xkcd

by **Izawwlgood** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:08 am UTC

I've decided to drop 10% from my mile time by the end of the summer. As such, I ran a mile last week to get my baseline, and will run a timed mile once a week and plot my times. A couple of my cohorts are involved as well, and I figure the only thing that can make working out cooler is adding data.
So, my starting mile time is 6:28, if you want to join in, post your starting time and subsequent improvements.

by **Ulc** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:35 pm UTC

Okay, I'm in for that.

Tested my time today, probably wasn't the best day since I've just been on a four day drinking spree, but ohh well.

Starting time: 6:52
Goal time: 6:20

Not quite as ambitious as the 10%, but at 6:20, it's just a bit more than 15 km/h

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:25 am UTC

Hmmm, I might try this. There's a running track not too far from my office. Does it have to be at a maintained pace, or just how long it takes you to run-jog-walk-gasp-walk-jog-barf-run a mile?

by **Izawwlgood** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:22 pm UTC

6:18. I started working out with a prof and a cohort, both of whom are in much better shape.

MJ, if you can't finish a mile without some walking time, that's fine obviously. It'll make shaving 10% off your time all the more feasible.

by **gfile-destroyer** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:25 pm UTC

I cant run a mile right now, because of a knee injury I suffered playing basketball, but I set this exact challenge for myself 6 years ago. I was trying to beat my next door neighbor who could run a 6:00 mile. I went from 7:14 to 5:30 by biking hard with no coasting for 4 miles everyday for 2 weeks, then 6 miles for 2 weeks, then 8 miles, and finally 12 miles. I also went from about 40 sit ups a day to 120 by summers end. It's definitely possible and I wish you luck. With hard work you should be able to get into the 5:'s like I did.

by **Izawwlgood** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:34 pm UTC

Ran splits today at 5:30 pace. We're doing a 1k next week to see where we're at.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:34 am UTC

So I haven't even run my mile yet. I gotta find somewhere that I know is a mile so I can do it accurately. Then I need to MAGICALLY create free time to do it. Maybe my goal for next week.

by **Izawwlgood** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:15 am UTC

You can always use googlewalk to map out an area nearby and use landmarks to pinpoint ~one mile.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:24 am UTC

I tried. My town is less than one mile across. I think I worked out that here to the library and then back to the grocery store is a mile. I guess if I use the exact same distance EVERY time it should be ok.

by **Izawwlgood** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:40 pm UTC

Dude, a run doesn't have to be linear. I first timed myself on a track. Those things are ovals.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:48 am UTC

It's easier if it's a straight line, since I also don't have a track here.

by **Izawwlgood** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:05 pm UTC

My point wasn't to run on a track, but that you don't have to run in a straight line. Map out a handful of blocks, or the distance around a park, and run however many laps it equals.

I'm just saying, it's silly to not run because you can't find an officially marked path/track, given how easy it is to map out your own trains with google. I've been training mostly by jogging around the area, and doing intervals on steep hills.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:30 pm UTC

YOU'RE DESTROYING MY EXCUSES!!! DON'T YOU KNOW IF I FIGURE OUT WHAT A MILE IS, I'LL HAVE TO RUN IT AND FIGURE OUT HOW BAD MY TIME IS?!?

Man, I have been sort of rocking the excuses, haven't I?

by **Izawwlgood** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:51 pm UTC

You also smell bad, in case you were starting to feel comfortable with the status quo.

The point isn't to dazzle us with your Olympian times, but to improve. One of my cohorts started with an 8:30, and has it down to a 7:45.

My original goal was ~5:45, and on Friday the prof we're running with said I should be aiming for a sub 5:30. So, here's to the pain!

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:54 pm UTC

I keep telling myself that. My base time is going to be so pathetic it should be easy to knock a minute off by the end of August. My lunches are screwed for tomorrow, so depending on how well my kids co-operate tonight, I might just do it after they go to bed tonight, and tomorrow, I will put my time in BIG LETTERS on the calendar and start trying to knock it down.

