I did a 4.59 mile on the track this autumn. After the initial flurry to get to the front and the inside lane, I immediately reigned myself in a little to make sure I stayed in control of my breathing.
Three 75s laps of hard but regular breaths, then went all out on the last lap to close in 74.
Took about 10mins to recover from it, in the foetal position behind a shed 
, and I barely slept a wink all night, so I guess it was a pretty maximal effort.
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I’ve run many marathons/halfs/10k/5k, done an Ironman etc - I have done 1 mile race (a road mile in 2007) did 4:57. It was the single most painful experience of my life - felt like I had smoked 40 cigarettes a day at the end - chest on fire etc. Ok I never trained for it specifically - it was our running club champs - but I have no idea how people run these for a living 
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I bet if you did one the following week, it would have felt better. The first middle distance race every season always felt like a shock to the system to me. But for me it was usually the 800 and it was even worse. Full body muscle failure down the home stretch was not uncommon. But the next one always felt more comfortable. Especially if I moved up to the 1500. Felt downright comfortable for a lap or two.
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Yes. You have to wake your body up, let it know your intentions 
800 is a disgustingly painful race. Though the most painful event I ever ran was the steeplechase. It was like trying to hurdle and jump water pits the last mile of a marathon.
Though I hear the 400 hurdles are considered the most brutal event on the track. 400 is just awful but to have to jump things while completely anaerobic? No thanks!
This is also my experience… a 2km all out effort to claim a Strava KOM was the hardest run I’ve ever attempted.
I think I have a sub-5 minute mile in my legs and lungs, but it would need to be on the track or a straight road race.
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yep - mine was a road race with my former running club. It was graded on ability and there were 8 in the A race and I won it - I only got sub 5 because I had to kick as hard as possible in the last 200m to win. You can tell we were a road running club. I do a few 5ks in a race series which attracts lots of youngsters who race track regularly for their clubs and they have speed to burn at the end of a race 
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New Years Eve here in Taipei. My last run for 2023 is in the books.
Happy New Year everyone 
Hope everyone joins in again for 2024!
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NYE 10K this morning - 38:36 on a very windy RAF base in East Anglia…placed 26th out of 406. Not bad for a part time runner who is 55 and spends most of the year Time trialling. OK I have run over 3 mins quicker in the past but that was nearly 20 years ago when I didn’t cycle. Weirdly my age graded 81.26% is better than my pb…must be looking after myself!
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lol- yes, mine too! But only a 1KM that finished with 200m 10% gradient followed by a 200m false flat …
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