*Originally published on Salty Running

Part One - Forget Marathons: I'm Racing the Mile

For many runners, especially those adult-onset runners who catch the running bug later in life, it’s all about the marathon. It’s a lofty aspiration, a great topic of conversations at cocktail parties, and well worth its place on the bucket list.

The marathon, however, is not on my bucket list. While my big dream running goal might not impress anyone around the office water cooler, it’s more intense than a marathon and it requires just as much bravery: one fast mile.

The mile fascinates me. Long before the marathon became the barometer for running greatness, the mile, like space travel, redefined the boundaries of human achievement when Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier. For women, the 4-minute equivalent might be 4:20. Only a handful of women have ever gone below that barrier. Mary Decker-Slaney has the Amercian record with her 4:16.71, while Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova set the world record with her 4:12.56.

The mile has been the battle-ground for great rivalries in our sport, such as that of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. It has been a showcase for promising young American talent: like Shannon Rowbury’s incredible 4:20.34 debut mile in 2008 and the awe-inspiring performance of a young Alan Webb, whose 3:46.91 is still the eighth fastest of all time, and the fastest ever run by an American. And it serves as the keynote at many of our most prestigious competitions, like the Wanamaker Mile at the Milrose Games or the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic.

I’m not alone in my fascination with this distance. The web-community Bring Back the Mile is dedicated to reinstating the mile as “America’s distance.” This site aptly describes the mile as “iconic, classic and timeless.” Everyone who has ever truly raced a mile knows what a sub-4 for men or a sub-4:20 mile for women means: near superhuman speed coupled with an ironclad will and the ability to push oneself almost beyond the breaking point.

Yet, at whatever level you attempt to cover the 1,609.344 meter distance, the same traits are required. To run a fast mile, you must be willing to put it all on the line and possibly fail in your endeavor; facing up to this possibility is a true test of your courage as a runner and as a person. So… I will take the next six weeks and tackle the mile. The time is right to do it. I’m healthy. I’m strong from 5K training, with a good aerobic base. And I am striving to find my inner Eye of the Tiger in running.

How hard can I push? Can I fully embrace the uncomfortable as my Coach Cathy advises I must? I don’t have a race on the calendar or a time goal per se. My goals are simply to run fast and be brave. We’ll see what challenges this brings. Anyone want to join me?

Part Two - How to Train to Race a Mile: Start with Stamina

When most of us distance runners think about how to train to race a mile, we think speed, speed, and more speed! Compared to a marathon a mile is a very short race, but like a good marathon race, a good mile race requires training that balances speed, strength, and stamina. Lest you think forgoing marathons for miles means low mileage and nothing but short speed workouts on the track, nothing could be further from the truth. A good mile race requires lots of miles in training, including tempo-type workouts and, yes, long runs!

Last week, I told you about my quest to run a brave mile. This week I want to begin talking about training for a mile race. Because I started my mile race training with building my endurance, let’s start with stamina training. We’ll get to speed and and strength later.

Building stamina for a mile race requires building base mileage, incorporating a long run, as well as specific stamina workouts.

Base Mileage

I ran an average of 40 miles per week for the three months leading up to my mile training. Over the course of this training cycle, I have built my mileage up further to an average of 45-50 miles per week. Running this volume of weekly miles to run one single fast mile might seem surprising, but it’s essential to build a strong aerobic base. Like other races distances you are probably familiar with, from the 5k to the marathon, the mile is primarily an aerobic event. For a thorough explanation of the difference between aerobic and anaerobic running, go here.

For our purposes, aerobic training allows us to run farther at faster paces. Anerobic training allows us to sprint at the finish. When we start tapping into the anaerobic system when we run, we cannot sustain that pace for long without our legs burning. Anaerobic running causes lactic acid to flood our muscles faster than our bodies can clear it out. Once we go from aerobic to anaerobic, we will not be able to sustain fast running for very long. For a mile race, only the last 20% of the race can be run anaerobically, while the first 80% of the race relies on the aerobic system. That means a strong aerobic system is the foundation you need to race your best mile.

You may not have the time to run 45-50 miles in a week, or you may not be able to tolerate running this much without getting injured. That’s okay! This doesn’t preclude you from training to run a fast mile. Run as many miles as you can within your time constraints, your experience level, and your propensity for injury. If running every day or most days isn’t possible, you can substitute cross-training, like aqua-running, for some of your runs. The point is, even though you are training for a short distance, you can’t be short on the volume of aerobic training you do if you want to improve.

