x2 with this …get your weight way down -very clean food choices, no carbs on off days etc
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Yeah, you’re fat. That’s your biggest hurdle to overcome.
As you lose bf and weight, your time will improve dramatically.
Lugging 250 pounds 1.5 miles sounds painful.
Buy a car
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Retired Navy here, ran the 1.5 mile as part of the semi annual PRT for 20 years. Personal experience:
Steady state running made incremental improvements to my 1.5 mile time at best.
Later in my career (past the 10 year mark), I began doing 1/4 mile repeats 2-3 times per week. I did them on the treadmill, speed cranked as high as I could manage (so usually about 12 mph, though I have done them slightly faster), then walk or otherwise rest for a specific amount of time, and do it again. Four total rounds, at the time I was doing 90 second rest intervals. In the space of a month or two (again, no steady state running in that time, just the intervals) it dropped my 1.5 time from mid-10’s to 9:30. For reference, I was 6’ 205ish at the time.
From about the 18 year mark on, I stopped taking the PRT because I was at an NSW command and they were more worried about real combat fitness than an arbitrary test, so we were allowed to ‘fudge’ it a little. This changed again going into my final year, and was told short notice we would have to take the PRT again. I stay in shape anyways, but I still jumped back into this protocol just to make sure, and (again) ran a 9:30 1.5 mile on my final PRT in the Navy (at the age of 36).
I am an avid lifter and much more interested in moving heavy shit than running for miles. Like I said above, I have always stayed in shape while pursuing higher tonnage on my lifts (I was squatting 500 at the time I ran that final 9:30).
Anyways, point being - 1.5 is not a long distance. Best prescription is training your body to run faster over that distance rather than pounding the pavement for miles (wasted energy and time IMHO). You might need to back off on your lifting a little, but there’s no reason to stop unless you feel it is affecting your run progress. Another recommendation (assuming you still have time to prep, I dunno) is to gradually lower the rest interval. I did this a couple years ago when prepping for a PT test as part of a job application. I was doing 400 repeats on a track, and worked my way down till I was resting about 40-45 seconds (my wife was timing my splits and rest periods for me). Sucks ass when you are doing it, but works like a charm.
Also, I’ve had a lot of treadmills start slipping and sticking (and some shut off on me) when I am running on them at 12mph. Probably due to the way my feet strike, but the easiest fix for that has been to set the incline at 1-2.0.
Good luck.
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i bench 450 deadlift 700 and high bar squat 600 pounds guy. im not fat lol. been weight lifting for 13 years bro. I have abs at 250 lbs. I’m down to about 240 now anyways. I’m peeled at 220. could step on stage at 210. I was probably closer to 18-20% at 250. likely 13-15% now at 240.
thanks bro
probably a bit optimistic on my part haha. yeah im no arnold but I’m an extremely muscular guy. anyways, I have my time down to 12:10 now at 240!
I’m ambitious about it. My test is at the end of this month. I’ve gotten my time down to 12:10 and lost about 8 lbs of fat. I’ve been using your guys advice, thanks a bunch. And yes you guys are right i was optimistic with that body fat % LOL. I’m definitely not a natural runner though. I’m a weight lifter, always have been! I must say i really enjoy the benefits of this added cardio though. I feel a lot better in the gym and just in general. One thing is i’ve been dealing with some nasty shin splits - anyone know of any remedies for that?
I had bad shin splints and got rid of them by doing dorsiflexion exercises (exercises that load the top of the foot as it tries to rise up towards the knee, opposite direction of a calf raise), and learning to run on my toes a bit more.
Ok. I figured you were fat bc you called yourself a brick shithouse lol.
It’s still hard to run at 250. 240 is better. However, it’s only an 8:00 pace so that should be doable at 240-250 if you’re being honest/correct about your BF.
Dont run maximal. Do lots of splits/repeat partials.
It wouldn’t hurt if you transitioned your weight training to pace oriented while you’re working on your running. Circuits, supersets, giant sets, etc. Time progression, etc.
Shouldnt be hard for you to get this.
12.10 so nearly there. Good work.
Shin splints : The usual simple layman`s advice is that injuries are normally due to more volume and/or intensity. You have done both. And the advice is usually to reduce both or take complete rest until it recovers.
