Monday, September 25

Calling all Magical Milers

A spin-off from the hunt for a coach is the formation of the Magical Milers Club.

This came about when I consulted Coach to the Champions Sir Bobby McGee for his opinions on coaches. We rapidly got side-tracked, as we both share a fascination with fast miling. Bobby declared himself interested in my own Mile Project and started cooking up ways he could help. At his suggestoion I've started gathering together a group of 4 or 5 runners -- probably all Masters -- who want to do a Very Fast Mile. Right now that means breaking the 5-minute "barrier".

Yes, never mind the 4-minute mile, we're past all that. But for men around 45 onwards and women in their 40s, getting under 5 minutes for one mile is special. What we're intending to do is target the Pearl Street Mile and track events around the same time -- that's August 2007. If we have to, we'll organise our own Invitational track meet with the specific intention of getting everybody in the group under 5 minutes.

Preparing for a mile is tough. But the good news is that you can prepare "as if" for a 5k until the last few weeks, then add very specific training.

I'm happy to say that the first person I approached about the Magical Milers, marathon great Benji Durden, immediately said he was "in" and is putting the word out. We've got a very fast woman interested, too. This is going to be fun!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you are still looking for some masters to train with your Magical Milers I would be interested. I'm 50, race 5K's and below, and definately think a sub 5:00 with proper training is achievable. Let me know.