Five-Minute Mile Update

Well, I am about a month in to my training for the sub 5-minute mile. I wish I could say there has been enormous progress and that I am very confident that I can do this on January 12th, but that would be a lie. Don't get me wrong, there has been progress and I have been working hard and I am still going to go for it, but this 53-year old body doesn't respond or recover all that quickly. 

I have been going to the gym religiously 3-times per week, adding weight and reps each week. The core is stronger, as are my hips, glutes and legs. Even arms and upper body feel stronger. I can now do 6 pull-ups and could only do 1 a month ago. I've noticed the change in my running; a month ago when I tried to hit 12 mph, I felt out of control. I'd compare it to a car being out of alignment; everything is fine until you hit 65 or 70, then everything starts to shake uncontrollably! Anyway, back to the work-outs. The 20 minutes consist of leg lifts, hip crossovers, crunches, planks, spider planks, push-ups, lunges, bicep curls, Roman chair, suspended leg lifts and leg holds, squats, leg press and pull-ups. I am trying to get to a mental state where I enjoy this routine. I think I may be getting there. 

The running is another story. I am used to the higher-mileage, lower intensity stuff. Now its 40 plus miles per week with loads of intensity. As I mentioned, the biggest improvement is in my control. I can now run over 800 meters at 4:59 pace and it doesn't feel like an all out, herky-jerkey, out of control sprint. Don't get me wrong, it ain't easy and the idea of running two of them consecutively seems absurd at this point, but it's better. My first week, I ran 8x250m, all of them at or just slower than 5-minute pace. About a 3-weeks later, I managed to get all of them done at a 4:59 pace. The trick now is to do more than 8 and shorten the rest between intervals; currently it's about a 2-minute jog between each hard run. The 4x400m work-out is another story, where I am stuck at a 5:08 pace. This is pretty much a mental barrier that I need to get around. I just recently started with the 800 meters and this past week was encouraging, even though I bailed on the scripted work-out. The plan called for 2x800 meters at/or around 5 minute pace. The first 800m was a success, coming in at about 2:31. After about a 2 minute plus recovery jog, I started the second. Sub five through the first 250 meters but at 400m, I had slowed to a 5:15 pace and had to bail to recovery mode. After recovery I did 400 meters at 1:30, recovery, then 200m at 37 seconds and threw in some 100m strides. I was gassed. I have 7 weeks to go and this is the longest I have been able to maintain this routine without losing interest. We shall see if I can keep it up. Happy Running! Rick