Okay, at least five times a day (it might be even much more frequently) when I'm on the internet I get ads from health insurance companies that say "if you can run an 8 minute mile you might get a discount". I already have insurance - I don't do research into it at all - so how do they know what my mile run time is? Granted one of the ads has a picture of a sweeeeeeet blond running, but regardless - where do they get this information to even ask such a question?
I suspect it's not all that literal (get yourself clocked, and if you run it in 7:59 you get a discount and if you run it in 8:01 you don't) but just a colorful way to refer to discounts for things like joining a health club and checking in x times a week, etc.
Oh I see - that makes sense I guess. Kind of like advertising a movie: "coming soon to a theater near you!" How the hell do they know where I live?
Current scientific research is leaning towards this. Supposedly an 8 minute (or less of course) mile equates to a 10 percent lifetime chance of having a heart attack. Running a 10 minute mile gives you a 30 percent chance. Also the more lean muscle you carry (relative to your frame size) the less chance of expiring from natural causes, and adds quite a few years to your life expectancy. But that gets me thinking: if my chances of going out with "natural causes" are slim, what is the other option - a violent death?
When I was playing football in high school after every practice including the 40 yard wind sprints, we all had to run a mile (four laps) in 8 minutes or less in full pads. If we couldn't get it less than 8 minutes we had to run an extra lap (quarter mile) as a penalty. Some of the better runners could easily do it in 6 and a half to 7 minutes. The best I ever did was 7 and a half minutes.
not bad for wearing all the gear! Yeah wind sprints are fun - we did them in the army now and again. One sadistic First Sergeant we had in Korea liked to do them a real steep hill in Seoul in the middle of a longer run - after we were "smoked" from a few of those we still had to run back to where the unit was located. I was 30 years old then and in my prime - I'm thinking it would suck at 55!
Running up (and down) hills is an order of magnitude better conditioning than simple level, straight line runs. IIRC, Hall of Fame RB Walter Payton's entire massive off season conditioning program was built around it. Of course that and an abundance of cocaine....
I love hills - I do a lot of HIIT (high intensity interval training) with the treadmill on the max angle - 15 degree grade. I go all out max speed I can until I'm completely gassed, then back off the speed to a fast walk until I catch my breath (but not letting my heart rate get below about 135-140) then crank up the speed and do it again. So I get a much better workout in a much shorter amount of time, and the 15 degree angle works more of the fast-twitch muscles and the steep angle means you aren't coming down so hard on your joints - so there's not really a downside other than it can stress out your central nervous system if you do it more than three times a week. But HIIT like this does increase your heart's stroke volume and efficiency, so it's worth doing it no doubt. My resting heart rate is finally getting down into the 50's consistently through the day. No coke though!
"Running" and "Mile" shouldn't even be in the same sentence when referring to me. Hell, I couldn't even do that in high school.
UPDATE! It was life insurance companies, not health insurance. They figure they can squeeze another decade or two of premiums out of me before I take a dirt nap. Well played!
I have no idea how fast I could run in high school - I try to block the whole gym class experience out of my mind. You know the kid who was picked last? I wish I was that kid - I was the kid left over that the other team was forced to have on their side. Living well is the best revenge though - now at age 55 I can run a mile under 7 minutes and I'm not even a "runner". I just do enough cardio to keep my heart healthy but not tear down my body. I mainly do resistance training (kettle bell, dumbbell, chin ups, push ups, etc). Age is nothing but a number!
