Outside: 'How Our Totally Average Runner Broke the Sub-Five Minute Mile'

QUANT VS. WHITMAN!
PROF VS. COUNSELOR!
NUMBAHS VS. WORDS!

TEXAS DEATH MATCH!

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

 

Counselor would kick my ass nine ways from Sunday, then for lagniappe lay a blistering 10K on any remaining spectators.

 

That was mighty quick journey from a 1/4 mike to 5K.

 

My oldest daughter just wrapped up a few months of Girls on the Run with a 5k on Saturday. I ran it with her, although we walked part of the time because the crowd was so thick on the trail. She has the frame and cadence to be really good at it if she tried, but we had to push her to do it, so I don't see it in her future. She really isn't very athletically inclined.

 

Do you mean she doesn't like sports or that she isn't good at them? The nice thing about running is that there's virtually no skill involved. It's just raw effort and natural talent.

My son is a clutz, like me, but he's going to be a helluva runner once he realizes it's OK to be uncomfortable. Unlike me, he naturally has the body for it, whereas I have to fight off the pounds constantly.

 

I'm into training for a spring marathon now, though still a little beat up from the early November marathon. I ran 15 miles at a 7:39 pace on Sunday, which isn't shabby at this point, and then did this workout (the eventual goal is to do all five miles at 6:10) the next day:

1 mile: 6:10
Rest 3 minutes
1 mile: 6:11
Rest 3 minutes
1 mile: 6:23
Rest 3 minutes
1 mile: 6:34
Rest 3 minutes
1 mile: 6:48

I haven't tried to blaze a 1-mile PR in a while. Sitting at 5:44.

 

Realized I never posted after my races:

The full marathon was in late October. Ran the first half at a great time and was on pace for sub 3:10. However, rain started coming down, I started to feel defeated and stumbled to a 3:35.

Barely had time to run in the next three weeks because of a swollen knee from the full, but came back with a 1:35:53 half marathon where I felt strong throughout, and probably could have shaved off a minute if I ran smarter. But finished in the top 35, which was nice and felt good.

Have a 5k in 10 days. Goal is to do sub 19.

 

Damn, that's quite a split. Was it mostly the weather?

I went 1:36-1:41.

Right now I just hope I don't get hurt. I never have before. But I will run 100 miles per week if that's what it takes to go sub-3:10 in April.

 

The first time I ran a 5K, my wife said, "And you weren't even chasing an ice cream truck!"

When I ran a 10k, she didn't dare say anything like that because I was ready to die.

 

Slow buildup in mileage is key. Unless you have structural integrity issues, your most likely route to the IRL is raising your weekly miles too dramatically.

 

I was in the mid-70s before tapering for the November marathon. Since then I built back up with 30-60 and now I'll be building from 60 into the 70s. I think my 24-week cycle has me in the mid-80s for 6-8 weeks before the taper.

 

Weather just screwed me up, got cold, couldn't warm up, started making excuses in my head, basically i screwed the pooch.
Should note the half time was a five minute improvement on my PR...