Mile attempt #3

I've got good news and bad news for todays attempt at the 5-minute mile. Let's start with the bad news. There was no wind this morning. Nothing whatsoever to push me from behind and give me the boost I got last week. Here's the good news: There was no wind, and I still beat my time from last week. By one second. That's an all-time PR for me. That came somewhat as a surprise because I was really feeling like I was going much slower than last time, but it boosted my confidence that I'll reach this goal sooner than later.

Nitmos asked what I was doing to increase my speed, so here is a brief synopsis of my training. Until last Thursday, I hadn't done anything specific to train for my mile besides going out and running the mile as fast as I could. I decided to do a little interval session this week, and I feel it made a big difference. I ran four 400m repeats in 1:15. That's the pace I need to do per quarter mile for a 5-minute mile. Let me tell you, that was so hard. As I have been focusing on the marathon for the last 6+ months, I really had no idea how fast that was. So for the first interval, I just ran as hard as I could (knowing I had at least 3 more to do). I did that one in 1:07. Much faster than I wanted to go. I was able to reign it in for the next three, running 1:13, 1:12, and 1:14. After that, I couldn't do any more. I think I will do this workout again. I'm also thinking of doing some 800m and mile repeats in the coming weeks. Anybody have any suggestions for other workouts that will help improve my mile time? I'll definitely keep you updated on my progress.

Stay tuned for attempt #4.