How I Ran A Sub 4 Minute Mile

The Running Channel Podcast tackles one big topic each episode, amongst helpful tips and light-hearted chat on the latest news in the running world. Hosted by Sarah Hartley (amateur runner) and Andy Baddeley (former pro runner), the TRC Podcast is friendly, jargon-free, and the perfect accompaniment to your runs.
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00:00:00 - Introductions
00:03:32 - Causes of Bunions and Proper Running Techniques
00:08:16 - The Sub Four-Minute Mile and its Significance
00:11:00 - The Journey to a Sub-Four Minute Mile
00:15:20 - Mental Toughness in Training
00:18:49 - Pursuing a Sub-4 Minute Mile
00:21:35 - Running News
00:26:50 - Audience Questions
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[@ollieflj]

I feel your pain, Andy. When I was at my fittest and fastest I found myself at the start line of my A-race of the summer. Focused and eyes locked down the straight at the finish line I visualised myself crossing the line first to the cheers of the assembled crowd, which eying up my fellow competitors was a clear possibility. "On your marks... get set... bang", we were off, and I took those first few steps like the champ Iwas destined to be when I felt it. The foot of the athlete next to me clipping my heal. With all my best efforts I managed another couple of step, looking like bambi on ice before all 6 foot of me hit the floor, rolling over and seeing the other runners shrinking into the distance to take glory. Bruised and dejected I got up and jogged to the line to an applause filled deep with both sympathy and mild mockery. It was at that point I decided never again to try the Dad's Race at my daughter's school's sports day!

[@runningchannel]

Ha. Ouch!

[@nathalieasselin2251]

Absolutely love the interaction between you guys. Sarah keep being yourself unapologetically 🎉

[@Stevenc1984]

Would be great to see Sarah do a (non-track) 5k series to break 20. I know she's done some previous attempts on the track, but I think modern soft shoes are more suited to road running. Alternatively maybe try spikes? Would love to see her do it! 🚀🚀🚀

[@KennetDanielsen]

Love your show. I would love you to adresse what Rick just said: "Don't increase more than 10% a week!". I'm a seasoned runner and now in my 50s i've realised that those 10% is somewhat dangerous for me to follow as an advice. My progression always ends in injuries, all factors equal, if i progress more than 5% a week. So in my personal experience i am quite sure that the answer to the question: "how much can i progress in a week" is: "It depends on your ability to recover when you are increasing your training -and the prerequisite is that you are strength training on a regular basis." It reminds me of the advice : "the perfect cadence is 180"!. I would love more focus on: There are no magic numbers - everyting depends! 10% is not a truth, neither is 180! Thank you Kennet ( Copenhagen, Denmark)

[@RossNixon]

Testing my ability to increase. From a low base of 30km per week, I have just started an increase of 1km per day. So far have done 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 over 9 days. Hoping to work up to 21.1k.

[@danjohnstone7684]

This podcast has become a staple of my Sunday morning long run routine. Very much enjoy the insight and banter as I get ready to hit the road. I'm also vying for the sub-20 5k by years end, but first stop is aiming for a sub-3:30 marathon in Melbourne in 8 weeks!

[@runningchannel]

Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for listening.

[@rosamaryp]

The podcasts episodes are my running mate. I enjoy hearing you guys banter with each other and all the information also helps.

[@killerqueen9298]

Absolutely fabulous. I was feeling a little down this evening but you three clowns have have certainly raised me. Thank you and good luck next week❤❤❤

[@runningchannel]

You are so welcome 🤡

[@nickcharles4734]

Thanks for answering my questions on stride length! And yes focusing on power rather than length sounds like a good idea. I've just done a half marathon and am now focusing on Hyrox in Birmingham (October) so want to drop my 1km time. Good luck Sarah on the sub 20min 5km, definitely a long term target of mine with a current 23min pb .

[@julietstevens7381]

I love these pod casts ❤️ you guys are so entertaining and also so informative

[@runningchannel]

Thanks so much!!

[@Leeroy49]

You can do it Sarah. In the past 10 months I've broken all the barriers I had set myself a year or two ago. 20min 5k, 40min 10k, 90min half. Andy's right.

[@RossNixon]

So much humour. I love it!

[@chesshead]

I don't think about increasing cadence or stride length, but surely at least one of them increases when I run well. Cadence this morning (24 minutes parkrun) was 186 and stride length was 1.14 metres. Last week I did a 22 minute parkrun: 187 cadence (almost identical) and stride length was 1.23 metres. There you go.

