Runner's Training Tips: Looking to break a 5 minute mile

first, you need to start running at least 30 miles a week, maybe even 40...

 Everybody wants to hit a Homerun their first time up to bat, but it don't work like that.  You need to be patient and build up your endurance...

You are starting on the right track doing both long runs and speed are key to meeting your goal.  You should consider doing speed work at just below the pace you want to be able to race at so as an example if your goal is to run a 5:00 mile your goal for the 400m intervals would be at 4:50 pace.  The idea of speed work is to build the endurance you need and the muscle memory of running at that pace.  I would also try to do speed work 2 times a week with some of intervals at the 400m distance and some of the intervals at a longer distance like 800 or 1200 meters to build your endurance running at the pace you want to try to race at.  I do my intervals at race pace with a short jog inbetween running for about 1.5 minutes inbetween each interval early on in my training gradually reducing the recovery time down to only 30 seconds per interval. It takes a lot of time to build the endurance to run fast so be patient with how much you increase your milage, you don't want to start the season with an injury. Don't forget that strenght training, flexibility and rest is ust as important as running the miles each week.  You should consider discussing your plans with your coach as he should be able to help you establish a healthy routine that will get you to where you want to be when the spring track season starts.  Keep up the good work and good luck! 

One nice thing I've noticed is that although it took me a bunch of tries to break 5min that first time in high school, after that it suddenly became a lot easier to run under 5 and was running sub 4:50 sooner than I expected. I think a lot of it has to do with just building some base strength, because you're young and are going to gt a lot stronger over the next 6 years.

My main goal is also to run a sub 5 minute mile in the future. What I really want to know is how long do you guys think it will take to do this if my best outdoor track time is 5:40? At 5:40 I'm giving like 99% effort and I can't picture myself running any harder, so I know 5:40 (or maybe 5:35) is the best time I can get at the moment.

For further info, I'm 22 years old, I don't have much fat on me, and the furthest runs I take are 5 milers at 8min/mile pace and this pace for 5 miles is pretty tough on me right now.

So will this take 6 months, 1 year, 2 years...longer (assuming I put in maximum effort in training and enough miles per week) ? Also, how many miles should my long/endurance runs be?

Your responses would be greatly appreciated and feel free to ask questions because I'll be on this forum a lot checking your messages.

It took me about 2 and a half years to break the 5 minute mile (or 2 and a half track seasons I should say) and it appeared to all be a result of intense 2x a week speed workouts.  I would try to do 8x400s at about 1:08-1:12 a clip or 800s at 2:20 a clip.  I also put in about 40-45 quality miles a week, but it all came down to building a solid endurance base and then pushing for that quick interval speed.  When I finally broke 5 (and I teetered at 5:07, 5:04, 5:02 and around there for a while), I smashed it at 4:54 and then hit a 4:45 at my next race. It's also psychological too as it always appeared such a barrier, but you can totally do it.  Work hard and you will break it with flying colors in no time.

Thanks for the advice. I'm at 35 miles per week now and doing speedwork 2-3 times a week. I have my first race on tuesday but I dont think Ill break the mark then but I have meets all the way into mid May so Ill have other chances.

prestopper - Jksivillo is right about not overdoing it on the mileage, there is plenty of time to get fast as your body matures. But it looks like you are on the right track, thats pretty much what i was doing when i first ran sub 5. In 8th grade I ran about 15 miles per week and ran about 5:20-5:30, then my freshman year ran probably 30mpw with 2 interval sessions and ran 4:45 by the last meet that year.

gagneron from a quick look at your training log it looks as if you run 2-3 times per week at at 2-6 or so miles each, correct? The consistency appears to be the limiting factor here not distance, but as consistency goes up so will the mileage.
This is how i would go about it if i were in your shoes.
- First i would start running more times per week, almost all at a fairly comfortable pace. At this point consistency is more important than distance, so the longer runs arent necessary just yet. Getting up to 5 runs a week should be good.
- After doing this constistently for a while (it depends on how prone to injury you are how long) i would start to increase the distance of my runs. These increases should be done gradually of course over some time. Also dont skip a run just because of some soreness (soreness usually does not equal over training). Pain in connective tissue or bone is a completely different story. You can throw in a long run here and there too.
- After increasing weekly mileage to whatever level you are shooting for i would stay there for a couple weeks.
- add some semi-stuctured workouts a few times a week (fartleks, hills), make sure to take an easy day the day after (meaning easy run not day off, unless you really need it) 
- your regular runs should have gotten faster at the same effort level and should be getting much closer to 5 by this point but if you havent broken it yet then it would be time to add some track intervals. (400s, 800s, 1000s, etc.) and since this is getting long thats where ill stop.

Again this is just what i would do, off the top of my head, and is lacking details.

By no means am I a professional runner but this is my 2c.

 So this track season I broke 5:00 at 4:58 something. To do this I realized the mile was not a really long distance. So my approach and what I recommend is doing lots of 400's and especially 800's. Also, hills and pyramid workouts could benefit greatly. Do keep in mind that after hard interval and short distance workouts relax the next day with an easy run.