EDIT: Ok, went to the liquor store and figured out 1/2 mile. Doin' it tonight. I will stop hijacking this thread........... now.

DOUBLE EDIT: Wow, I am a pathetic sack of crap. A SLOW, pathetic sack of crap. Can't tell if this is motivating me or not.

by **Evengeduld** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:09 am UTC

not going to do the challenge but will send Good Luck vibes to those who do

So *GOOD LUCK*

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:24 am UTC

Huh. Knocked two minutes off my time. I think I just burnt myself out too fast on Sunday. Gonna try again, maybe do a bunch next week and try to get my 'average time'. I'm out of shape enough that it varies pretty hugely whenever I do it.

by **Izawwlgood** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 12:19 am UTC

Ran a 5:25 today. I'm not sure I'll be able to break 5 by, say, October, but I'm glad to be back to decent-ish mile times.
Last week, the prof asked what we should should for, for a 'high middle low' goal set. I said 5:45 for the low set, and he laughed at me, said that was too slow. So, hit the middle goal.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:05 am UTC

I have knocked 1:05 off of my time. I am still PATHETICALLY slow compared to you all, but in two months I have:

a) lost six pounds
b) gotten better shoes
c) gotten antiinflammatory medicine that actually SEEMS TO WORK, and
d) become fit enough to run the ENTIRE MILE without stopping, or even slowing down.

This is big for me.

My goal is to someday think of a 5:30 mile as "slow".

by **Ulc** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:25 am UTC

I'm guessing that my time has increased over the summer actually - I've been dealing with injuries of some kind since the beginning of the summer. First I hurt my feet, those took more than month to heal, then my knee started acting up, when that finally disappeared, I hurt my feet again, they healed quicker this time.

When that was finally okay, I got run over on a drunk woman on a bike, while I was biking as well, and hurt my ankle.

Damnit.

MJ - that's quite impressive, well done!

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:39 am UTC

Ulc wrote: I got run over on a drunk woman on a bike, while I was biking as well,

Your Kama Sutra has more gadgets than mine...

by **Ulc** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:57 am UTC

Mighty Jalapeno wrote:Your Kama Sutra has more gadgets than mine...

Eh?

I was biking home, one drunk woman drove into my back tire when I was overtaking her, crashing me on the asphalt (now, there's a fight you always lose!). Of ourse I landed in front of her bike so that she crashed as well and landed on top of me.

by **neocow** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:30 pm UTC

mapmyrun.com is a good site for mapping out runs (who knew?) as well. And if you have an Android phone (I don't know if it's available on iPhone, Windows phones), Noom Weight Loss is a decent application that will track your GPS/time/all that neat stuff.

I'd say it's less important to find a straight line (for those not on a track) than someplace flat. All around where my apartment is very hilly and constantly changing grades... Might try this out tonight before my ultimate game...nice flat football field (with turf).

Although I may not want to post my time, seeing all of those 6:somethings above.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 3:38 am UTC

Knocked.... 20... seconds... off my time... from last night... excuse me I have to barf my spleen

And don't worry about posting times. Really, my time is VASTLY more pathetic than everyone else's here, and I'm still proud.

by **PictureSarah** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:05 am UTC

I am seriously impressed, MJ. Major progress. And pay no attention to the skinny fast people. I was always pretty pleased with myself when I managed to average 11-minute miles when I was jogging 5ks. I have the physique of a teapot, and am not built for speed.

by **Izawwlgood** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:36 am UTC

Hey, the name of the game wasn't match Usain Bolt, but to drop 10% from your mile time. Good on you for being consistent and keeping at it.

by **neocow** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:06 pm UTC

Indeed, a round of congratulations to those above, especially MJ, for staying motivated.

