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how do you run a mile? (Read 1015 times)

Mr MattM


    I tried to run a mile once and couldn't do it.  I thought I'd just split the distance into halves to make it mentally easier.  So, I took off and covered half the distance... then ran until I covered half of the remaining distance... then half of that remaining distance... then half of THAT remaining distance.  I got really, really close, but never could finish that mile.

    be curious; not judgmental

    LedLincoln


    not bad for mile 25

      I was told that to run a marathon, I should go all-out in the first mile, then pick it up from there.

      tom1961


      Old , Ugly and slow

        Spaniel that is a fast mile.  I love your picture we just got a new springer

         

        in Aug.

        first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007

         

        2019  goals   1000  miles  , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes

        scappodaqui


        rather be sprinting

          He was starting to get the white haze even this early; it would
          be very bad when it all caught up, but of course that was no
          consideration now. Come on you son of a bitch, he thought, but he
          knew he was just hanging on. It was all going slowly downhill and
          Walton had about eight yards on him still. Cassidy could feel the
          muscles in his neck start to tighten, pulling his lower lip
          downwards into an ugly grimace; he knew this was one of the last
          signs, this death sneer. So this is what happens! You just don't get
          him, that's all! The son of a bitch just keeps on going and it ends
          and you don't get him ever!

           

          Cassidy adjusted his lean a little forward; that seemed to help
          some, but the neck was getting tighter and he felt his arms
          beginning to stiffen. By the time they got out of the turn and into
          the last straight, he knew they would be really bad. All down the

          back straight Cassidy tried to reel him in, but it was no good. Eight
          yards. Eight yards, Eight yards! The strain was apparent to those
          close to the track, on the exhale breath he made little gasps: gahh!
          gahh! gahh! His eyes were starting to squeeze up shut but he could
          hardly see through the white haze anyway.

           

          The chant roared across the field, beseeching, hopeful,
          frenzied.


          CASS-A-DAY! CASS-A-DAY! CASS-A-DAY!


          Shut up! Shut up! I'm not your godamned hero! All down the
          back straight he stared at the fleeing black suit through the
          wrinkled slits he had left for eyes, stared at the black suit and
          wished they would all leave him alone. Just leave him the hell
          alone with his misery and defeat.


          That's when he saw it.


          Almost imperceptible, but there it was just the same: the left
          shoulder dipped suddenly, then the right leg shot out a little further
          than usual, and that was it: back to normal stride.


          Walton was tying up too.


          So that's the way it is. Not so casual after all.


          Cassidy bore down, bore down, and finally began reeling him
          in, all during the final turn, all the way around he pulled him in,
          inch by inch, as his mouth was drawn more and more into the ugly
          grimace by the spastic neck muscles. Inch by inch the black suit
          came back until finally they broke clear of the turn and there it
          was: John Walton was three feet ahead of him with a hundred and
          ten yards of Tartan stretching out in front of them to the finish line.
          There was utter pandemonium in the stands as the chant
          degenerated into a howling, shrieking din.


          Quenton Cassidy moved out to the second lane, the Lane of
          High Hopes, and ran out the rest of the life in him.

           

          All through the last 50 yards he had looked
          through the two fogged slits of windows at
          the howling slow motion nightmare going on
          around him as he rigged up in true fashion,
          getting the jaw-shoulder lock and the
          sideways final straight fade as he began to
          lose all semblance of control; he peered out at all this as the orb
          was about to burst letting all the poison flood out, peered at it and
          quite calmly wondered: when will it all end?


          He felt more than saw Walton come back up to his shoulder,
          entertained an idle curiosity about who would get it, but then went
          back to wistfully concentrating on those green inches of Tartan
          passing slowly, slowly beneath his feet.


          The last 10 yards his body was a solid block of lactic acid, with
          those straining neck muscles pulling his lip down and his back
          arched, trapezia trying to pull him over backwards. And all the
          way Quenton Cassidy is telling himself:


          Not now…it hurts but go all the way through do not stop until
          you are past it you cannot afford to give the son of a bitch
          anything…so holdit holdit holdit jesus christ hold it
          holditholditHOLDITHOLDITHOLD IT…


          Finally with a scream and a violent wrenching motion he shook
          himself loose from this terrible force that gripped him, forced
          himself into a semblance of a lean and it was over…

           

           

           

           

           

          That method only works if you wanna go run 60 quarters at a time.

          PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56

          Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb

          Crazy Justin


            A little late to the discussion but here's my $.02:  Our marathon PRs are similar but I've broken 5:20 3 times.

              First off, how do you train?

            If you want to get better at the Mile, you need to train faster.  I believe that marathon training actually makes you slower at distances 5K and below.  Do at least 1 interval session per week.  Maybe 8-10x400 near goal pace.  Continue to do the occasional tempo as well.

            What is often deemed heresy for marathoners, reduce your mileage and increase your training paces. 

              As for the race itself, my best Mile races are fairly even.  Laps 1 and 4 are a little faster than 2 and 3 but there should not be much more than a 5 second spread.  I believe my splits were 77-81-82-78.

            Mile: 5:18,   5K: 19:09,  10K: 39:44,  Half: 1:28:12,  Full: 3:21:56

            Post-35 PRs:

            Mile: 6:02,  5K: 21:14, 10K: 45:40, Half: 1:42:24

             

            http://jzehnder208.googlepages.com

            www.crazyj208.blogspot.com


            Feeling the growl again

              Spaniel that is a fast mile.  I love your picture we just got a new springer

               

              in Aug.

