How do you train for a mile?

Joshh

Barefooters
Aug 28, 2010
477
5
18
Hello all,

I ran a mile today, or at least think I did. I went to a track (something I had not done in 25 years) and took a stab at a BF mile. I wasn't even sure where to stop and end because there was a bunch of lanes so I ran in one of the middle ones and stopped and started my watch in the same place. I did a 5:05 mile my freshman year of highschool and had not done another until now. 6:15 was what I came away with after much huffing and puffing and remembering why I hated track in highschool. I've only ever run trails and love few things more than trees on all sides of me and a narrow singletrack to focus on.

So now I'm thinking I want to get a little faster and at least get down into the 5's. Can anyone tell me where I might find some info on how to train for a mile? And also where to stop and start on a track? I can only laugh at how clueless I am.

I do want to add though that the rubber track I ran on felt really nice on feet used to something much pokier.
 
I'm no help to you here.  I'm

I'm no help to you here. I'm a turtle. Sorry.
 
 where you start is where you

where you start is where you finish on a track. if it's actually the size it should be then it's 400m per lap so four laps and you're done.

for mile speed you need to do a few things. the first is to work on building lung strength for speed by doing speed work. This will cause you to stretch out your lungs and help with VO2 max capabilities.

also some weight lifting can come in real handy. doing good old fashioned squats to build muscle strength and endurance will help a lot when trying to gain speed.

hills are always helpful for speed work and running all out 400m sprint repeats on the track are great for gaining one mile speed. doing about 5 or so to start and then building up to 10 is a tough task but will help a lot.
 
It's hard to find mile

It's hard to find mile training plans - even short distance guides like "Run Fast" by Hal Higdon starts at the 5K. I wouldn't mind hearing about plans, too. Usually the 400 meters is the innermost lane of the track so your time might be a little better than you think. For the last mile race I had, I ran a flat road 5K earlier in the week to get a target pace off of McMillan. Usually you can go a bit faster than what McMillan spits out but it's a start. I'm a turtle, too, though. I like the mile and would love to race a track mile, especially barefoot. When I did train for a mile in the past, I started by timing a mile and just running it a little faster each week - not very sophisticated, eh?
 
Thank you Jimmy and thank you

Thank you Jimmy and thank you J! I'll get going on those 400m all out numbers ASAP. I run a lot of hills and have well exercised (and stretched) lungs from 20 years of free diving so I'm thinking I'll focus on the sprints. Going to the gym is probably not going to happen at this point
tongue.png
. Thanks very much you two for the help and for letting me know that the time might have been a tad better than I thought. Nike actually funded the track so I'm pretty sure it's legit. It's made up of ground up used shoe soles which is kind of cool.
 
Did another mile, this time

Did another mile, this time at 5:32. The hills I've been doing seemed to have helped as well as knowing where to begin and end. :)

Thanks again for the help!
 
I'm guessing you figure out

I'm guessing you figure out to run in the inner-most lane. My mile PR was 5:57, but that was the first week of track, and I was pretty out of shape. Sprints are pretty much the way to train for the mile. And also, when your running it, try to make your 3rd lap the fastest. If you run the fastest during the 3rd lap then the 4th one will be pretty close to your 1st and 2nd, but if you wait until the 4th lap to speed up you lose a lot of time during the 3rd lap.
 
Thanks Jschwab!Dan, OK I'll

Thanks Jschwab!

Dan, OK I'll try that next time. I didn't think about any of that, just kind of tried to run like hell. Seems like having a faster runner to chase or to push you from behind would be a huge help.
 
Someone might have already

Someone might have already stated this, no time to check the rest of the posts, sorry ><

My brother recommended this one for me. Try getting one of those interval training podcasts or any other type of track where there is a cue to normally walk and jog, but instead run at your regular or slower pace during the walking signal and run at your max for the jog signal. I don't know how well this will work for you though since most BPM on intervals are pretty slow.
 
Qadupae, I'm not familiar

Qadupae, I'm not familiar with the podcasts or special tracks you are talking about. I very recently moved back to America after almost 20 years of living on an island so I guess I'm a bit out of it. :p

I don't like to run with music or anything in my ears.

Thanks for your help anyway.