<p>The best thing you can do is amix of distance running and interval work. Something like this:</p>
<p>Sun- Long Run (75-90 minutes)
Monday- 5 x 800’s at 2:40, with 2:40 rest
Tuesday- Easy Distance (45-60)
Wednesday- Fartlek (3:00 easy distance pace, 1:00 race pace, repeat 10 times)
Thursday- 10 x 400’s at 75, 2:00 recovery
Friday- Easy Distance again
Saturday- Off, or easy distance</p>
<p>This would be for someone with the ability to run sub 5. Adjsut accordingly for a lower or higher ability. As in, for a 4:30 miler, 90 minute long runs, 400’s at 67, 800’s at <2:30.</p>
<p>I also think core work is huge. Sit-ups, push ups, body building without weights. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that I only ever ran 4:59.9, though I’ve gotten alot better in college. Just no mile races yet ;)</p>
<p>hahaha i can’t even break 6:30
but my goal is to get it around 5:30 by senior year to qualify for sectionals
quite frankly, i’m just not that athletic so i couldn’t really tell ya</p>
<p>A person at my school got 4:15 on his mile I believe - hes supposedly the best runner our school has ever had. But he graduated last year, so bleh. My schools XC team is the bomb - a good 20 or so people have under 5-minute mile times. =D</p>
<p>1600 is on the longer side of the TF events. Since track has been coming up, you should be building a base for later workouts. I’ve been running 8-12 miles 6 days a week throughout Dec. Come January, we’re probably gonna be running slightly less, though faster. Last year, we basically had 6-12 mile runs ~4 times/wk and a track workout once a week. My freshman PR for the mile was 5:07, so obviously the program worked. For the actual race, try to run as even splits as you can for the 400’s. It’s the most efficient way to run. Get into the inner lane ASAP, but don’t get “boxed” in by the other runners. It wouldn’t hurt to do XC in the fall too.</p>
<p>A lot of my soccer friends and some XC have under 6 min. I know of two in particular - 4:20 and 4:37 - and there might be a few more with something similar, but I don’t know.</p>
<p>So basically from this thread I assumed that this is the best way to break 5:</p>
<p>a) Turn into black
b) Move into california
c) Get kick-ass genes</p>
<p>I’ll be working on those things ASAP.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, thanks for the comments. I’ll up the mileage just like my coach told me to recently. Last week I was at 38mpw interval-intense, this week is kind of recovery so I’m going to 40 with easy long runs. Want to be at 55 mpw by the february and do some transition work there.</p>
<p>dank08, talk.dyestat.com doesn’t approve me and I can’t post there, unfortunately :(</p>
<p>PS. I “ran” 15 minute 0.75 mile in the 7th grade, lol.</p>
<p>You have to wait a little while, it sucks but at least there is no spammers. Here is a good thread to read, at least for advice. His goal is a little out there, but there is solid advice and he is around your range. </p>
<p>Haha. Yeah. I can’t give you great advice myself. I can’t get it down from 630 min, but I’m great at distances. :] 4 Marathons under 4 hr, and getting better. But I’d love to be able to run under 5…but I’m much too lazy to try. :]</p>
<p>I hit 5:00 flat my junior year of high school and finally broke it senior year. A combination of distance and speed training is the best way to go. We always alternated - one day would be a hard workout and one would be an easy ~5 mile recovery run. The hard workout would alternate between being long distance and speed (so you get something like distance, easier day, speed, easier day, etc). There are a ton of different speed workouts you can try, but I personally think that intervals will probably be the most beneficial for a 1600m runner. Good luck!</p>
<p>I am an adult, but many years ago I ran the mile and two mile outdoor track events. My training methods were not conventional as I did not do speed work, yet I was quite successful. The training method that worked best for me was to run 10 miles a day everyday except for competition days. I ran the ten miles alternately, depending upon my mood, on the track or on a hilly road course. Within a few months I consistently ran 10 miles in 60 minutes on a track without any competition. Every weekend I competed in one or two 5k or 10k events. In less than 4 months I was able to consistently run sub 4:40 miles. And we are talking decades ago.For me, running a 4:20 mile required a lot of speed work in addition to the daily distance work. I was also a wrestler & weightlifter, but I never lifted weights for my legs or lower body as that may slow your times. My muscles were not tight in the sense that I really didn’t need to stretch much and I rarely got injured. In short, lots of demanding distance running & high level of frequent competition helped me. It is best to train and to compete year round and to compete in a variety of distances–especially the 5K. Many of my competitors competed only in the mile, half mile & ran quarter mile legs on relay teams. Personnally, I hated the half mile as it ruined my stride, but did successfully run quarter mile relay legs as I used a different stride than my mile or distance stride. Pattern breathing is also very important. I was taught by a former decathlete for the Taiwan Olympic Team–two breaths in the mouth & one out the nose= the pattern.(Not necessary for races above two miles, but critical for competitive mile running.) Much depends upon your body type --slow twitch vs. fast twitch muscles-- and whether or not you injure easily or need much recovery time.(I don’t know how I came across this thread;just noticed that it is an old thread.)</p>
<p>I’m a sprinter, but according to what I’ve seen from the distance runners, the best practice would be 5 - 6 400m sprints combined with a recovery 5 mile run the next day.</p>
Hope it’s graded on a curve.</p>