Goal:Running a Faster Mile

I ran the Mill Creek Classic Half Marathon in March of 2012. I finished it in 2:48:00. I ran about 13 minute miles. I ran a whopping 19 torturous hills. I most likely finished it because I ran with an awesome partner!!!! I was very proud of myself that I ran continuously for almost three hours. I never imagined that I would run that far ever! This was a tremendous accomplishment for me. More recently I have found that I have been consistently running about 11 or 12 minute miles. I am not satisfied with this time. My new goal is to run a faster mile. I do not want to do interval training. It is not very appealing to me. I have decided to stop trying to run long runs AND improve my time. I just cut my runs short. Very short. My latest plan has me running 3 times a week, 1 mile each workout. I have found that it is less intimidating knowing that I am only going to run a mile and that I can invest all my energy in the run. I have met each run with success. My latest times for my mile runs have been 9:40, 9:46 and 10:00(on the treadmill). I plan to run 4 times next week, 1 mile each time. The goal is to run sub-10 minute miles each time. Every two weeks I will add one mile and attempt to maintain a consistent time. I am also doing Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred and Kettlebell swings and situps. I am feeling a lot stronger and this may be impacting my performance during my runs. I am hopeful that I will run a 5K in the fall in under 30 minutes!!!!