How to Run a Fast Mile
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can EditThis article will focus on how you can reduce your mile time.
Steps
- Get a running buddy. It is
highly recommended this be carried out with someone who runs about the
same speed as yourself if possible. Training alone is not discouraged but
training with a team of similar runners is a huge motivation booster.
- Set your mind to it. Whether
your goal is 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 7 minutes or even more, it cant be
overstressed that one needs a lot of motivation to break a personal
record. The mind has a habit of emulating your thoughts. If you believe
something wont happen, your actions will make it so that it doesnt happen.
- Stretch
before and after practice and meets. Always do a 5-10 minute warm up and
cool down. These will help keep you from injury.
- Learn how to run properly.
Posture is crucial and sometimes is what prevents many people from running
faster.
- Start with distance running
and stick with this for about 4 weeks so your body gets used to long runs.
Keep the pace consistent. Right now youre focusing on increasing your
mileage. For the first week, do thirty minute runs each day (20 if youre
out of shape). The second week, increase this to 40 minutes, then to 50
minutes the next, then 50 - 60 minutes the fourth. But remember that there
are many different techniques you can use, so read up on how
to run longer.
- Take Sundays off except for
some stretching or cross training.
- Incorporate speed work in the
fifth week. These are known as tempo runs and should be done once or twice
a week. They should be at least two days apart from each other to allow
for recovery. Tempo has three parts: Practice pace, race pace, and
practice. Say youre doing a 30 minute run. You would run 10 minutes normal
pace, run race pace for 10 minutes, then slow it back down for the
remaining 10 minutes. For simplification, race pace is any pace above your
normal pace.
- Do tempo runs for about 2-3
weeks while continuing with your distance runs on the other days. Distance
runs should now be about 40-45 minutes. By the 7th or 8th week, you should
be comfortable with running.
- Stop your tempo runs at
around the 8th or 9th week. The aim here is to do intervals of 2000m,
1000m, 400m, 300m. The exact number isnt necessary. The longer the
distance, the fewer the repetitions. So on one day after a 20-30 minute
run, proceed to do 4 repetitions 2000m with rest in between around 3
minutes. By your last repetition, you should feel like quitting, thats how
tired you should be. Always a have a recovery distance run in between the
days of your sprints/speed workout. Recovery runs are very light and
relaxed runs that last about 30mins or less. On another day you could do a
6 x 1000m or 10 x 400 or 12 x 300 (these examples are really long... you
dont need to do that many reps if you are a beginner). The repetitions are
chosen arbitrarily. You can even mix then up on the same day such that you
do a pyramid. 2000m, rest, 1000m, rest, 400m, rest 300m, rest 400m, rest,
1000m, rest, 2000m. Speed workouts should last 2 weeks.
- Run your mile. Heres some
lap-by-lap strategy:
- Pre-race: Warm
up. Do a few paced sprints to get your heart rate up. Mentally go through
the race in your head. Know what times you want to have at each lap.
- Lap 1: Youll
want to start out a little faster than what is necessary to get your
target time. The fact of the matter is that psychologically, youre going
to slow down as you get further into the mile, so make sure this one is
good to compensate. Keep in mind, though, you dont want to spend it all
on this lap. A good example would be, if you want to run a 5:00 mile,
each lap would need to be 75 seconds. A good time for your first lap
would be 71-73; not too fast, but fast enough to give you some slack.
- Lap 2: Fall
into pace. This is where those 400 meter intervals you worked on will
come in handy; know what it feels like to run the pace you need to run.
This is the lap which should be right on target. In the 5:00 minute mile
we mentioned earlier, THIS is the lap which should be exactly 75 seconds,
so your time at the halfway point should be 2:26-2:28. Your adrenaline
rush will probably start to wear off midway through this one, and youll
start feeling it, but focus on your running form and keeping the pace.
- Lap 3: Mentally
and physically, this is the toughest lap for most people. More often than
not, this is the one which will determine if you get your target time or
not. Chances are, you will slow down from your original pace. In our 5:00
mile example, most people will run from about 77-78 seconds. However,
since the first lap was hopefully strong, this puts us almost perfectly
at 3:45, which is exactly on target. Nonetheless, it is important to make
a conscious effort to keep pace on this lap, or else you will fall
behind. Remember, your next lap is the last one!
- Lap 4: This is
it. Youre almost there. Thats what you need to be telling yourself at
this point. You probably slowed down on your previous lap, so you need to
really strut your stuff on this one and mentally push it to get to that
time. Especially important is the last 200 meters- on most tracks, thats
the final curve. All that can be said about this lap is that you need to
mentally give it your all, and youll make that target time.
