile but based on recent 5k times I imagine its around 6:20. So the first goal will be to get under 6 and then I can go from there.

Im planning to run a mile race in a couple of weeks so we'll see how it goes:D

Funny my ultimate goal is to run a fast mile and were coming from a totally different approach. I'm doing a marathon to get the miles in the legs while trying to keep some speed.

To be honest if you were to run your fastest possible mile the training needed would not be that much different from marathon running, with the exception of the speed work/track session. People taked of 50 miles a week been a good base for 5 k running I would think that to get your best possible mile time it would be around the same... (depends on the person too)

I would love to think that i'll have a crack at a sub 5 maybe next year but that remains to be seen...

ManFromAtlantis

funny u ask. did a flat out 1 mile on road yesterday measured on garmin 405. 6:15. reckon i could dip under 6 mins with a week or two prep.!

i think mcmillian says i could do 45 min 10km with this speed. ! might not be too far off the mark.

silverside

shels, dont want to teach you how to suck eggs but i think 1500/1600 training is a lot different to marathon training - i rarely run longer than an hour, do a lot of tempo / intervals runs, a lot of rest - i'm running 15/20 miles a week and getting reasonable results - i think aerobic work / long runs are overrated for short distance stuff (says me with my fingers crossed i avoid injury !)

shels4ever

silverside wrote: »

shels, dont want to teach you how to suck eggs but i think 1500/1600 training is a lot different to marathon training - i rarely run longer than an hour, do a lot of tempo / intervals runs, a lot of rest - i'm running 15/20 miles a week and getting reasonable results - i think aerobic work / long runs are overrated for short distance stuff (says me with my fingers crossed i avoid injury !)

Don't get me wrong, I think its possible to run a good 1500m /Mile as your prob doing . But for me I would need to come of a higher base and more miles. As a matter of interest whats your 800m like?

Maybe i phrased it wrong the training will be different of course but in regards to mileage not a massive difference maybe 15% less or so. I'd thinks a 70-90 min long run most year round would needed, of course not in race period. I know Mcmillian would suggest 2 hour runs all year but thats another story.

Running Bing

silverside wrote: »

shels, dont want to teach you how to suck eggs but i think 1500/1600 training is a lot different to marathon training - i rarely run longer than an hour, do a lot of tempo / intervals runs, a lot of rest - i'm running 15/20 miles a week and getting reasonable results - i think aerobic work / long runs are overrated for short distance stuff (says me with my fingers crossed i avoid injury !)

5:10-5:30 is a good time off less than 20 miles per week but I would be surprised if you didnt improve on that just by adding more miles.

When you look at the elite milers most of them do north of 60 mpw and many are closer to 100 mpw so there must be something in it.

Im no expert but I think you do need quite a lot of aerobic endurance to run a good mile and your not going to get that just from running short tempos and intervals imo.

thirtyfoot

silverside wrote: »

shels, dont want to teach you how to suck eggs but i think 1500/1600 training is a lot different to marathon training

I think Peter Snell and Arthur Lydiard might disagree with that:D:D Read this and you'll be shocked to see the training that Snell did. But then again Seb Coe only did [depends what book/article you read] miles a week and he was handy enough.

AJCOT

Two years ago, Spar sponsored a national mile running competition that ran(pardon the pun) in various locations nationwide. I was happy with a 6.07 time but I know a lot more seasoned & better runners didn't do as well as they expected. As with every distance, you have to train for the purpose. Not sure if Spar could find a few bob to repeat the process, as I really enjoyed getting an official time.:)

thirstywork

tunguska wrote: »

Actually just did this the other day in training. Clocked a 5:08. Pretty happy with that but I reckon with a bit more specific training aimed at just mile racing I could definitely get it below 5 mins

nice time,if you concentrated ont hat you could prob get down to 4.40 by the summer.

thirstywork

Tingle wrote: »

I think Peter Snell and Arthur Lydiard might disagree with that:D:D Read this and you'll be shocked to see the training that Snell did. But then again Seb Coe only did [depends what book/article you read] miles a week and he was handy enough.

I think it depends on what level you are running at Tingle.

topper75

Interesting debate.

Lap 3 will ask you a difficult question. Where are you going to find the answer? Your lungs will scream and your throat will burn. You are probably only running at two-thirds the pace you perceive yourself to be running at.

I reckon you need the miles in the legs to have that aerobic edge. How many exactly? Every runner knows themselves best.

