That 8 Minute Mile

pondee629 wrote: »

" run a sub-10 minute 10K you should be able to handle one 8 minute mile." A sub 10 minute 10K is quite an achievement, no? ;-)

I definitely didn't mean to imply it was easy. But neither is an 8 minute mile.

For shorter distances, I noticed my pace dropped significantly (from ~9:45 to ~7:50 for a 5k) after adding in strength training 3x/week and adding in some short sprints once a week. I’m not running now, but I was shocked at what a difference that extra lower body muscle made, even with me running less often. Granted I would average about 9 min/mile over a 5k, so I can’t speak to endurance + speed.

Great info!

Djproulx wrote: »

Speed work can increase the risk of injury for newer runners, but for those runners who have enough mileage under their belts, it is very helpful. Since focusing on longer course racing last year, I stopped speed work in favor of more distance focused training.

pierinifitness wrote: »

What I've learned is to run fast you must train fast and while longer runs are part of building a base, you got to put time in running faster. What I"m currently doing is taking a run walk run approach getting in one hour of running this way. I've had best results doing 3 minutes running and one minute walking rounds because the 3 minute runs can be at that faster pace. Compare this to runs I've done using 5 minutes running and one minute walking. One hour later, the distance covered is less than when doing it 3 minutes running and one minute walking because of run speed.

Don't know if this helps but just wanted to share my two cents. Good luck.

p.s. I'm age 64 and it's definitely harder jumping back on the running saddle and reclaiming some pace speed from the good olden and younger days.

nlmackey98 wrote: »

I also had to become comfortable with discomfort. Finding that point just beyond comfortable that you can sustain takes mental fortitude and knowledge of what your body can do. These are also things you need to practice.

Once every 2 weeks, I'd do a "trial race" each time with a different focus, lower HR, faster climbs, negative splits, go out fast and then ease into it, different fuels, whatever. For running this was a set 8 mile loop. Sometimes I blew up, sometimes I couldn't find my rhythm, sometimes the "goal" just didn't fit my running style, but I always learned something. Once a month I went and tried to kill it. I learned what my strong suits were, that I knew how to push and how to attack a race course. I'd put this knowledge to work at local races. I'm super competitive, and I mostly knew who I should beat and who I wanted to beat.

All of these stood out to me, and applied to me gaining back speed I had lost over years of not running much if at all. Note that I am not running marathon distances (never have) but have trained up to about 15 mile distances.

And not to go against the grain, as I know a lot of input here comes from accomplished runners. But both in my younger years and now I got quicker with very little running, but mostly doing other things to work on my cardio base and for strength/speed work. I like exercise in general, but never really loved running the way some do. I could do it, but a swim or bike ride, hike or.... well just about anything was usually more fun to me except for rare occasions when I enjoy a run.

When I was younger in my military days, running was easy. I ran what I had to for training and little more. My only half marathon was completed just quicker than 8 mile pace, and the last 10k I ran with friends as a group supporting the slowest guy for most of it, and still ran in the 7 minute pace. Twenty some years after I got out of the military, speed was harder to come by. I could run up to about 10k at a 10 mile pace within months of exercising more again, but improving on that was slow at first.

I still rarely run. I have some lower back issues and elliptical, biking, uphill jogs, etc are easier on the back than any distance runs. But after some time with intense intervals on the elliptical, pushing higher paces longer on the bike, etc the speed started coming. In actual running I still suck at proper pacing, and always did. And I haven't quite matched my last 10k time. But I got close enough to call it there. And I probably ran less than 100 miles last year.


Something that is very vital for me is an aspect that @nlmackey98 brought up. Finding a way to be comfortable being uncomfortable is a must for me. That and the part of knowing my strengths and weaknesses is a big part of the game. And for me fortunately one of the strengths is that mental game. When I find myself gassed, dropping pace, wanting to shorten a workout, etc, I can just usually revert back to the younger days of military training, put my head back in the game, and suck it up.


And another point that was made by @lporter229 is very important IMO. You have to be quick at shorter distances and build with time and volume to support the longer distances. I actually started down in th 2-3 mile equivalent distances on my elliptical to up pace, and then over time added miles.

Has anyone mentioned fartleks yet?

Some of it depends on your age and genetics and how many years you've been running. I can do an 8 minute mile when I'm doing speed intervals of 400 m. to 1200 m. That is slightly slower than my supposed 5k pace. (I haven't raced a 5k in years, but McMillan translates my HM time to a 7:54 5k pace). I will probably never be able to do that pace for anything longer than 5k. Improvement comes easily the first few years you run, but after 7 years, it is a lot harder to get significantly faster. At 62, I'm limited in what my body can do. I have BQed in my last three marathons, so I know I am fit for my age, but that doesn't mean I'll ever be able to improve my MP that much. I've gone from a 10 minute mile to a 9:10 mm at marathon distance over the past 5 years, but another minute is extremely unlikely.

That said, I did improve a lot by running more miles during my training, running more long runs (10 over 16 miles during my 18 week marathon training), doing more long tempo runs to improve stamina (the ability to hold the pace), doing more speed intervals and weekly strides, and doing race pace miles during my long runs.