- Keep it up! Your mile should
be significantly lower if you put enough effort into the exercises but
after the speed workouts, try and keep a consistent schedule.
Tips
- This is not a rigid schedule.
Tailor it to your needs. Some people can handle more, some cant, but the
basic process here is sharpening distance skills while honing in on speed.
- The mile requires a
combination of distance work and speed work. Strength work and plyometrics
should also be fitted in.
- If youre running to win or
get some points, use strategy on the track. Always speed up at the curves
of the track for about 6-10 seconds, then go back to your previous pace.
This will help you drain a couple of seconds.
- Keep yourself well-hydrated
at all times, drinking all the water you personally need, but not too much
to give you cramps when running.
- Every now and then, do 5-10
100m strides after distance runs. These are not sprints. Theyre
exaggerated runs where you open up your legs more than normal when
running.
- Its not about the time you
put in, its about the effort. Sure, you can put in 30 minutes of running,
but try each day to reasonably increase your speed slowly. You dont want
to make any radical changes. Keep your progress steady.
- If youre in your 10th week or
training and you feel like running is a chore for you, then you should run
one day and do something else the following day such as skate, play tennis
or even walk the dog.
- On a fairly regular basis,
run race pace a few 400m races (1 lap around the track usually). This will
help you gain a feel for what a specific pace feels like. You can then
mentally divide the mile into four 400s at paces you chose.
- If this is too much for you
then start off by doing 400m and time yourself so if your first time is 2
mins. then keep going till you are at 1 min. then go on to 800m and so on.
- When you run, it is better
for you to breathe through your nose, so only breathe through your mouth
when you are working really hard and need to. It is always ok to breathe
out your mouth though.
- Dont make really small steps;
it wastes your energy.
Warnings
- There will be certain days
you just dont feel like running but this is usually mental. Once youre 20
minutes into the run, youll garner more enthusiasm; but listen to your
body. If youre feeling pain, obviously take the day off. If it persists,
see a doctor or a trainer.
- Dont over-train. Once youre
into your 3rd or 4th week, you should feel better and more refreshed after
a run than before. If youre always feeling tired or exhausted after runs,
take a day or two off even if its not a Sunday. On your day back to
running, you might actually run faster than before.
- If you are out of shape, or
have not run for a while, dont try to be a hero and start off running 8
mile runs. Not only will you demotivate yourself, but you are risking
developing injuries such as stress fractures.
Things You Will Need
- Adequate shoes
- Drinking water
- Stopwatch
- Person to time you while you
run (optional)
- Buddy to run with (optional
but recommended)
Related wikiHows
- Pre-race: Warm
up. Do a few paced sprints to get your heart rate up. Mentally go through
the race in your head. Know what times you want to have at each lap.
- Lap 1: Youll
want to start out a little faster than what is necessary to get your
target time. The fact of the matter is that psychologically, youre going
to slow down as you get further into the mile, so make sure this one is
good to compensate. Keep in mind, though, you dont want to spend it all
on this lap. A good example would be, if you want to run a 5:00 mile,
each lap would need to be 75 seconds. A good time for your first lap
would be 71-73; not too fast, but fast enough to give you some slack.
- Lap 2: Fall
into pace. This is where those 400 meter intervals you worked on will
come in handy; know what it feels like to run the pace you need to run.
This is the lap which should be right on target. In the 5:00 minute mile
we mentioned earlier, THIS is the lap which should be exactly 75 seconds,
so your time at the halfway point should be 2:26-2:28. Your adrenaline
rush will probably start to wear off midway through this one, and youll
start feeling it, but focus on your running form and keeping the pace.
- Lap 3: Mentally
and physically, this is the toughest lap for most people. More often than
not, this is the one which will determine if you get your target time or
not. Chances are, you will slow down from your original pace. In our 5:00
mile example, most people will run from about 77-78 seconds. However,
since the first lap was hopefully strong, this puts us almost perfectly
at 3:45, which is exactly on target. Nonetheless, it is important to make
a conscious effort to keep pace on this lap, or else you will fall
behind. Remember, your next lap is the last one!
- Lap 4: This is
it. Youre almost there. Thats what you need to be telling yourself at
this point. You probably slowed down on your previous lap, so you need to
really strut your stuff on this one and mentally push it to get to that
time. Especially important is the last 200 meters- on most tracks, thats
the final curve. All that can be said about this lap is that you need to
mentally give it your all, and youll make that target time.
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