I hope that I can also stay motivated, as I just realized when this thread started, and I'm a bit late. Not sure about distance running (tend to be at a much slower pace), but my single-mile was 10:54...so we'll start from there.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:02 pm UTC

I've managed to go from 11:40 to 10:05, so we're in the same ballpark. YOU CAN DO EEEEEEET!

by **Evengeduld** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:30 am UTC

Mighty Jalapeno wrote:I've managed to go from 11:40 to 10:05

Nice

by **gaurwraith** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:45 am UTC

Is it still summer?
Cos I finally got myself a chronometer

Starting time is 6:45 and I want 5:59 (Under six) to get one of those game quests. Problem is, google maps walk or mapmyrun can't be too precise, and running, say 50 meters more, can make a difference. I think I will try an actual 400m track at the local uni when it's september if I'm allowed...

by **Izawwlgood** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:55 pm UTC

Go for it!

I pulled my groin doing some mild sprints this last weekend, so worry I might not be able to run for a week or so, thus unraveling all the progress I've made. Tiger Balm.

by **gaurwraith** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:19 am UTC

Im' now at 6:10.

I guess the best thing to reduce time is having someone running faster than you that is going to get the goal you want.

But I used the clock, I was checking it every minute or so, so I knew when I had to push harder... still not under six though

by **Izawwlgood** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:45 pm UTC

So, not a mile, but a 5k: I placed 5th overall in a race yesterday morning, which considering it was a slow course and a low turn out, still made me feel pretty good about my time (20:46). I'll try and do a few more before the weather makes me wimpy.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:33 am UTC

9:40, a further 25 seconds off since August 26th.

by **Samik** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:43 am UTC

I have such a love/hate relationship with running.

I'm 6ft 155lbs, and have one of those bodies that just doesn't respond to the challenge. I can sit on a couch for 6 months and eat junk and not gain a pound. Everyone hates me for that, but they don't understand that, on the other side, I can work out religiously for 6 months and barely see any gains (slight overstatement, as I've learned over the years how to manage my regimens to get everything out of my lazy body that I can... until I crash and take a few weeks off and lose every last bit of my gains).

I've never run more than 5 miles at any speed.
Twice in my life I have run sub six minute miles.

The first run was sophomore (I think) year of high school - a 5:57.
The second one was about 7 years later - a 5:53.

If my life depended on it, I could probably crack 7:30 right now, but it would be ugly (ran ~1.9 miles in 15:33 this morning).

But! I have the advantage that I already know as a fact that I can break 6 minutes. So I've got at least a minute and a half to take off here.

My current lifetime goals are:

1 mile: 5:30 (personal best: 5:53)
1.5 miles: 9:00 (personal best: 9:28)
10k, at any speed

I'm about two weeks into another bout of getting my lazy arse in gear. I don't really plan on doing any miles in the near future, as I have a nice little roughly 2 mile loop I'm running every other morning, and that's working well for me. But hopefully I'll keep up with it long enough to have some better numbers at that before too long... stay tuned.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 4:03 am UTC

Samik wrote: I can sit on a couch for 6 months and eat junk and not gain a pound.

*sits on you*

by **Samik** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:45 pm UTC

Mighty Jalapeno wrote:*sits on you*

See, that's the reaction everyone has. But all you stocky, cold weather body types can at least pack on some muscle mass if you really put your mind to it.

I've weighed within the same 5 pound window (155-160) since I was 15 years old.

My body has decided that this is just going to be the way it is, and adjusts its metabolism accordingly, to keep me exactly the same at all times. I can't get in really, truly bad shape, but it's a he!! of a thing to make any forward progress towards getting in good shape either.

by **Samik** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:35 pm UTC

Samik wrote:(ran ~1.9 miles in 15:33 this morning).

Same approx. 1.9 mile route this morning, in 14:55.

Yeah, can you tell I'm still in the early, early stages of getting back in shape? I don't quite plan on knocking off 30+ seconds every other day for too much longer...

(Although, due to a miscalculation about the length of the songs in my playlist, I thought i was running about 30 seconds slower than that 15:33 run, so I was really angry at myself and pushing to make up as much of it as possible. So that probably helped.)

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:18 pm UTC

As soon as the snow melts, I'll get back into this. So... April.

by **Izawwlgood** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:31 pm UTC

Train at your local gym! I hate running on treadmills, but it's important to work up a sweat once in a while.

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