The Long Run

Yes, you still need to do long runs to train to race the mile. The good news is that this long run need not be nearly as long as those you might have done training for races like half or full marathons. During my mile training block, my daily runs have ranged from 6-8 miles. Once a week I run a slightly longer run of 10 miles. To add a little extra training stimulus to these runs, I run them at an easy pace, but within each mile of my long runs, I run one to two minutes at a “plus pace.” My coach defines “plus pace” as perceived exertion of about 65% of maximum, which is a little pick-up in pace. This slightly longer run gives me some extra aerobic endurance, while the addition of some “plus pace” running during this longer, easy run adds a little jolt to my nervous system, which keeps my stride feeling light and fresh. Give it a try!

Threshold Running

On another day each week I run a workout that usually includes a total of 3-4 miles at threshold pace. Threshold pace is commonly described as a pace you could race at for 50 to 60 minutes, somewhere between marathon and 10K race pace, and threshold runs are used to build strength and endurance. These workouts can be challenging, so it’s best to pick a flat, well-defined course to help you keep your focus.

For my threshold runs, my coach plugged my most recent race time into the Daniels Running Formula to calculate the appropriate pace range for my threshold runs. Though I keep this pace range in mind when I run these workouts, I generally aim to maintain a “comfortably hard” level of perceived exertion, approximately 75% of maximal effort. Some examples of my threshold workouts are listed here:

9 miles with 2 x 2 miles comfortably hard (perceived exertion 75% of max, or threshold pace), 1 mile jog recovery between (This is my staple workout)
8-9 miles with 1 x 2 miles comfortably hard, 1 mile jog recovery, then 1 x 1 mile comfortably hard
8-9 miles with 3-4 x 1 mile comfortably hard with 1 minute jog recovery between
8-9 miles with 3-4 miles comfortably hard continuous running

These runs are both mentally and physically challenging, and I hope they will help build my strength for the mile!

Part Three - Mile Training: Spend Time on Speed

Speed-work: we do it to train for every race distance. It’s our chance to practice running at our target race pace, taking on the challenge in small pieces before stringing it together into a race on our big day. I thought I had plenty of experience with hard speed workouts training for the 5K and the10K, but I was completely unprepared for mile race speed-work. For mile training, speed work means running REALLY hard.

I started out chronicling my journey to a brave mile by telling you my reasons for tackling this distance. Then, I told you about the stamina training I do to build the strength to hold a fast pace for a whole mile. This week, I’ll talk about my mile-specific speed-work.

Improving your speed for the mile involves setting a baseline, priming your nervous system and building strength with sprints, and tackling mile-specific hard interval workouts.

Time Trials

I’ve written about time trials in a previous post, but I’m mentioning them again because they can be very helpful in mile training. Unlike with the 5K or 10K where you can find a race on any given weekend and easily track your progress, there are far fewer opportunities to race the mile, especially if you are primarily racing on the roads. Running a one-mile time trial about every four to six weeks during your mile training can give you almost as good an idea of your progress as a race will. Then you can target areas of weakness to focus on in your training going forward.

Sprints

One element of mile training that I am finding to be especially fun is that you get to sprint a lot, even if you aren’t a sprinter! About once or twice a week at some point during or after an easy run, I sprint. This either entails 6-8 x 8-10 second all-out sprints on a steep hill (about a 10% grade), or 5-6 x 20-30 second sprints on flat ground at a perceived exertion of 90% of maximum. Either way, I allow full recovery between each sprint. I usually run at least two slow easy miles first so I am thoroughly warmed up, and sometimes I even wait until the penultimate mile or the very end of the run before I sprint.

Sprinting has been a great way to build speed and power, as it’s about the most running-specific strength training you can do. It also lets me practice faster stride turnover during easy runs without being overly fatiguing. A word of warning: if you aren’t used to sprinting, ease into it or you might wind up tweaking a calf or hamstring. One or two short sprints on a hill at the end of an easy run and then building up gradually are the safest way to include sprints when you are just starting out.

Hard Interval Work

We’ve written about intervals on Salty Running before (see here and here). Intervals for mile training serve an important purpose: conditioning us to deal with the extreme discomfort of running short distances at a pace way outside of our comfort zone. Once a week during this training block, I’ve been running 2-3 miles of hard intervals either on the track or on hills at-or-close to goal mile pace and sometimes significantly faster. Talk about discomfort!

These workouts are all about courage. First, the anticipation of going to a workout you know is going to hurt takes mental fortitude. I personally have to talk myself down from a ledge every time. Then, adopting a brave pace from the very first repeat, knowing full well the discomfort in doing so will steadily increase as the workout goes on, has helped me to work on developing a steely will. The lessons learned? You can feel awful and still run fast, and you can usually hang on to a tough pace for a lot longer than you think.

