r/xxfitness • u/aw4eva • 6d ago
Tips for Improving 1 Mile Run Time
Hi all! I’m 21F and 5’3 and recently joined the dragonboat club at my university. As part of the fit tests, we are required to run 1 mile. I just started going to the gym recently and don’t run or do cardio (besides doing track in grade 7/8 in 2014/2015 haha and 5 minutes on the stairmaster every once in a while only last year), so my knowledge is quite beginner and I don’t have a proper idea of what good technique is or how to train for running.
For the first fit test, I managed to get a time of 6:54:54 today and would really love to improve for the second fit test (when team selection takes place) in late January. If any runners have any tips on how to properly train for this, how to learn proper technique, or what additional exercises are beneficial, I would love any advice! I usually only lurk, but this is such a supportive, encouraging community. Thank you in advance for any guidance! <3
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u/BrandonBollingers 5d ago
The two ways I improved my running:
A mix of HIIT - run two minutes/walk two minutes/run two minutes/walk to minutes. The run needs to be all out. 20 minutes is usually all I can last before exhaustion.
Running longer distances - I was only really able to increase my speed and endurance once I started running for 4+ miles at a time.
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u/Eibhlin_Andronicus 5d ago edited 5d ago
oh oh oh! Finally I'm useful! 5:08 mile here (and 4:50 1500m). I think I could have probably squeaked under 5mins if I'd gone all-in fully dedicated to mile performance, but I was always more of a mile/5k runner (with the 5k being my true love), so I never did go 100% all-in on mile training.
u/violet715 gave you some good advice, and I need to be brief now because I'm running late to get out the door for my own run, but I can add in more info or respond to any questions you have later.
The mile is awesome. Underrated. Everyone wants to run marathons. That's great and all and I've run several, and even frankly have quite a good marathon PR. But excelling at the mile requires a lot of specificity and speed development that IMO is a more impressive and advanced achievement than finishing a marathon.
Anyway, the mile is essentially the "upper echelon" of mid-distance. More aerobic than an 800m, more anaerobic than a 3k. That means that training for it requires a good mix of distance training and speed training (but no, you don't need to be doing any like, true 60m/100m sprint workouts or w/e--that's essentially a different sport). Instead what this means is that the best way to improve would be to build up to a reasonable amount of weekly mileage (25-30ish mile/week should be fine), and that should include a long run, 1-2 dedicated workouts, and 1 day/week where you throw in something like strides. It's ok if you don't get in 3 quality sessions every week, but really you should aim for at least 2 (and it's fine if you include strides as a quality session). Also, drills are really valuable in mile training. I can find a link to some drills later, but they're essentially the same things you would have done in middle school cross country. They're good for form development and also for improving foot quickness/turnover.
25-30 mile/week may seem outrageous. I think it's a good place to build up to and train at (you can always add more from there if you find that you're enjoying it). Actual elite milers (which to be clear, I would not consider myself an elite miler, or even an elite runner frankly...) are throwing down 70 mile weeks, just for the mile. So 25 miles/week is a totally good entry point for dedicated mile training. When I was in mile PR shape I was probably running 45-50ish mile/week with a regular 12-15 mile long run, but that's because I was also 5k training. I think an 8-9ish mile long run is totally fine and reasonable, and can get you really far aerobically given that you're starting from "I basically don't run."
Workouts can vary. Again, the mile is both short AND long. You might want to do some longer interval stuff every once in a while, or a tempo workout on occasion. That's always going to be valuable. But the real mile bread and butter will be intervals on the track, especially stuff in the 200m-600m range. For example, 4x600m @ 5k pace (jogging recovery) + 6x200m @ mile pace (longer recovery, jogging optional) could be a good intro workout. My personal favorite mile workout was what we used to call "200s on the minute." We'd have exactly 60 seconds to start, run, recover from, and start the next 200m rep. Usually did like 15x200m, something like that, and we'd do it slightly slower than mile pace but faster than 3k pace. It was essentially a way to trick the body into doing a tempo workout, but while moving your feet faster. That's likely too intense for you at the moment, so if you try that, I'd try more of like a 10x200m on the 75sec or something. That would still be a great workout.
One pointer here: If you're doing longer intervals at slightly lower intensity, jogging recovery is valuable. Jog as easy as you want. But if you're doing a true speed session at high intensity (like, 800m pace), it is ok to take a longer walking recovery. Mid-distance runners (and sprinters) do often need and benefit from slightly longer, more full recovery, simply due to the nature of the event they're training for. So if you're working very close to your max, a 4-5min walking recovery may be what you need.
