Winter Workout 5

WOD
3 Rounds:
50 yd Lunge Walk
50 yd Broad Jump (Frog Jump)
200 yd Sprint

So you got the email from coach saying we will be running the 6 min mile when you guys get back to campus and I'm sure a good bunch of you guys are a little panicked thinking there's no way you'll make it.  What you don't want to do to train for this, is run a timed mile every couple days.  Sure your time might go down little by little each time, but this is a very inefficient way to train.  I would suggest running 200s, 400s, and 800s instead.

Here's the reasoning behind it using an article I found:

"A 50-second 400m runner should be able to cut a 5:00 mile with only a little additional training. You’re talking about sustaining 67% of his top speed. Compare that to a 55-second 400m runner; he’s running at over 73% of top speed to pull that off. A guy with a 60-second 400? He’s putting out nearly 80% to pull off the same 5:00 mile (a pace that is probably virtually impossible)."

Again, this only applies to those who think they need to train to run the 6 min mile (which by the way isn't really that hard if you are in decent shape), so I'm not telling everyone to do this.  Even still, I wouldn't spend more than a couple days a week training for this.  Here are a few sample workouts that will help you with this training:

(4-6) 400m sprints w/2 min rest b/w sprints
(8) 200 m sprints w/1 min rest b/w sprints
200, 400, 800, 400, 200 w/1:30 rest b/w sprints