8 miles in 60 mins - help?!

Hi guys, I'm a complete newbie to RW and running in general pretty much - could really do with some help and advice from the crowd. 

In a nutshell I need to be able to run at 8 mph for at least 60 mins by the beginning of August 2013 (posted on 5th January 2013). Currently can run at 6mph all day but can't seem to crack/figure out how to maintain 7-8mph for longer than 10 mins or so.

I'm 23, otherwise in good health with a decent diet - any tips/plans would be very gratefully received!

Cheers

Just take a Half marathon plan and use that.
Do steady runs at a chatty pace.
Then some shorter runs nearer race pace.
Then one or two runs a week with speedwork so you run faster than you need but for a shorter distance. And then work on building speed or reps or distance up.

go and do the lliswerry 8 race at the end of january............totaly flat and a great tester for you to run againsgt others............you will then know exactly where you are for that distance and can see how much progress you have to make

Hi Goose,

At 23, there are few limits to what you can achieve. If you are doing 21-30 miles per week I'm sure you'll crack 8 miles in one hour very soon. The trick is even pacing. 7:30 min miles are not terribly quick, but they can feel tough if you set out too fast from the outset.

Your weight and height would be useful to know...........

Hi guys, thanks for all your responses!

Cougie - with regard to speedwork, the military-based plan I'm using at the moment has me running 30 min fartlek sessions, building up to 60 mins over a period of months, and interval training (again increasing in length and reps over time) - does that sound about right?

Seren - cheers for the tip but having looked at the times for last year, I can tell you where I'd be: last something to work towards though, thanks.

Jamie - this is the thing that bothers/perlexes me and thanks for pointing it out; I know that by the standards of a lot of runners the 8mile-1hr thing isn't all that fast, but at this point if I was to attempt 15 mins at 8mph I'd be a gibbering vomit-covered heap at the side of the road by the end of it! 

Goose .. the last runner last year did it in 1 hr and 40 mins...........if you can't run it that fast now then you will never get uner the hour 

This is interesting as I always had 8 miles in an hour as one of my targets, I never quite managed it though I tried every Wednesday while my son was at football training.

The comment re half marathon training sums it up, I eventually cracked it in a half and tbh I wasn't trying that hard, it was just a result of doing long runs deliberately slow and adding a couple of sessions of shorter faster runs in midweek.

You reckon you couldn't do 15 mins at 7:30s, ok, so try doing half or quarter mile repeats at that pace with rests in between. It really won't take long till your stops become walks, your walks become jogs, then you can go up to a mile and start again. At the same time run longer at the weekend, 10 or 12 miles really slow. You can still do your 8 mile run, just keep it this side of hard and you'll see the time it takes you to cover 8 miles come down, you'll be doing it in your sleep by August.

Well people, I thank you for all your advice, I've signed up for the Plymouth half-marathon in late April with a mate of mine - decided it was best to have an incentive! Will be using the RW half-marathon plan here: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/rws-10-week-sub-150-half-marathon-schedules/97.html

Any thoughts/alterations/suggestions on the plan?