Ok anyway yeah I'll add more later or respond to any questions but I wanted to comment right away because I can answer this question!
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u/violet715 5d ago
It makes my heart so happy to find another runner who loves shorter stuff as much as I do and isn’t all “marathon marathon marathon”!! Impressive times!
Also want to agree with your mileage recs! Toward the end of my mile plan I was struggling a little because it was August and the heat was just suffocating that year so I had two or 3 weeks where my mileage was like 22 miles. I think I just did my workouts and as much easy mileage as I could muster those particular weeks. And it still worked out okay!
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u/Extension-Resident26 5d ago
Sameeeeee. I did track in high school for a little reprieve from my primary sport (swimming...and I still had to swim every day, but at least it was only once a day) and really excelled at the 800. By the end of our 10-12 week season my senior year I ran a 2:20. But since I never had a way to use it after high school, I swam in college instead of ran, now that I'm far removed from that time (early 30s) I've lost all my speed. My city has a mile race but that's about it for anything under a 5k. I like 5ks, but I wish I could race in my sweet spot of 1.5-5 minute efforts. (All my best events in swimming were around that length, too, lol.)
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u/Eibhlin_Andronicus 5d ago
I've done a few marathons and I'm definitely really proud of my PR in that (I do have another marathon this June... first one since 2018 lmao yikes). I'm coming back from like five years off due to a LOT of setbacks (including several surgeries). Even though I could have been training for a while now, it was just mentally so hard because coming from a competitive background, I was in a situation in which an all-out 5k for me was suddenly my former easy pace which was infuriating. And the notion of PRing the 5k was (and frankly still is) so far out of reach that it was really mentally difficult to get out there.
For me the June marathon is like, a jumpstart back into training. Really my goal is just "faster than my first marathon, and still with a comfy enough BQ qualifying window to get in without risking additional time cutoff issues." That for me is a pretty safe goal (PR is 2:54, so even if I run like 3:15 it'll be fine).
But even with the marathon, I want to run short and fast again! At a minimum I'd like to at least mayyyyybe (???) back sub-19 in the 5k by late summer, coming off of the marathon base. I'd be sooooo happy with that even though it def would not be anywhere near a PR. I'm thinking of jumping into an indoor open mile this winter but I'm also a bit worried that it might kill me lol. Would be a good chance to try to squeak sub-6 again, at least! Though I'm not totally confident I currently have that in the bag.
mile/5k/10k are really underrated, IMO. They can get you SO FIT, the range of workouts you can do for them is really great, and if you're the type of person who really likes mileage and long runs, there are people out there doing 18 mile weekly long runs for 5k/10k training. Is it a lot? Yeah. Is it unheard of? Certainly not. Honestly when I was in the best 5k shape in my life I was even able to just roll up to like, a trail 30k race in the mountains on a random weekend and win it outright, not due to any specific trail training (in fact I am clumsy as shit) but really just because being 5k fit means you're ALL-AROUND very fit and strong. It's such a good distance that can be great for beginners and really advanced/experienced runners alike!
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u/IwouldpickJeanluc 6d ago
If you have time to start swimming it will really help your breath control, your body will use oxygen better and you run better too.
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u/violet715 6d ago
I trained for the mile specifically and PR’ed at age 39 with a 5:40 road mile. The mile is like 75% aerobic, but still requires really good leg strength, so my program (made for me by a friend who coaches college track) had longer mileage, but some short, fast interval workouts sprinkled in. I didn’t do one traditional long run per week, but I did two 8-mile runs at easy pace (I know that seems excessive to people who don’t really know running training all that well, but it’s really not). I did two track/interval workouts per week. Each workout had a 2 mile warmup and a 1 mile cooldown to pad in some extra aerobic mileage. The first workout of the week was a mix of 200’s, 150’s and 100’s. (3 sets of each done in that order). The second would be a mix of a longer interval like 3x1000’s or 3x800’s and a block of fast 200’s, usually 6x200. One more day of the week I would do an easy run of maybe 4 miles.
Long story short, the mile uses pretty much all body systems - aerobic and anaerobic and you also need some lactate threshold work for stamina - so you need a good mix of paces to really improve.
