Q: Road Mile vs. Track Mile?

How do the times translate?
My favorite response: (road-road)+track = track
Only other response: road-10sec = track

Really?
Men: outdoor- 3:43:13; indoor-  3:48:45
Women: outdoor-4:12:56 ; indoor- 4:17:14
The fastest road mile was run in 1981 by Sydney Maree- 3:47:52!

Is 3:43:13 the lowest we'll see?
Not if they bring back the mile!

Better start training for next year's 1-mile road championship! Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day... I'll post the results of this AM's Mile Challenge at some point.

5280ft

Bring back the mile...

Not the 1500m...

Or the 1600m...

But all of the 1609m...

WAHOOO!

Yeah, not so sure that cheer is going to take off, but there is a movement in the US to bring back the mile. The mile is one of the few distances that most Americans can visualize, yet only MA features the mile at its high school state championship. On the collegiate level, the mile is still run indoors, but it has been dropped from the outdoor schedule because the IAAF won't accept mile (or converted mile) times for the world championships or Olympics. In any event, here's a look at the history of the record for the mile... 1999 is a long time for a record to stand!

The Next Yasso 800?!

BREAKING NEWS: there *might* be a new workout the rivals the Yasso 800 in terms fundamental training success for distances shorter than 26.2-miles. So, whose name will go down in running history (I really want to know if Bart Yasso says he's going to do "me 800's", "Yasso 800's", or just plain "800's"?

30-20-10... ok, that's the weirdest last name that I have ever heard. Doesn't have the same ring to it... too many things to say... how about the Blast Off Workout (get it... 3, 2, 1 (x10)... blast off). But saying that we're going to run Blast Off's at the track sounds kind of awkward. Maybe we can call it the Pluto workout (because I feel bad that its no longer a planet)? Yeah, I like that, plus it reminds me of Disney World and... ok ok, back on topic

The 30-20-10 workout consists of jogging 30sec, tempo-ing for 20sec, and then sprinting for 10sec. This cycle gets repeated five times, with the aim of doing 2-3 sets. Veteran runners who did this a few times a week improved their 1500m times by 6% and their 5k times by 4%. Also, their health improved (lower systolic blood pressure as well as cholesterol). 

The Beer Mile

I thought I posted something about The Beer Mile a while back, but I can't remember when (good thing I started tagging posts). So, being that I can't find it, this "first Tuesday of the month's installment" will be dedicated to the topic. First off, yes... The Beer Mile is actually a contested race with documented rules and records and everything (there's apparently a 5-min barrier for this rendition of 5280ft)! The rules differ by "region"- the US favors 12oz cans and issues a penalty for puking, whereas they drink 20oz out of a pint glass in UK, Australia, and New Zealand (and no penalty is issued for "chundering"). In German-speaking countries, they prefer Kastenlauf to The Beer Mile. For this sport, a team of two must carry and consume a crate of beer over 10-kilometers.

How To Race a Mile

With Brad's Mile Challenge coming up on Memorial Day, I decided to look up how to run "the perfect mile" because I haven't run one in a good bit of time. There is a good bit of strategy involved too (aka the race is too long to run all-out, but too short to have a lot of time to recover from a "mistake"):

• The Start (up to 200m): go out hard to establish position (near the front of the pack in the second lane is optimal)... this helps to avoid getting boxed-in, as well as some of the jostling that goes on mid-pack (note: I don't recommend being the "leader" of whatever pack you're in as you will be doing a lot of extra work in terms of fighting the wind, etc.)
• Mid-Race (200m - 1200m): run steady and respond to surges as needed (as the race goes on, it's more important to surge to stay with the group... early on, there might be some people who try and "win it" from the start... often times, these individuals will fade as the race goes on, but that's not a hard and fast rule)
• Last Lap (1200-1450m): gradually begin to accelerate... and really begin to accelerate once you're on the back straight-away (you want to be nearly at or at your top speed with 200m to go)
• The Finish (1450-1600m): as you come off the last bend, you should be at your top speed. Gradually move to the outside of whatever lane you're in (this forces anyone who wants to pass you to run further)

I disagree that you want to be in Lane 3 in the final 200m of the race... that's a lot of extra running at top speed! I would recommend surging to the front of whatever pack your in (before you enter the final turn) and getting to the inside (you won't get boxed-in if you're in front!).

So, with the legit strategy discussion out of the way, lets take a peek at the 12-step WikiHow Program. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a race plan discussion in my life. Who the heck writes these things?! Step #4- learn how to run properly... would have thought that would have been first. Step #6- take Sundays off except for some stretching or cross training... dang, there are a lot of runners who might be in trouble then because Sunday is a pretty popular "long run" day. Steps 7 and 9 lay out some pretty solid training plans:

• Speed Workout #1: 10min easy... 10min at race pace... 10min easy [wow, that's a long time to run at mile race pace!]
• Speed Workout #2: 20-30min easy... 4 x 2000m @ by the last rep you should feel like quitting, that's how tired you should be; are we training for a marathon or a mile (especially since the article goes on to say how 6x1000m, 10x400m, and 12x300m are "really long")?
• Speed Workout #3: ok, it totally matters what the length the interval is!

So, I'm reading along, and I get to "keep at it", and realize that's only Step 11. Weird, that's usually what they conclude with... and then I read Step 12... thank you WikiHow!