I was– years old, and I felt like I was about to collapse. I had just run a mile in less than 7 minutes, and I was thrilled. I wasn’t ready to stop there, however.

Fate dictated otherwise, and I ended up getting hurt during a lacrosse game the following week. I was unable to run for the rest of the year and I wasn’t happy about this. I never got back into running again.

After a twelve year hiatus, I decided to give it another go. There was no good reason not to run anymore, and I’ve been trying to lose some weight. Anyway, seven minutes happened pretty easily for me. I guess I’m stronger now, and I wanted to try for six minutes from there.

After weeks of trying for 6 minutes flat out, I was unable to do it. I was fine with seven minutes, and even with six and a half, but I would always get stopped short on the third or fourth lap in my run, simply out of energy.

I was determined to figure out a way to make it happen and I’m happy to say that I did. This is all because of something I did that it wouldn’t have been possible without.

The biggest thing that made it happen was the fact that I started doing short runs at faster speeds. I would run a mile at a five minute pace, naturally stopping after two laps. This put me in a really good position to try for a 6 minute mile, which seemed easy in comparison.

Believe me, it’s not much fun running two laps at such a fast pace. If you’re serious about breaking that six minute mark though, you’ll want to do this in order to get there.

Next goal on my list is 5:30 and I’m sure I’ll be achieving it.

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