How do you get a five minute mile?

Question

I am currently thinking of joining Cross Country. I SUCK AT RUNNING. I have like a 15 minute mile. And they want a five minute mile..?

How do i do it?

Any excercises, tips, hints, ANYTHING would be helpful !!

Or AROUND a five minute mile. 5-6 minutes.. that would be great for me..

And, i kinda exaggerated my mile time, it is actually around 12-13 minutes...

Answer 1

The only way to get better at running is run....over time you will get quicker...if you speed up and extend your distance you will get better...they say though it takes a couple weeks to speed up just a couple of minutes. Good luck...it is a great goal!

Answer 2

if they want (no offense) a GIRL to run a five minute mile just to JOIN the cross country team, then they will have few, if any, athletes. A five minute mile is very fast! I was on the Maryland state champion track team last year. There were probably about 5 GUYS on the team that could run a mile under five minutes. All you do is run, your race, train every day (weekends optional). Push yourself. This is easier if you have someone you know is just a little faster than you to run with. Try to stay with that person as long as you can and you will see results. Don't expect to drop 10 minutes off your mile just like that - it takes time, and effort to become the runner you want to be.

Answer 3

Join the Cross Country Team. The coach is the person who will help you accomplish your goals. So what your at 15 minute miles, if you join your time will come down. There are plenty of stories of people who couldn't walk, but wanted it bad enough, and in the end became world class athletes. (You only want a five minute mile.) Nothing is impossible. Just Do It.

Answer 4

Well, im guessing it is hard for you to run a mile seeing your time. Therefore you need to start somewhere. I'm guessing you have a standard four lap track that is open to you at school? if you do go there and run half a lap as fast as you can at a pace that if continued would be a 5 minute mile. Run it as many times as you can until failure with about 90 seconds of rest in between. Next try doing a full lap at 1 min 12 or so, and so on and so forth until you can get the strength and endurance to run a full mile at a 5 min pace. It will be hard but if you really want to do it you will be able to

Answer 5

if you suck at it why do you want to run?

If you really want to, the biggest thing you need to develop is you heart and lung capacity. Guess what. Run everyday and keep track of how far and how fast each time. You will find that once you get past the initial pain and sore legs that you will start to improve a little every day (mostly). I bet you will be under 10 minutes in no time. Getting to under five will take determination but unless you are severly overweight, I'm pretty sure you can do it.

Answer 6

Progressive exercise is the key to improving both speed and endurance. You also need a proper balanced diet. I suggest that a treadmill is a good tool for the training. If this is not available, use a watch to time your workouts. Three days a week work on distance and two days a week work on a quarter mile track for sprinting. I advise one day of rest and walking one day. Take care to properly stretch after warming up. The warm up and cool down are vital parts of any exercise program. I also suggest you take some time in getting the correct shoes. Good luck and work hard.

Answer 7

Start running daily for at least half an hour. And don't just run half an hour at a continous pace, some things that you can try are hill work (running up and down hills, and this has to be at least a quarter mile of hills at once, with breaks in between), running intervals (running a set amount of distance, from 400m all the way up to a mile repeatedly spending approx. the same amount of time resting as running).

Answer 8

Im an excellent runner. So this advice will come from some one who knows. I do track and it ain't easy at all. It requires alot of training, proper diet and ALOT of dedication. You are alone, no team members for starters, so if you lose, don't be mad at yourself. You need to have alot of confidence and again dedication. Here are some tips. Air control is number one, breathing from your nose and exhaling out of your mouth, Slowly if you run normal, fast if your running fast. This will provide the air needed in the cells and brains. Therefore you will keep running with out getting tired so fast. Make sure you dont eat before running, or else you will have severe headaches and dizziness. Train about 3x for 2 weeks then move to about 5x. You will build stamina, Your legs and butt muscles will gain strenght and size. So your butt will get bigger in other words hehehe. Its a great sport and keeps all your organs healthy. Also cut down the fat! Good luck!! and YOU DONT SUCK AT RUNNING, YOU ARE JUST NOT TRAIN! TRAIN AND YOU WILL BE GREAT! =]

Answer 9

you have to run run run. It will take a couple years or more if you are at a 15 min mile right now. I went into XC with a 6:30 mile and I only got down to 5:20 for my best. You may never get to a 5 min mile but you can work hard and try.

Don't hurt yourself, take precautions. Stress fractures and other injuries can occur if you run too much.

ok I don't understand why I am getting thumbs down on my answes all the time?

Answer 10

Every morning I wake up I run, when I get home I run, when my body calms down, i run to get it back up. The only way to get your time better is to whiddle it down by running more and excercising more.

Best tips I have:

Work out your leg muscles on excercise machines, the stronger they are, the harder they can push you, the faster and longer you can run.

Run out until you know you hit your limit, then push it, not till you die, but until you KNOW you've given it your all, the only way to improve is to reach your limit and go beyond it every time. Slowly the limit will be longer, and faster, and you can push it harder.

WATER - DON'T DEHYDRATE YOUR SELF, it will set you back a week, but don't over hydrate as youll cramp up.