How Fast Can You Run?

I have some intensely pressing Important Life Things to attend to, but I just wanted to record tonight's workout.

We did a warmup run, then did the following three times: run a mile as fast as you can, recover for ~.6 miles. The purpose of doing it three times is to gain an understanding of what it means to run an entire mile at top speed (as opposed to sprinting, which can't really be maintained for that long). My first two times were 9:50 and 10:13. I'm not sure what the last time was - clearly I need a stopwatch rather than trying to time myself on a regular watch while running, puffing, and sweating like hell.

For anyone who might read this and who isn't a runner, these times are slow. Fast for me, but slow. Anyway, we'll spend the next 6 or so weeks of workouts running up and down hills (yep, that's right), then do the speed test again. Ideally it will improve.