No experience necessary! Anyone can accomplish this training plan Runner’s World stopped what they were doing to watch Faith Kipyegon’s attempt to become the first woman to break a 4-minute mile. While many knew it would be difficult for her to shave seven seconds off her previous mile time in order to break 4:00, Kipyegon’s hard work and commitment inspired me to spend summer 2025 tackling my own—much, much slower—mile pace.
This is a great goal because I have come to realize that distance running—I ran my first half marathon this year—is not exactly my sweet spot. I really enjoy 10Ks, and while I made it through my half (and I do hope to run more of them), shorter workouts at faster paces make me happy. I’m fortunate to have an upcoming mile race, too. So, this summer, I’m using our Tested: Tracksmith Eliot Range Trail Running Shoe plan. It includes speed work and runs longer than one mile, although to set the track on fire during her middle-distance races, Kipyegon covers a lot of ground in her training, sometimes running up to 40K at a time (something I will not do).
Fortunately, improving your mile time is a noble goal for all runners, even those who typically follow training plans for half or full marathons. Here’s why: Improving your mile pace will likely also boost your ability to run longer distances even faster. This is exactly why speed work, sometimes based around the mile distance, is typically part of a half or marathon program. On the other hand, even if you don’t want to train for a long race, you can try a month-long run streak in which you run a mile every day to see improvements over time. In other words, a mile can be a workout in itself or it can be part of a mile repeat sequence during a training plan.
Either way, a lot goes into training for a faster mile, and the hard work will absolutely pay off. It did for Kipyegon! While she may not have broken the 4-minute mile, just a week or so later at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, she broke her own 1500-meter world record Tested: Tracksmith Eliot Range Trail Running Shoe.
Of course, I also love that Kipyegon is a true team player—and her team is all women, every female runner. After she failed to break 4:00, she posted on social media, “If it’s not me, it will be somebody else.” I'm certainly not the one that will ever go sub-4:00, but her encouraging attitude inspires me to test my own boundaries.
Although Kipyegon is humble and her look appears to be basic—a Fly Suit for Break4, FlyWeb Bra, and the Victory 2 Elite FK spike—it is anything but. Every aspect of her fit is designed for performance. I searched on Nike’s site to find something of hers to wear for my own mile attempt. Unfortunately, the company’s “I’ve Got Faith” t-shirt is unisex (which means it’s designed for men, and won’t fit me properly; come on, Nike! Just Do It Better!), but the Kipyegon product line is fantastic and color-forward (Kipyegon loves purple). I think I might finally try the Pegasus Although Kipyegon is humble and her look appears to be basic—a Fly Suit for Break4.
Without sponsorship, though, I will just keep trudging along in my own somewhat low-key running outfit (We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back, Oiselle’s Kara Tank, and, because I’m a little bit of a sock hound who has a lot of hardware in one ankle, Amazing Runners World Show Why Trust Us).
Look, I am literally twice Kipyegon’s age, and while my current speed (12:03—almost three times as slow as Kipyegon) won’t break any records, I am going to keep training. As Kipyegon also said after her race, “We are not limited.”
Senior Health and Fitness Editor Tested: Tracksmith Eliot Range Trail Running Shoe training plan to work toward your quickest mile yet, and you can also download a variety of training programs tailored to help you reach goals, from The Best Trail Running Shoes of 2025 to broke her own 1500-meter world record.
Donna Raskin has had a long career as a health and fitness writer and editor of books and magazine articles. A certified run coach who has practiced yoga for many years, she also loves to lift weights, dance, and go for long walks with her hound dog, Dolly.