Prop bet - 5 minute mile

[swingdoc]

I'm kinda sleepy, so maybe I missed this, but how old are you, OP? That's actually gonna be pretty important. Also, how are you going to attempt this, exactly? On a standard 400m track? Don't forget a mile is 1610 meters. Will you have people to race against or are you gonna try this all by your lonesome? I'm a fatty now, but was pretty serious about cross country and track in high school when I normally ran miles faster than this. You are probably in a lot of trouble here. Assuming you have average aerobic capacity, it's possible. However, the amount of work involved with this is gonna be pretty tremendous.

If you have to run this all alone, you're probably looking at the equivalent of a 4:50 mile if you had others to run with/draft off. Maybe slightly faster, actually. The drafting is only half of the problem, simply having someone to to chase instead of worrying about the pace yourself is huge. Oh, forgot to ask: do you live in the northern or southern hemisphere? You're going to need to put in quite a few base miles over the next 3-4 months and winter isn't always the kindest time to do this. I'll try to think about the best way to train for this, but it's gonna basically follow this sort of setup:

I. Base miles - 4 months. Most of your runs should be at a "comfortable" pace where you could carry on a conversation. Start with whatever you're comfortable running now and add more days running or more miles/day (never more than a 10% increase from previous week) until you're at 35-40 miles per week. 1 run per week should be something totally different from your normal (fartlek, intervals, hills, etc). I would for sure lift weights pretty intensely during this phase, make sure you work out upper and lower body well.

II. Strength endurance - 1.5 months. Here you keep your mileage up around 35 miles per week but start doing two serious strengthening workouts per week. Something like 10 x hills (150 meter gentle(ish) hill) running strong up the hill, jogging to the bottom. Or straight intervals like 8 x 600m running slightly slower than goal pace (2:00-2:10). Or a run where you run comfortable for 2 miles, then 1 or 2 miles at 6:00 pace or so and then 2 miles comfortably again. Running a 5k race a couple times per month would be perfect here. More hardcore weightlifting, especially circuits.

III. Final prep/speed - 1.5 months. Here you absolutely have to train your body to run at the pace you'll be racing at and slightly faster. ~30 miles per week here. 1 workout from phase II each week. The other hard workout should be at or faster than race pace. I'd really recommend starting with 4 x 200 at 37seconds. Increase one rep each week for a final of 10 x 200 at 37 seconds. Or run 1 x 100, 1 x 200, 1 x 300, 1 x 400, 1 x 300, 1 x 200, 1 x 100 at race pace. You just need to train your body to run at the pace you need. 2 weeks before your d day, run a trial mile for time. Cut back weight lifting for the last 2 weeks for sure, you can reduce it during this whole phase if you like.

[SmileyEH]

Not going to happen.

[Jihad]

[ QUOTE ]
you will lose this bet

[/ QUOTE ]+1. I'd love to have a friend like you.

[J.Brown]

i thought about taking a bet similiar to this.

then i thought again.

then i consulted a girl on the canadian olympic track team.

then she laughed.

then i said no way eh!?

no bet, way too tough for probably anyone who post on here who didn't have some really serious running background.

gl if you do it and keep a good log. J.

[SmileyEH]

Yeah, J. the 5 minute mile on the crossfit skill standards basically makes achieving "elite" in everything completely impossible for non genetic freaks.

[J.Brown]

Smiley,

i think it CAN be done, but not w/o sacrificing a ton of other stuff and time and energy and etc. etc.

not sure i could do it at 34 years old though. maybe.
but holy moley would the price have to be high for me to every try. the dedication involved would be sick.

i am going to actually re-light this question to a girl who is now crossfitting here in missoula and has a 4:15 PR for the 1500m. she is an animal at CF btw. omg fun to watch.

i think i am going to come to the same conclusion. J.

[ThaHero]

How much time could one shave off by training at 6k feet and running at sea level? I would assume not enough to reach this without an insane amount of effort, but I was curious.

[Jon1000]

Swingdoc:

How huge is the difference between a sub 6 min mile and a sub 5 min mile?

And for the purposes of the bet, does it have to be on a track? Can you find a treadmill that will 'force' the pace on you on the actual day? I've never run a sub 5 minute mile , but I've come moderately close w/ no real track training. Is that last 25ish-35ish seconds not possible w/o hardcore training. b/c i think i would take this bet but may be way off base.

[shemp]

[ QUOTE ]

How huge is the difference between a sub 6 min mile and a sub 5 min mile?


[/ QUOTE ]

I'd say every 10-12 seconds is a big deal from 6-5:30 and every 5-7 seconds below that. At my running peak, when I could run 6:00 minute miles I would have been a dog (and I had run a 5:10 mile, some downhill, swept along in a pack). Presently, I don't think I could do this if my life depended on it.

Good luck to the OP.

[Rootabager]

Is 5 really that crazy. I have not ran a timed mile since high school but I ran like a 5:18 and never ran miles. I only ran that for b-ball conditioning.

If you are training alot and have decent running genetics it wouldnt be impossible. It's a good bet I think on both sides.

Some ppl are born and just cant run very well. I think genetics is going to play a big role.

dif between sub 6 and sub 5 is really big.


I will ask some of the kids that run track for UK. My sis runs the 800 and hangs out with all those track guys all the time.