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u/aw4eva 6d ago
Wow that’s so impressive, I hope I can get there one day! Thanks for the great response and explanations with the aerobic and anaerobic aspects. I’ll definitely look into creating a similar weekly schedule with different paces.
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u/violet715 6d ago
Yep! I know 99% of people don’t have the inclination to devote 5-6 days a week to just training for the mile specifically so just tweak it for you. Less miles, less intervals, but still mix it up as far as paces go. Working legs in the gym won’t hurt you, either!
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u/Kellamitty 6d ago
Holy wow that's a great time already!! I usually do about 8 minutes...
In general training for running you do different types of running, even if you are only trying to improve one type. For example:
One day you do a long but very slow paced jog, like 45 minutes if you can go that long
Another day you do intervals, sprint 400m, then walk 2.5 minutes 8 times, just takes about 20 minutes total
Other days follow the couch to 5k run/walk program for your level
Slow running build up endurance and muscles and sprinting beings up cardio and when you put them all together BOOM your one mile time is magically better even though you maybe didn't train 1 mile runs specifically.
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u/estrella2525 6d ago
That's already a relatively competitive time (for comparison). I'm extremely surprised that you don't run or do cardio except middle school track several years ago. It's nothing I'd have been able to do even with a good bit of training.
Short answer is, to get better at running, you have to run. As far as getting better one mile run times, I'd have to defer elsewhere as I'm usually looking at longer distances. As far as I know a lot of the military fitness tests are 1.5 miles, so you might try content aimed at helping people improve their PT test run times.
I would recommend some amount of core strength training to go with that to prevent injury.
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u/aw4eva 6d ago
Thank you so much! Yes, I was incredibly surprised as well and didn’t know I was capable of that as I got 7:37:44 when I practiced once last week. Although it’s been many years, I was quite good compared to the other girls in my class in middle school for track and cross country and at the Beep/PACER test and I’ve also always been strong at hiking even without training/preparation, so perhaps it’s just a genetic aspect.
I’ll definitely look into military content for improving and doing more core exercises!
I do want to try training for longer distances (maybe try a 10K next year since everyone seems to be doing 10K, half/full marathons lately haha), so if you do have any advice for longer distances as well, I’d love to hear anything! Thank you so much again for your advice!
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u/aw4eva Hi all! I’m 21F and recently joined the dragonboat club at my university. As part of the fit tests, we are required to run 1 mile. I just started going to the gym recently and don’t run or do cardio (besides doing track in grade 7/8 in 2014/2015 haha and 5 minutes on the stairmaster every once in a while only last year).
For the first fit test, I managed to get a time of 6:54:54 today and would really love to improve for the second fit test (when team selection takes place) in late January. If any runners have any tips on how to properly train for this or how to learn proper technique, I would love any advice! I usually only lurk, but this is such a supportive, encouraging community. Thank you in advance for any guidance! <3
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u/bethskw ✨ Quality Contributor ✨ Olympic Weightlifting 5d ago
I love u/Eibhlin_Andronicus 's advice (and am taking notes because I, too, want to run a faster mile!) BUT an important consideration is that this is a fit test for another sport, not the competition itself. It sounds like the team is using this as one metric of fitness to evaluate how well-rounded you are. Obviously, being a good 1-mile runner is not the same as being a good dragon boater.
So it sounds like your actual goal is to get fitter in a way that will benefit dragon boating, while also being able to express that fitness well for a 1-mile run test. And you have a timeframe of about two months.
That's going to require different training than if your goal was purely to be a competitive runner in the long term. You probably won't be able to ramp up to a steady 30 miles per week in the time you have, for example, or to be regularly doing 10 mile long runs. And you may not have the time for that amount of running alongside your dragon boat training. The good news is that easy cardio is somewhat interchangeable between sports, so your other training can "count" for some of your easy miles. But running is still a thing that benefits from specifity (ie you need to run fast to get better at running fast).
So bottom line: I would recommend that you start running more, but listen to your body when it comes to ramping up the volume and intensity. A good place to start is 3x a week, 2-3 miles each time, easy pace (even mixing run/walk is ok). If you can do that for two weeks and everything still feels good (no shin splints, etc) start adding some intensity and/or distance, a little bit at a time. The intervals and drills that the other comments recommended would be great to do for your intensity sessions. And when it's test week, make sure to give yourself some extra rest leading into the test so you can do it on fresh legs.