Goal 6 minute mile (Read 6319 times)

    I am running more easy stuff recently as my knee still feels like it has arthritis when I run on concrete.

    I am running around 9:40 per mile pace or slower. I just hope I don't lose the feel of the fast pace and get lazy as

    I try to get a little endurance.

     

     

    Hi MF,

     

    Glad to hear you are running more at easy pace.  If you are worried about losing your speed, you can do a few fartlek runs per week.  It is just unstructured small intervals of quicker running.  The intervals can be very short, 10-20sec or slightly longer.  You can run from 1 lamp pole to the other, for example.  It is not taxing, and is more fun.  And importantly, it may help your speed.

      Ran a mile on the treadmill tonight in 6:11

      My left knee still smarts but I thought I could make the mile tonight.

      Hit a quarter mile in 1:34 and felt good though the pace was swift.

      Got to half mile in 3:08. I had increased the speed from 9.7 to 9.8 just before the midway point and felt I could hold that the rest of the way.

      It was hard from 1/2 mile to 5/8 mile but once I saw 0.62 I felt better.

      Hit the 3 lap mark in 4:40.

      The last lap I was hanging on and moved the dial to 10 mph with around a tenth of a mile to go.

      It was a hard effort and seeing I was still 11 seconds away makes it hard to think of the extra training I will have to do to get there.

      But it is a step in the right direction and the miles though still in the mid teens are starting to give me a shot at sub 6.

      Granted it was indoors so I don't know if I could run this mark outside but should be 6:15 or under based on my last outdoor time trial being 4 seconds slower than my treadmill. The knee is holding out so far. Hope I feel okay tomorrow.

       

       

      Aug. 4.....6:57

      Aug. 8.... 6:37

      Aug. 15...6:28

      Aug. 28...6:19

      Sept. 5... 6:23 (track)

      Sept. 26..6:11

        Maybe you should start by figuring out what is wrong with the knee so you aren't going out there making it worse with these time trials.

        RunAsics


        The Limping Jogger

          Ran a mile on the treadmill tonight in 6:11

           

          Aug. 4.....6:57

          Aug. 8.... 6:37

          Aug. 15...6:28

          Aug. 28...6:19

          Sept. 5... 6:23 (track)

          Sept. 26..6:11

           

          Nice job MF.  Some good progress.  I've always found mile repeats harder on the TM than the track but that's likely because track was with a group.   Either that or I was cheating with a 1600m

           

          MTA: As per flatfooter, what type/location of knee pain are you getting?

          "Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."

            Nice job MF.  Some good progress.  I've always found mile repeats harder on the TM than the track but that's likely because track was with a group.   Either that or I was cheating with a 1600m

             

            MTA: As per flatfooter, what type/location of knee pain are you getting?

             

            I have run about 90% of my runs on the treadmill so that is why I am faster on it.

            Just familiarity makes it easier I guess. Give me a few track attempts and I will probably learn to run better out there.

            It would be nice having pacers running with me also.

             

            The knee pain is just a dull ache in the joint of my left knee.

            I figure if I can run a 6:11 mile on the treadmill without limping around afterwards I must be okay.

            Dangerous? It could put an end to my sub 6 goal but I know if I quit running for a week it will be good as new.

            But if I take a week off I doubt I will run sub 6 by Halloween so I am just testing it to see how it handles the mile time trial.

            So far it seems to be the same as before.

              Yes, you can keep beating up you knee and probably get a sub 6 minute mile.  You could also figure out what is wrong with it and run pain free.  Just sayin'. 


              Slow-smooth-fast

                when i used to use the treadmill to do mile reps i just put it on 16 and did 4 of them. sure it was tough but not as tough as the last one where i went up to 20kmh. why dont you start the treadmill at pace and when you feel tired put up the speed in grin it out. u an do it.

                "I've been following Eddy's improvement over the last two years on this site, and it's been pretty dang solid. Sure the weekly mileage has been up and down, but over the long haul he's getting out the door and has turned himself into quite a runner. He's only now just figuring out his potential. Consistency in running is measured in years, not weeks. And over the last couple of years, Eddy's made great strides" Jeff 14 Jan 2009

                  The exercise of trying this on a treadmill and manually programming your pace is interesting (maybe not the right word)... at the half you pretty much knew you weren't going to make sub 6 unless you dialed in a 10.4 for the rest of the way (or a 10.3 with a final 10.7 sprint on the last tenth). But you didn't, you punched in the 9.8. But, I guess the point of this one wasn't to beat 6, but to run the best you could that night.

                   

                  It just has to be a little wierd to punch in your time ahead of time. I'm probably not expressing this very well...the difference between (outside) your brain telling your body to go faster and responding and (inside) you telling yourself, I can go "this" much faster and punching the up arrow one to 4 seconds per mile faster. You predetermine what your increase will be, and probably / maybe limit yourself that way.

                   

                  Anyway, if you're gonna go sub six, stick it 10.0 and hang on. Or do it outside, where you'll know it's not a goofy treadmill mile (calibration errors etc.).

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

                    The exercise of trying this on a treadmill and manually programming your pace is interesting (maybe not the right word)... at the half you pretty much knew you weren't going to make sub 6 unless you dialed in a 10.4 for the rest of the way (or a 10.3 with a final 10.7 sprint on the last tenth). But you didn't, you punched in the 9.8. But, I guess the point of this one wasn't to beat 6, but to run the best you could that night.

                     

                    It just has to be a little wierd to punch in your time ahead of time. I'm probably not expressing this very well...the difference between (outside) your brain telling your body to go faster and responding and (inside) you telling yourself, I can go "this" much faster and punching the up arrow one to 4 seconds per mile faster. You predetermine what your increase will be, and probably / maybe limit yourself that way.

