3-year Mile Progression

Josh and I were pretty fired up after the McMullen mile. Coming in to the race, we suspected that we were capable of running 4:30 or better, but actually achieving a ~6 second PR in the Mile was a special feeling.

I thought it might be interesting to analyze a little data, so I looked back through our logs to determine our race-based mile progression since we started training together in December 2008 (close to 3 years of running logs). I have included  information from 1 mile and 1500m races and converting the 1500m times to 1 mile times. Races not specified as "indoor" took place on an outdoor track.

 

Date Type Mike Josh
       
12/14/2008 (indoor, 1500m)   4:55
1/11/2009 (indoor) 4:58 4:53
2/1/2009 (indoor, 1500m) 4:58 4:53
3/21/2009 (indoor)   4:47
6/11/2009   4:42 4:41
7/17/2009     4:46
1/10/2010 (indoor)   4:44
1/17/2010 (indoor) 4:46 4:43
2/7/2010 (indoor, 1500m) 4:38.9 4:44
2/28/2010 (indoor, 1500m)   4:43
3/7/2010 (indoor) 4:40.3 4:47
6/10/2010   4:36.96 4:34.94
7/22/2010   4:43.99  
1/16/2011 (indoor)   4:36
6/9/2011   4:30.63 4:29.82

 

 
Although Josh has clearly raced this distance more than I have, our results seem to follow similar downward-trending-spiral patterns. Part of the spiral may be due to seasonal effects (indoor slower than outdoor, winter training different from summer, etc), and part of it is surely due to the natural ebb and flow of fitness peaks and slumps. Fortunately, we both managed to get it together last Thursday.
 
Should we ever race the Mile again?! 😉
 
Here is a nice video of the race put together by Eric Boyce. The video focuses on the leader's pursuit of a four-minute-mile.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHm1IHkogxQ[/youtube]