[@nicw2545]

Very interesting insight on the mental aspect and mindset making such a big difference on performance. Although, when you think about it the mind and body have to work together to produce the performance. We focus so hard on the physical training that the cerebral element gets forgotten about. Perhaps this will be the new focus for next gen world class athletes (or even weekend warrior types 🤔)

[@christinaclementson]

I met Nick Willis at Tracksmith in Boston and he invited me to take part in the Amateur Mile event in London that year. I then googled him and was in awe! At the event he paced many of the heats! What an incredible guy he is!

[@_Crumpet]

12:00 Obviously the mile and the 10k are vastly different, but I just want to remind everyone of the time that Mo Farah fell in the Rio 2016 Olympic 10k, got back up, and won the race

[@zolyomi.z.balazs]

There are a few good running paths in Budapest such as in Városliget (2K) and on Margaret Island (5K+) on which would be wonderful to join you while you visit us, however it might be too late to orgainze such a gathering.

[@MikeK01]

Great pod as always! My question is how can I stop my knees falling in over my centre line when running? (Also happens during squats & deadlifts) And are there any shoes which would help? Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@SharaRuns]

Enjoy Budapest. It's a beautiful city. Buda is my favourite, as it's old and has some incredible buildings. There's also a bistro over that side which does amazing breakfasts! 😋 They also have a wine festival in September (sorry, no Gavi, Rick!).

[@runningchannel]

Thanks for the tips!

[@Randybeast]

I thought he meant getting so hammered he needed 2 glasses of Gaviscon

[@runningchannel]

😂😂😂

[@nathaniel23946]

”This is a family friendly Podcast channel“ I love this podcast channel！

[@runningchannel]

hahaha thank you! Anything you want us to discuss?

[@geofftoscano6804]

I find that my cadence never changes regardless of distance and speed, measuring 187-190. When I change pace the act of changing registers as altering my cadence, but it rapidly settles back to normal. The only really big drop is if I start walking, which is an entirely different cadence. I just checked my cadence for a park run I did 5 years ago at sub 25 and it was 188, exactly the same as I now do for a 33 minute park run.

[@ulfeliasson5413]

Inspiring.

[@zakkkkkkkkkkkkkk]

3:49 flippin heck didnt know andy was THAT fast

[@WamTV18]

Great video!

[@runningchannel]

Thanks!

[@stewartsherwood7769]

Andy looks prouder of his "milestone" pun than he is of his fastest time! 😆

[@2KEEPYACOOL]

Posted last week - I have question for the Running Channel that I'd appreciate if it could be addressed in a future podcast: Have any of you tried red light therapy? Red light therapy has been well known for aiding in both recovery and injuries. I was wondering if you guys could make a video on this, I don't recall this ever being addressed in any previous videos. It is a definite game changer in speeding up both recovery and injuries. I think it could be very beneficial for any runner! Thank you!

[@runningchannel]

Very interesting question thank you!

[@skirtonbear1]

My grandmother’s heart didn’t give out until 105 and ¼ years. She drank beer and wine (grape growers for a winery) from an early age. In her 70’s she drank a glass of wine every day with dinner per doctor’s orders. She was nearly never sick and in her 90’s started lifting a weight’s bar. She looked 15 years younger within the month of that after having gone to a nursing home. I say “diet, exercise, genetics, and walking with Jesus!”

[@faykellett9589]

MOT in Ireland is NCT (national car test)

[@neilroberts2448]

Podcast question; have you ever ran a new course and greatly underestimated how far you ran, if so by how much and at what point did you realise?

[@runningchannel]

Ooooo great question Neil!

[@eveyn7785]

Did Sarah end up checking Rick's weight inputs? What happened to his vo2 max? 😆

[@runningchannel]

You'll have to wait to find out 😂

[@Tamas_Torok]

Don't worry Rick in Hungary we also have good wine :)

[@runningchannel]

Good to know!

[@Lemmispeak]

Goals haha I just did a sub 26 mins comment came 2nd ;)

[@scriptosaurusrex]

The problem with gait analysis is that most people run differently on a treadmill. So it's not actually an objective analysis if you want help finding a shoe running outside. If you want a specialist shoe for treadmills, go ahead.

[@runningchannel]

How would you recommend finding the perfect shoe for you?

[@billowen3285]

@@runningchannelget a bike to go alongside and video your gait?

[@liamroche1473]

Thumbs up at "Little Miss windy pop"

[@Potato62271]

4 min mile is 15 miles per hour or 24 kilometers per hour which is around most men max sprint 😮

[@RossNixon]

Mt Everest sounds easier. I think I'll go for that instead of a 20min parkrun.

[@walterross292]

yall never talk about hill work.. i trained an area with hills and got my sub 20 and sub 40.. and a 307 marathon... .. not everyone can do track workouts please discuss this.....