Sample Workouts

Here are some of the workouts I’ve done that have taught me these things:

Track

● 6 miles with 1 x 800m very hard (perceived exertion of 90% of maximum), 800m jog recovery, then 4 x 400m hard (perceived exertion of 85% of maximum) with 30 seconds jog recovery

● 7 miles with 6 x 800m at current mile pace with 400m jog recovery

● 8 miles with 4 x 1200m at 3K pace with 800m jog recovery

Hills

● 7 miles with 6 x 1-min hard (perceived exertion of 85% of max), then 6 x 45-seconds hard (perceived exertion of 85% of max), then 6 x 30-seconds very hard (perceived exertion of 90% of max), all with full jog recovery

● 7 miles with 4 x 0.75 miles comfortably hard (perceived exertion 75% of max), then 0.25 miles very hard (perceived exertion 90% of max), 0.25 mile jog recovery between repeats

These workouts convinced me I could run at paces well beyond my expectations, which I hope will give me the courage to run my bravest mile.

Part Four - My Brave Mile

My mile-training day of reckoning was fast approaching, almost time to put the past several months of motivation, stamina training and speed-work to the test and to see if I had the courage to run a brave mile. I wrote my goal on my calendar in red, but as the date approached, Mother Nature intervened, dropping a thick blanket of snow over the tracks and roads of Boston. The weather turned colder, and a series of damp, blustery days seemed to seal the deal; I would have to wait for spring.

But then, unexpectedly, just as I got used to the idea of trading in my racing flats for snowshoes, the forecast became more favorable for racing, predicting several days of sun and milder air to melt the snow. As if on cue, patches of the orange oval in my neighborhood peeked out from beneath the white cover, growing bigger day by day.

And then I got an email from Coach Cathy: “I think we can head to the track today. Want to try the miler?”

I was knotted up in a tangle of emotions. Yes, I wanted to try the miler, but the thought filled me with a mix of excitement and dread. I had started on my quest to run a brave mile ten weeks ago. I got the idea after doing a mile time trial in prep for my fall goal race, a 5k on Thanksgiving. I ran that mile in 6:22, which was only marginally faster than the pace I ran in the 5k race. Mulling this over, I suspected I wasn’t performing up to my mile potential and it made me wonder what I could do if I trained exclusively for the mile. And so, my goal fall 5K behind me, I set my sights on improving my mile time.

A month into mile training, I ran another time trial at the end of a pretty discouraging week of training. Following on the heels of a hard speed interval workout that completely wiped me out, my staple 2 x 2-miles stamina workout had been 45-60 seconds per mile slower than usual – ugh! I wondered if I had what it took to run fast and hard. I was not optimistic for the time trial, and Coach Cathy and I set a conservative goal of a 6:15 mile. I came in at 5:59.68. Now, the burden of living up to that expectation weighed heavily on me. Could I run a mile as fast again, or even faster?

“It’s cold, and there’s a wind,” Coach Cathy told me in the car on the way to the track. “Don’t worry too much about the time. Just run with courage.” Jogging my long, slow warm-up, I tried to reason with myself. All that matters is that I am brave, I thought. And this is not my last opportunity to run a fast mile. I ran a bunch of strides and willed myself to relax. I called to my mind the lion, the image I’d been using to help me face up to all the hard workouts. Without fanfare, I took my place at the start line and began.

From practice, I knew the feeling I needed for first-lap pace to match or exceed the 90 seconds I needed to match or exceed my previous best. I stepped into it readily, feeling strong. Wind gusts pushed against me as I rounded the second curve, though it was early enough in the run there was no difficulty or challenge to them. But coming down the backstretch that first rush of adrenaline started to wane, and the grave awareness of my task set in. I passed Coach Cathy, who was calling out the seconds, and heard my first split, 1:25. I was on target.

Hold it here, I thought. Just hold it here. This lap, I felt the gusty wind around the second turn. It would be the longest lap, the one containing those extra nine meters that would bring me to the mile. Still running bravely, I passed Coach Cathy again and heard my split, 3:00. On pace.

I embarked on the bear that is the third lap. My breathing became labored and I could hear it ripping out of me in gasps. The winds around the second turn slugged into me. Was I slowing just a little, or was I standing still? Fatigue and doubt threatened to erode my resolve. Pushing them away, I got to the backstretch. More than halfway there now! But my split this time was slower than it needed to be, 4:36.

Let’s go! I thought, reaching into my reserves to give it everything I had for that last lap. Got to make up the time! My hamstrings started zinging in that way they do when I’m running really fast, propelling me through the wind. I could barely keep my eyes open against the effort. At the top of the backstretch, I heard Coach Cathy shouting out the seconds. I can get there! I thought. I can do it! I sprinted for the line and crossed.

How I would have loved the conclusion to this series of posts, in which I’ve told you about how I trained for the mile, to be a courageous mile run leading to a new personal best. But in reality, I finished one second too late. My time was 6:00.69. After the run, as I struggled to fend off the dry heaves and catch my breath, disappointment crept around the edges of my achievement. I vanquished it. My true goal had been to run a brave mile, and I did!

Now when can I do it again?

My Brave Mile: Four-part Series