Can I run a 5 minute mile in one month? The results…
At the beginning of April I set out to run a mile in 5 minutes flat with just a month of training. My baseline mile on April 1st was 5:31 and since then I’ve done 11 workouts, run 118 miles, pulling on my running shoes 25 of the past 29 days, gained several blisters and sweat 15 litres (exact quantity unverified). I finished the month 0.5kg lighter than I was at the beginning (despite gaining ~1kg over the first half of the month), and added 1cm in muscle to the circumference of my calves and my thighs.
This morning the weather was mercifully cool and after a light breakfast I headed over to the running track to put my month of training to the test and see if I could crack 5 minutes. I ran a 1–2 mile warmup and made sure I was fully limbered up before taking position at the start line, determined to hit the 75 second lap pace for at least the first two laps and then hang on for as long as I could in the final two. As I started out I was feeling strong — my form felt efficient and I was focusing on breathing deep and steady and keeping my pace under control. I have a tendency to start out too fast which to some degree seemed inevitable, but I managed to keep it somewhat measured and came in at 73 seconds after the first lap. I was still feeling good heading into my second lap but felt the familiar growing burning sensation in my legs as lactic acid started to build up over the course of the lap, which I finished in 76 seconds. I hit the halfway point in 2:29 — exactly where I wanted to be. Until this point I had been checking my pace every 100–200m to make sure I was hitting my markers, but had already decided that I wouldn’t check my watch past the 800m mark. There’s a big mental side to running and I wanted to avoid becoming disheartened if I saw my times start to slip at all.
The third lap was really tough — knowing that you have to keep the pace up despite fatiguing legs and lungs starting to scream for air. I was focusing on keeping my form tight, trying to stay light on my feet and up on my hips. My wife was jumping in and out of running with me at various points, shouting encouragement and telling me that I was ‘really close’, which helped me push that little bit harder, and I finished my third lap in 79 seconds. In my final lap as I passed the 200m mark I was starting to feel a little dizzy, with my lungs fighting for air as I focused on keeping my arms and legs pumping as fast as I could. My final 100m I was determined to out-sprint my wife who was running next to me again and I crossed the finish with a final lap time of 77 seconds to give me an overall time of 5:05.
I have to say that my initial feeling when I checked my watch was that of disappointment — I’d mentally prepared myself to beat 5 minutes and I’d missed it by 5 seconds. I also knew that I’d done all that I could — I was exhausted and felt a little nauseous. I’d paced exactly as I’d planned and had managed to pick up the pace in the final lap, it was just that I didn’t quite have it in my legs. After a bit of reflection (mainly pointed out by my wife), I was able to appreciate that shaving off 26 seconds from my initial time of 5:31 a month ago was actually a fairly decent achievement. I’m confident that if I were to continue training for a few more weeks I’d be able to cut the last 5 seconds.
So what did I learn from my month of training? Well first and foremost my view of running has changed. I used to think that running was putting one foot in front of the other as fast as you can, but turns out there’s a little more to it than that. My original running form was very upright, with a long stride, overreaching with my legs. With some direction from my wife I was able to improve my form by ‘sitting up’ on my hips more and reducing my stride length. In doing so I was able to prevent the aches and pains I used to experience. I also had a tendency to move my arms asymmetrically with my right lower than my left, and to breathe too much in my chest rather than my stomach. These were all things I consciously thought about while I was running and made an effort to improve. I had no idea there was so much to running.
Secondly, whilst my month of training doesn’t compare to the years my wife put into long distance running, I have at least got a better appreciation for what she put herself through. I have to say, it really is draining — even when I wasn’t running I was thinking about when I would fit in my next run, how my legs were feeling, how I could improve my running form, whether I was on track or not. The workouts are tough, your legs are sore, your feet are blistered, you have to ice your legs to help them recover, and after all that, even the event you’ve been training for is painful. I think there’s certainly a mental toughness which you need to keep going, so hats-off to anyone who can keep at it for that long!
Finally, whilst I would’t say I necessarily experienced a runner’s “high”, I would say that I got to a point where I could run and my legs would just… go. It felt like I was putting in very little effort and I was just gliding across the ground, almost as if I were cycling but without a bike. This is something new for me and I guess is what gets people hooked on running.
So where does this leave me now? Well, I feel like I can now add running into my regular workouts and actually enjoy it rather than loathing the thought of it. Whilst I’m not going to keep up the workouts I’ll try maintain some level of running fitness going forward. So that’s it for April, and a new month brings a new challenge — in May I’ll be learning to use TensorFlow.