                     

                    Anyway, if you're gonna go sub six, stick it 10.0 and hang on. Or do it outside, where you'll know it's not a goofy treadmill mile (calibration errors etc.).

                     

                    6 minutes is a pretty fast time for me.

                    I am gradually trying to get in shape before I attempt the sub 6.

                    I can want to go sub 6 all I want but even if I want to run it with all my guts I still cannot run it unless I am in shape to do so.

                     

                    My treadmill has a max speed of 10 mph by the way so if I won't be able to run a sub 6 on it anyway. Also I will not count a treadmill mile since it is run without wind and may not be accurate to time or distance. But it is pretty close to my outside pace so a good barometer. I was thinking about starting it at 10 mph and going until I was tired then slow it down a little at a time but from my pre-race session I knew I could not handle the 10 mph pace the entire way. I think I started around 9.7 for the 1st 200 meters and went down to 9.6 for a good bit of the 1st 4 tenths.

                     

                    I am trying to peak by Halloween. Yes we are getting closer so when my knee feels good I may get out to the track and try to hang on to sub 6 for as long as I can. But right now I am still just not in shape to do this. Getting closer but still not quite there.

                      6 minutes is a pretty fast time for me.

                      I am gradually trying to get in shape before I attempt the sub 6.

                      I can want to go sub 6 all I want but even if I want to run it with all my guts I still cannot run it unless I am in shape to do so.

                       

                      My treadmill has a max speed of 10 mph by the way so if I won't be able to run a sub 6 on it anyway. Also I will not count a treadmill mile since it is run without wind and may not be accurate to time or distance. But it is pretty close to my outside pace so a good barometer. I was thinking about starting it at 10 mph and going until I was tired then slow it down a little at a time but from my pre-race session I knew I could not handle the 10 mph pace the entire way. I think I started around 9.7 for the 1st 200 meters and went down to 9.6 for a good bit of the 1st 4 tenths.

                       

                      I am trying to peak by Halloween. Yes we are getting closer so when my knee feels good I may get out to the track and try to hang on to sub 6 for as long as I can. But right now I am still just not in shape to do this. Getting closer but still not quite there.

                       

                       

                      If your knee is bugging you, forcing an effort on the treadmill may make it worse.  If you're out on a track, you can lay off if it's not your day. 

                      "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                        I'd have to position a beanbag or some pillows behind the treadmill if I attempted to run that fast. Good luck with your goal!

                          MF - have to be devil's advocate with the treadmill.  Sure it will help you hold a pace, which might be an advantage, but how accurate is it?

                           

                          Many treadmills may not be calibrated exactly correct.  10.0 on that treadmill could actually be 10.3 or 9.7.  Your home treadmill or a gym treadmill may not be exactly correct...I've actually had mine corrected twice by 0.4 and 0.5 by technicians...that brings you back to running it outside on the track to be certain.  That 6:11 could have been 6:30...or maybe 5:50.

                           

                          I've found that if I split running outside and with the treadmill I tend to run faster outside despite suboptimal conditions, maybe that will hold true for you too.

                            MF - have to be devil's advocate with the treadmill.  Sure it will help you hold a pace, which might be an advantage, but how accurate is it?

                             

                            Many treadmills may not be calibrated exactly correct.  10.0 on that treadmill could actually be 10.3 or 9.7.  Your home treadmill or a gym treadmill may not be exactly correct...I've actually had mine corrected twice by 0.4 and 0.5 by technicians...that brings you back to running it outside on the track to be certain.  That 6:11 could have been 6:30...or maybe 5:50.

                             

                            I've found that if I split running outside and with the treadmill I tend to run faster outside despite suboptimal conditions, maybe that will hold true for you too.

                             

                            True but I ran a 6:19 on the treadmill in late August and a week later ran a 6:23 on the track so I am estimating the treadmill is about 4 seconds faster than outdoors (based on one time trial I know but the point is the treadmill and track are pretty identical for me.)

                             

                            I took yesterday off and the knee feels a good bit better today so I may try to run a couple miles on the treadmill to see if I am healing.

                            Thanks to flatfooter for making me worry about the pain.

                              I wasn't suggesting your best course of action was to worry about the pain, I was suggesting that you might want to actually do something to figure out what is causing it.... I know, crazy idea....

                                MF, this is an interesting thread that you started.  My guess is you and I are close as far as current 5k times although your PR (mid 19s?) is much better than mine (21:17).  I am 44, been running about two years and never ran track in my younger days.  Thus, I have probably never run a 6 minute mile. 

                                 

                                I would guess that my 5k is around 21 or high 20s right now based on a trail 5k race from last week in which I ran a 22:22...a couple of the guys that placed ahead of me said that they were about 1:30 or so slower on this course compared to a road 5k they ran a week earlier.

                                 

                                So anyway, this morning I tried to go sub-6 on the treadmill at the gym.  I set the speed at 10.0 and just tried to hold the pace.  Finished in 5:59 (bumped the speed to 10.2 for the last 1/10th of a mile to ensure I was under 6).  Also, I had the elevation at 1% to make up for wind resistance.

                                 

                                I have dabbled on the track a little bit and I am pretty slow...for me its difficult to break 77 in the 400.  I dont think I could go sub 6 on the track at this point...to me the treadmill, even at 1% grade, is easier.

                                 

                                Regarding your treadmill challenge, I think you should just lock the pace on the treadmill at 10.0 and hang on rather than bumping faster as you go along.  Otherwise, as h2 stated, you will end up having to hit 10.5 or 10.7 in the last quarter to accomplish your goal which to me sounds a little dangerous for someone trying to break 6..

                                 

                                Also, you are adjusting the elevation up on the treadmill to help simulate outdoor conditions?