I have beat my first goal of running a sub 7 min mile (which is a sub goal of running a 5 min mile).  My first two attempts at this goal were 7:05 and 7:01 (how annoying!).

I decided to do a 1 mile run again last night because the run I have planned fell through, I was not sure what to expect, because although I have done a fair amount of running, I have not done any speed training.

The first 1/4 of a mile felt very strong and very fast, and as i grew more tired I slowed down a little.  I managed to do the run in 6:40 which not only smashes the sub 7:00 min mile, but also puts me very close to the sub 6:30 min mile.

Its been a few weeks since I did my base test for my 5 minute mile challenge and my time was 7:05.

I have not done any specific speed training, but I have done some running and all at a better pace than I used to run at. I thought it was about time I did another 1 mile run and see where I am now.

The only problem is I am shattered, its been a long day, I didn’t get much sleep last night and the sofa is calling me. Only time will tell who will win.. the sofa… or the road.

Update

I am please to say that the road won.

Rather than do my 1 mile run like I did last time, which was to run fast out of the gates and have to slow right down after 1/4 of a mile, I did the opposite.

I started slowish and built up pace and tried to maintain that pace as best I could with a sprint at the end.

I finished it in 7:01 which is faster than my first try, by a whole 4 seconds, but its a start. Another plus was it only took me 5 minutes to recover after this run, unlike last time!

Another thing which freaked me out a little was that the last short sprint was done at a 5:35 min mile. I can’t yet imagine doing a 5:00 min mile!

C- must try harder

One of my larger goals is to run a 5 minute mile, sure there are probably a ton of teenagers who can do this no problems, but I cant and its going to be hard to get there!

All runs I have done to date have been slow plods, I don’t do fast running because it hurts and I suck at it.  Which is why this is one of the first goals I am going to tackle, conquer the fear

I am not 100% sure of the best way to train for this goal at the moment, I think the starting point will be to spend a few weeks doing lots of short fast runs and then create an plan based on the findings from those few weeks.

Well actually the starting point is to find out where I am now, which was what I did last night.  I went for a 1 mile run and I went for it, I mean I really went for it, and I was shocked!

I did the run in 7.05 minutes, which is OK, still a very very long way to go, but that’s OK too.  What really shocked me was how much it hurt and how long it took me to recover!  When I was training for the marathon I could do a 2 hour plod and recover in a few minutes.  This was a 7 minute run and it took me about 35 minutes to recover.  My chest was heaving / burning, I couldn’t breathe or talk properly.  This is going to be an interesting goal for sure.