So Close! (Read 785 times)

My main reason for getting back into running at the beginning of last year was to see if I could break 5 minutes in the mile again (at the age of 30). Just wanted to do it for the sake of doing it, really. I haven't made many attempts at running a mile but the majority of those few attempts have been on our treadmill at work. It serves a dual-purpose really. We have gym records for what they named the Bragging Rights and the mile record is one of them. That having been said, I went into the gym with a mission today. I put the treadmill at 12.3 miles per hour and just went for it. After all was said and done, I finished my mile in a time of 5 minutes and 1 second. So close! At least now I know what I need to do to break 5. I'll just have to set it at 12.4, instead. Running so fast on the treadmill is probably ridiculous to most people... and I'm probably a moron for doing it (I'm still waiting for the day I go flying off the back of the stupid contraption)... but at the same time, there aren't many mile races to compete in around here where I wouldn't end up getting smoked by a bunch of high school or college runners. That doesn't sound fun to me. Hopefully, I'll be able to achieve the time I'm hoping for on the treadmill sometime within the next few weeks and then as the weather gets nicer, I'll give it a go on the middle school track by me. Chris

Yeah, I'd definitely want to know for sure and even if I'm able to do it on the treadmill, I still wouldn't technically count it as an official sub 5 mile. Like you said, the treadmill is unreliable... not to mention the fact that there is debate as to how accurately it even compares to running outside. My problem is that I don't know where to begin in order to find any open track meets around here. I asked at a couple of the local running stores but they didn't really have any idea either.

You're more likely to find a college meet with open events rather than HS, so check with the nearby Universities...I don't know about D-1 or D-2, but D-3 colleges do run the true mile now INDOORS only, instead of the 1500....so if there are any small schools nearby with indoor tracks, check them out. Outdoors you'd be out of luck because they run the 1500.... Also, check with any running/track clubs around larger cities that will have open meets in the spring/summer. Then you can beat a bunch of older Masters runners....although be prepared to get smoked by a few.....

Thanks for the info! It looks like you don't live too far away from me. Any idea what might be in our area later this year? I live in Columbus, Ohio.