I am looking for a way to improve my mile time. I run 12 minutes a mile. It's not great or bad. I just need to improve this time. I ran a 5k, 12 minutes per mile (36 minute). I had a good pace, because at the end I was passing people left and right. Is there anyway to improve just the plain old mile? I promise you I'm not fat. I could use my dad's exercise bike to get a base for left muscles. I lift weights (2lbs) at least 100 each arm. I try to do some core. Is there anyway to improve my mile time?
Hello Chloeeeee,
This is probably not the best place to ask this - this group is geared more towards consistency than getting faster.
That being said, it would depend what type of training you are doing right now, and for how long? If you are new to running or are just running a few times a week for a few miles at a time, then the honest answer is to just run more. Add another day of running a week, and add a mile now and then to one run a week to start to build up a long run. That was my solution when I first started running - no speedwork, no track, no tempo runs, just running more and getting in a longer run every week when I first started and my times overall dropped significantly in that first year.
Once you have a decent base of running doing what I mentioned above - probably running at least 4-5 times a week, and have been doing that for a good 6 months at least, I would say then you could start to get in one day of speedwork a week. I would usually suggest tempo runs to start, but for the mile, doing 4x200s to start would be nice and easy and not too taxing on the body.
You should log your runs here and un-hide your log so people can see where you are at - makes all the difference in the world if you want some quality advice.
hope this helps at least a little.
Jeff