Tempo running will bring you laps one and two alright, but three changes things. Four is the road home and your mind and body know this - a buddy calling the time should get you there, if you are lucky! The mile is by far the most interesting distance I have ever challenged myself with. There is a strange and sadistice symmetry in those 4 laps.

zenmonk

Ran a mile in 6.30 mins 12 years ago was utterly thrilled never ran as a kid took it up at 23 so not too bad.
My best now would be 8 ish!!!:eek:

thirtyfoot

thirstywork wrote: »

I think it depends on what level you are running at Tingle.

I was half joking but still it shows that there are many ways to skin a cat no matter what level you are at. Snell trained like a marathoner much of the year and then did speed close to the season. Coe trained like a sprinter much of the season doing lifting and plyos etc and they were both Olympic champions at the same events (both slight over exagerations)

Advocates of each camp will scoff and say Coe did more miles than he admitted while others will say imagine what Snell could have done if he trained smarter. Chances are if Snell was coached by Peter Coe and Seb Coe coached by Lydiard they may not have been as good as they both were.

Same in all events. Michael Johnson trained like a middle distance athlete while Usain Bolt will have a nose bleed if he has a recovery shorter than 2 minutes (again slight exaggeration).

thirstywork

I knew you where half joking but i think Coe did big enough miles all year round.
Differn't strokes for differn't folks regarding training.
I think middle-long distance athletes in ireland aren't doing enough mileage nowadays.

thirtyfoot

thirstywork wrote: »

I knew you where half joking but i think Coe did big enough miles all year round.
Differn't strokes for differn't folks regarding training.
I think middle-long distance athletes in ireland aren't doing enough mileage nowadays.

Depends what you read but his mileage ranged from 50-70 miles a week, not a lot compared to others. Also, when a kid he did little mileage as in 25-30 miles a week.

ManFromAtlantis

i always thought a mile was 4 laps of 400m. but as a mile is 1609.3m this means 4 laps of 402.325m So is a lap 402.325 m OR when doing a mile do u start 9.3 metres back from the 'start' of the 4 lap run? mmmmmh?

shels4ever

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

i always thought a mile was 4 laps of 400m. but as a mile is 1609.3m this means 4 laps of 402.325m So is a lap 402.325 m OR when doing a mile do u start 9.3 metres back from the 'start' of the 4 lap run? mmmmmh?

You start a little back from the finish line, there is a mark on the track..

silverside

not familiar with the history really, read a recent magazine piece about Seb Coe where it/he said hill training was one of the things that let him compete on a fraction of the mileage of his peers.

Agree that aerobic capacity is important but personally i dont really enjoy easy runs unless the scenery is nice - i mix it up with some swimming / biking - if i wanted to be serious about it i'd probably be out running 4 or 5 times a week but its just a hobby...

BeepBeep67

AJCOT wrote: »

Two years ago, Spar sponsored a national mile running competition that ran(pardon the pun) in various locations nationwide. I was happy with a 6.07 time but I know a lot more seasoned & better runners didn't do as well as they expected. As with every distance, you have to train for the purpose. Not sure if Spar could find a few bob to repeat the process, as I really enjoyed getting an official time.:)

I know this year on the Charlesland track (Greystones, Co. Wicklow) that the Spar Mile Challenge will take place on Wed May 20th @ 7pm - checked the Spar website, nothing there and also the AI website as it's part of the Wicklow Fit4Life series, but nothinh there. Suggest emailing your local RDO (http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?page_id=722) as Ryan is involved for the Wicklow one.

RunToFart

thirstywork wrote: »

I knew you where half joking but i think Coe did big enough miles all year round.
Differn't strokes for differn't folks regarding training.
I think middle-long distance athletes in ireland aren't doing enough mileage nowadays.

I always find comments like "i think middle-long distance athletes in ireland aren't doing enough mileage nowadays" very humorous.
By "middle-long distance athletes" who are you referring to? This suggests to me that you mean the ones who compete in the national finals for cross and track.
By "enough miles" what is your definition of enough miles?

I think you would find it very difficult to find a nationally competitive runner from 1500 - 10000 who isnt doing 60+ miles per week outside racing season.

I think 60-90 miles per week is more than enough for people who are trying to hold down a job and train 6-7 days a week to get the most out of themselves and have some bit of a life.

Full time athletes are a different story. They have the time to do more miles and get the necessary rest. Very few "middle-long distance athletes" have this luxury