               

              Field or bench bred?  Mine is field and while the pic is from about age 2 he is now 9 and has been a wonderful dog.  Tempered somewhat with age, but I love the energetic type as it matches my personality.

               

              My fast miles are behind me.  I would be happy to break sub-4:50 today.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               


              Feeling the growl again

                 I believe that marathon training actually makes you slower at distances 5K and below.  Do at least 1 interval session per week.  Maybe 8-10x400 near goal pace.  Continue to do the occasional tempo as well.

                 

                 

                Real marathon training does not eliminate interval workouts, and certainly does not eliminate "occasional tempos".  I ran a 2:28 marathon PR on an injured hamstring training for sub-2:22....the injury occurred during a race in which I set my 5K, 8K, and 10K PRs of 15:18, 24:5X (need to look up), and 30:57 respectively.  More specific short-distance training had not approached those times, it was all done off "marathon training".

                 

                About 2 months after my marathon PR, I also set my mile PR by ~10sec.

                 

                Marathon training is not just a crapload of slow miles.

                 

                Race-specific work has its place for mid/short distances, but place that after a solid marathon cycle and most people would really, really surprise themselves...considering most runners run their highest volumes during marathon training.

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 

                    I believe that marathon training actually makes you slower at distances 5K and below. 

                   

                  bullshit.

                   

                  Or, in other words, your "marathon training" is messed up. Because I can point to dozens of people here (me included) who pr'd miles and 5ks while marathon training. 

                  Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                  We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                  Lane


                    Marathon training doesn't make you slower at shorter events, in fact it's a great way to build a big fat base to build from.  I ran a marathon in late October 2008 (2:58:25) and then ran 800m in 2:04 in early December.

                     

                    Sparknotes on the quote from Once A Runner: The best way to PR is to find somebody who is a little faster than you are, maintain contact and then out-kick the poor SOB.

                    xhristopher


                      marathon training actually makes you slower at distances 5K and below. 

                       

                      Tell that to my 5K pr.

                      tom1961


                      Old , Ugly and slow

                        Field or bench bred?  Mine is field and while the pic is from about age 2 he is now 9 and has been a wonderful dog.  Tempered somewhat with age, but I love the energetic type as it matches my personality.

                         

                        My fast miles are behind me.  I would be happy to break sub-4:50 today.

                         

                        Field my wife has had them for over 30 years. They are great dogs

                        first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007

                         

                        2019  goals   1000  miles  , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes

                        Crazy Justin


                          Didn't mean to post twice.

                          Mile: 5:18,   5K: 19:09,  10K: 39:44,  Half: 1:28:12,  Full: 3:21:56

                          Post-35 PRs:

                          Mile: 6:02,  5K: 21:14, 10K: 45:40, Half: 1:42:24

                           

                          http://jzehnder208.googlepages.com

                          www.crazyj208.blogspot.com

                          Crazy Justin


                            Need to clarify.  What I meant was if you run all of your miles much slower than your GMP (as the OP seems to do) , you will not run a PR in the Mile.

                            If you include some tempos and longish MP runs, you can definitely PR at shorter distances fresh off marathon training.  My 5K PR was set only 6 weeks after my marathon.

                            Did not mean to stir up trouble.

                            Mile: 5:18,   5K: 19:09,  10K: 39:44,  Half: 1:28:12,  Full: 3:21:56

                            Post-35 PRs:

                            Mile: 6:02,  5K: 21:14, 10K: 45:40, Half: 1:42:24

                             

                            http://jzehnder208.googlepages.com

                            www.crazyj208.blogspot.com

                            luken


                            RA's cranky old teenager

                              jEfFgObLuE has the right idea! Seriously, I love that book.

                               

                              As a miler myself, my plan is to stay relatively even for the first three laps, then all-out for the last 400m. I ran a PR of 5:00.11 last spring and my splits were 1:12, 2:25, couldn't hear the third split but it was probably 3:45-50, then finished in 5:00.11.

                               

                              My strategy is to go out faster than goal pace for the first 400m and establish a slight time cushion, stay on even goal pace for the second and third lap, then pick it up gradually for the first half of the second lap, then kick your brains out for the last 200m. For 6:10, it would be 1:30.50 so I would try to go out in 1:27-28, then stay even and kick the last 200m.

                               

                              With all that said, running times do not directly translate for different distances. All those calculators do is estimate your VO2max and see what other times you should be able to run based on that number. For example, my "best" VO2max number was in that 5:00.11 mile I ran. According to that number, I should be able to run a 10:37 3200m and a 17:28 5k, but my best 3200m is an 11:23 and my best 5k is 17:47. Those calculators don't take into account what kind of body type you are. Try seeing Peter Snell run a marathon with those monstrous legs. It wouldn't be fast. It just wouldn't. And that's why he was a 800m/mile runner. And it shows for me that I'm better at shorter distances, so I'm going to focus on the 800m and the 1600m this spring.

                              That's probably maybe mostly true.

                              northernman


                              Fight The Future

                                I do agree that some people are better at the short and others at the long distances. I think, in particular, that we senior citizens are supposed to lose speed before endurance, so we tend to be long distance people. I was mainly curious about the mental aspect of mile running. Is it painful the whole time, or only the first and last lap, etc.

                                 

                                By the way, Justin, I don't only run slower than my GMP, it's just that I don't put all of the details in my log online here. For instance, when I do intervals, it's usually in the context of a longer easier run. (example, 9 miles easy, then 6 x 1/2 mile intervals at 5K+30 sec speed, or something like that). I only record the overall distance and time.

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