[@manfredmueller1125]

Slight disagree regarding the cadence/stride length topic. Generally I would agree, but I found, that an effective increase in stride length is beneficially possible after having added appropriate weightlifting to my training and therefore being able to get a more springy stride without fatigueing so fast because of that more powerful stride. For me it’s clearly a product of improved strength endurance and in this case I would say: Keep a cadence that fits to your biomechanics and try a longer stride. Nevertheless, the open question for me is still what costs more energy in the long term: doing more steps with a higher cadence or doing longer steps - the question could be what type of muscle fibers will get engaged more: type I or IIa (with all the biochemical consequences that does imply). Maybe in the end there is a certain distance which favours one or the other intervention.

[@nickcharles4734]

So generate a longer stride through a more powerful contact rather than trying to lift my knee further?

[@manfredmueller1125]

@@nickcharles4734 Something along that line, yes. Visualising more the heel flick than lifting the knee. And the floor is lava, so keep that ground contact time short. For me it has worked to imagine that I’m stepping on sheets of paper which slip backwards when my heels go up. This mind game and of course some drills and plyometrics do the job for me.

[@kristinthemom]

Bahaha Rick with the wanting Sarah to fail 😂😂😂 Also For all the love. Can you please show what the photo is behind Andy? It looks like a creepy clown to me and I'm like there is no way that could possibly be it but..I cannot see anything else 🙈🙈 anyone else??

[@davidmckinlay425]

It’s a side on photo of 4 shoes on the edge of a boot of a car, the blue/green thing is a bag in one of the pockets in the boot the first white shoe is standing toe down the other 3 are sitting flat

[@runningchannel]

It's shoes on the boot of a car 😂

[@kristinthemom]

@davidmckinlay425 thank you!!!!!

[@kristinthemom]

@runningchannel OK ok ok I see it now. What I was seeing was the red part was the lips and the bag or whatever is on the furthest left side looked like hair and then it had an eye up in that area. For whatever the heck reason my brain keeps playing this illusion on me. I'm glad to know now what it is though. I mean of course it's shoes 🤣🙈

[@PrentisHancock1]

Hey, Running Channel, what's happened to Anna and "the other one"?

[@runningchannel]

Anna still works on videos with us and is in one coming up 😁 We don't know who else you are referring to

[@jassaljs]

Sarah we are sure you can do a sub 4 min for a 5k🦾

[@runningchannel]

😂😂😂

[@rfd5892]

Awesome 1st

[@YouTubeGetsWorseEveryUpdate]

"Just how fast is a sub 4 minute..." I can do that if train for it "...mile" Nevermind!

[@-esox-3714]

No wonder Andy is a bit frightened of going *Hungry* as he is pretty lean already.

[@runningchannel]

🤪

[@Matto_Harvo]

Bunion and lower back problem? I feel sorry for the shoe wearers.

[@runningchannel]

Bare foot running more your thing Matt?

[@tombriggs-hx2gm]

OMG please don’t compare the athleticism required to run a sub 4-minute mile with climbing Everest. The latter is done every year by people who couldn’t run a sub 8-minute mile.

[@nath9091]

As of 2022 1755 people had done a 4 minute mile. As of 2023 6183 have done Everest. It's not even close. However that said they are different skills like ultra runners vs sprinters. With that said I'd bet a 4 minute miler to be able to train for Everest while I would bet against the normal person who's done Everest to do a 4 minute mile. Edit: with that said the mile isn't actually normally the premier event, the 1500m is. Therefore there are probably a few 1500m runners who can do a 4 minute mile but it's too much injury risk to do so.

[@gb2983]

OMG the point isn't about athleticism. It's just another fete which has only been achieved by a select bunch of people. And a lot of them are very very fit, even if they don't have 4 minute miles to their name - Killian Jornet, the goat of ultra running being one of them.

[@Bertziethegreat]

And attempting Everest has probably killed a lot more people than attempting a 4 minute mile. Never mind the athleticism, imagine the mental toughness it takes to continue past the corpses of people that failed what you're attempting.

[@michaeldallaway1988]

I think it's mostly a point about numbers and what an achievement it was for Roger Bannister to do it back then, and how it's still really really hard. Not saying one is harder than the other.

[@gb2983]

@michaeldallaway1988 yeah you could argue that anyone (nearly anyone) can strap on a pair of spikes and run around a track. Whereas everest is a bit of an elitist pursuit - unless you are very wealthy or a pro athlete or you are born in Nepal (or besr the Chinese side) you can give up even thinking about everest. - it's too expensive. Which brings home how impressive a 4 minute mile really is. But that doesn't mean you can't compare the two in terms of numbers. And numbers is the only thing that is comparable between the two. In the same way an astronaut could say that more people have run a 4 minute mile than have stepped on the moon. They are all impressive accomplishments.