What time would be a fast mile?

Question

I have not timed myself in a long time, run for fun/stress relief. This evening though, ran a 5 minute 39 second mile and had some in the tank afterwards. I'm 28 years old, 5'5, 130lbs. Am I kidding myself, or is breaking into 4 minutes feasible for me? I have no specific regiments or training...run when I feel like it...rest when my body tells me. Also, What is considered an olympic time?

Answer 1

Ok, ignore everyone else and listen to me. 5:39 is a great time for just anyone- you tell most people you run a 5:39 and they are very impressed. 5:39 is an average time for a good runner though, maybe even below average. That is pretty good if you only run for fun/stress relief. I ran a 6:10 with no training at all, just got up and did it. Now, is it feasible for you to run in the 4's? Yes, but listen to me when I tell you that the faster you get, the harder it is to improve. I brought my mile down form 6:10 to 5:40 in only a few weeks of basic endurance training on my high school Cross Country team. I don't know how long it took to bring it to 5:14 because of all sorts of reasons, but I can tell you that going from 6:00 to 5:40 is much easier than going from 5:40 to 5:20- get what I'm saying? For every second you improve, its a little bit harder to improve by another, until you get to the point where dropping by just one second is a major deal. You are able to run a mile in the 4's, but it is not going to be something you can do without some serious training, even if you're very athletic and built for running. I am going into my second year in Track and Field and am shooting for a 4:30- last year my best was 5:09. This is the kind of training you need to do if you want to really do it.
Here is what my schedule looked like for last week:
Monday: Speed- 10x400 meters at 90% effort
Tuesday: 6xHills (Massive, massive hills)
Wednesday: 4 mile run
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 8 mile run
Saturday: 4 mile light run
Sunday: OC 5k- Race Day

And that was a rather easy week. Today I did 8 miles, through hills, and then cross trained on my bike afterward. Go for it dude, go for the 4 minute mile- that is, in the 4's. To run a 4:00, would require years of training, and in my opinion, though some would disagree with me, you have to have the right build and genetics for that kind of level. But, for say, a 4:45? You could do that, but you are going to have to train hard. Focus on speed work, like running a quarter of a mile, fast, over and over again with small rests in between. Do some distance, like 4 or 5 miles, but don't do the 8 mile runs like I do very often, maybe every other week for conditionining- I do them because I do other events and 5ks and such. If you work hard at it....I say you could run in the 4's, that is at least a 4:59, if you start tomorrow, by April. That is my best guess. You asked what an olympic time is? Whoever said 4:10 is way off, thats my high school's record, and our rival's runner up- for the olympics you are lookin at a mile in the 3's. The World Record is...3:42 or 3:43 I can't remember which. That is, essentially, a near sprint for the entire mile. You seem to have a pretty good aptitude for running, 5:39 isn't bad, there are guys on my team who run that, but they run 5 days a week with us at school. Breaking into the 4's is kind of a runner milestone, the mark of respect, you know? Go for it dude, and good luck. Feel free to email me at [e-mail] if you have any questions, I'll gladly answer them.

And regarding this....

****Well, I know a really good high school 5k (3.1 miles) is about 15-17 minutes.

So, you'd run a 5k in about 16.5 minutes. That's pretty darn good.

4 minutes is pretty out-there, though. That'd be like running a 12 minute 5k. I think that's entering the professional range. It takes a lot to drop time even by just seconds. And you want to cut it by 81 seconds. It'd take a bit of training... a lot of training... but I believe you could do it. ***

If what she said was true, and you just multiplied your mile by three to get what your three mile was, I'd be schooling Collegiate Athletes with time to take a nap. It doesn't work like that at all. A 12 minute 5K? Nobody has ever done that. That is running a near world record mile, 3 times. You'd have to run a...3:50 mile, three times without stopping, to do that. Considering the record is 3:43 for ONE, good luck with that. Your 5K time...I'll estimate it at 19:30, but hey I may be wrong- but it sure as hell is not 16:30, unless you ran that mile easy.

Answer 2

Okay first off the guy two above me was right on some stuff, but you really need the knowledge of someone who's been there and done that and not someone thats still running in the 5's. Okay 5:39 isn't a bad time but I ran a 5:03 mile when I was in the seventh grade and ran in the 4:20's when I was in high school, your at the age now at 28 where its gonna be more difficult to improve then lets say you were 16. Trust me I'm 21 now and its not as easy to improve then it was in high school. But you can break into the high 4:50's if you actually do a little training, if you just keep running for fun/stress relief its gonna be hard for you to break 5 minutes. The thing to do is run some repeat 400's like 8 to 10 all under a lets go with 75 for your mile time and take a 30 second rest between each one, once that time gets easy go for all under a 70. Also run repeat miles lets say do 3 repeat miles all in about 6 minutes to 6:30 since it'll be hard to do your best time 3 times..take about 2 to 3 minutes break between each of these. then do some distance like 4 to 5 miles once or twice a week. If you do these things I see no reason maybe for you to break 5 minutes...also most Olympic runners or those who qualify for the finals usually run anywhere from the 3:40's to 3:50's. I hope this all helped and good luck! If you need to ask any questions from a experienced all state distance runner then feel free to email me at [e-mail].

Answer 3

There have been some excellent answers, and I will not repeat what they have said. I will give you some information to consider:

There is a window in a man's life between 17 and 40 when it is possible to run a 4 minute mile. Only 4 high school boys have done it, and I believe that only one man over 40 has done it. To be honest, I believe that you are probably too old to achieve the 4 minute mile at this point in your life. Most likely the runners who have achieved a sub 4 mile later in life were sub 4 milers earlier, and managed to maintain a high level of fitness over the years. The guy who was over 40 and did it was Eamonn Coghlan, who was an sub 4 runner much earlier in his life.

You obviously have some natural ability, and a good level of fitness, but you probably should be enjoying running in 5K races or higher in your local area and competing in your age group. For you to improve 100 seconds is highly unlikely. I'd probably say the same thing if you could run 4:39 right now.

I envy your ability! Train and run some races, and enjoy being better than many guys your age.

Answer 4

Breaking four minutes takes a lot of training. I am a good long distance runner and i run a 6 minute mile. You are a good runner. An olympic time is much faster than that. Under five minutes at least, mostly 4:15 or lower.

Answer 5

Well, I know a really good high school 5k (3.1 miles) is about 15-17 minutes.

So, you'd run a 5k in about 16.5 minutes. That's pretty darn good.

4 minutes is pretty out-there, though. That'd be like running a 12 minute 5k. I think that's entering the professional range. It takes a lot to drop time even by just seconds. And you want to cut it by 81 seconds. It'd take a bit of training... a lot of training... but I believe you could do it.

Answer 6

ok my best time in mile is 5:00 as a 8 grader im a 9 grader 4 the Olympics u need under 4 mins in mile

Answer 7

breaking into 4 minutes is feasible for just about any guy with a little athletic ability....it just requires training....like running more than when you feel like it....olympic has to be lower than 4:10....great high school runners can run under 4:30....

Answer 8

Just so you know...the currently record for the mile is held by Hicham El Guerrouj, who set a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome in 1999.

Answer 9

i run a 4:45 so u should be like 3:00 or a miracle 2:30

Answer 10

well that would be under 3 minutes and i have to train every day to get close so keep doing your thing