If you want to be more thorough just google some proper medical sites and you will see there are numerous risk factors. Explanation that the diagnosis can be muscle or bone related. And various strategies that can be used to recover - but obviously they depend on your risk factors and diagnosis.
Or best of all just consult a physio etc if it doesn’t go away. Taking medical advice from strangers on the internet didn’t do Steve Jobs much good.
Shortly after writing this I think I partially tore my left hamstring doing sprints. I just was not built to run.
Damn bro, that sucks. Definitely go see a doc or physio for the hamstring, but I was going to share an easy ‘band-aid’ fix for the shin splints. Go to your local sporting goods store (Academy, Dick’s, etc.) and look for calf/shin splint compression sleeves. Try doing some PT rehab for them as well, but wearing the sleeves when you run (assuming you are still able to) should help considerably - always does for me.
While you are there, look for a thigh compression sleeve or a pair of compression shorts. If you can’t reschedule your PT test for some reason, and you haven’t torn your hamstring so badly that you can’t run, the compression should help - at least to some degree. I’ve never had to use one of those (though I always wear compression shorts when squatting and deadlifting), but I’ve heard (anecdotally) that it can help. But talk to a PT or ATC about that, not just a doc. MD’s will be super cautious about stuff like that and tell you to stop doing everything - that’s normal for the vast majority of them, so they won’t understand the idea of having to push through/work around an injury. A PT (or especially an ATC) will be able to give you a better idea of if you can train through/around the injury, and how to do it.
Sprinting is a skill that needs to be learned. It requires a proper warm-up. Also, you aren’t training for a sprint so it is unnecessary to reach your goal.
Thanks bro. I’m gonna pick up those shin splint sleeves tomorrow. I ordered a compression wrap for my hamstring. Hurts like a bitch. I can jog on it though and hold my pace. I actually have about three PT tests coming up end of July that I can’t reschedule. And a fuck ton of running coming up in September. I’ve played sports all my life so it’s not like I’m new to sprinting. I’m guessing it was fatigue related. Anyways, thanks for the advice my friend.
Edit: what about sneakers? I’m running in the Nike air 270s. Do you know if these are good for running or should I switch and get a new pair?
Couldn’t say on the shoes, everyone is different. I have gotten to where I hate the big cushy running shoes, I’ve been wearing Nike Frees since shortly after they came out. I was kinda bummed they discontinued the numbered versions and now it’s just Nike Free Run. I was working my way down the numbers (5, 3, 1, number related to amount of padding/cushion under heel) when I stopped being able to find them.
Don’t blaspheme. 5, 3, and 1 can only mean one thing.
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I’m late to the party but everyone above is correct. One and a half miles is such a short distance anything you do will benefit you. Lose weight, run long, run short, fast, slow…it’s all going to help.
In order from most beneficial to least:
Lose weight
Run longer distances (3-4 miles)
Run more often (4-5x week)
Intervals
Your challenge is to not get injured.
Thanks man. I’ve switched from a treadmill to a track and my time is 30 seconds slower. Pretty disappointed. I ran these same tests last summer and my mile and a half time was 9:59. I was also 215 pounds. I don’t recall training nearly as hard as I have been either. I guess I really do have to lose some weight. I’m having some serious joint pain in my ankles as well. Not during the run, but immediately after. It’s crippling. When I get in my truck to drive home after I don’t even have the strength or mobility to push the gas pedal. I have to go home and lay down until they calm down. It takes about an hour to regain mobility. The only thing I can think of is my ankles do not like being this heavy. I spent $200 on new sneakers, high rated insoles, and compression sleeves for my calves. Doesn’t help any. Test is in 6 days so I’ll keep you guys posted.
Edit: I originally thought these were shinsplints but have noticed it starts from back of my ankles and radiates a few inches up my leg. It sucks so bad. I have a pretty high pain tolerance as well.
Current Navy here. My PR for the 1.5 mile in the PRT is 8:12. That was at 5’7” and 180 pounds. I found that consistent trail running with varying degrees of hills throughout the run improved my 1.5 mile more than anything else. You should be consistently training between the 3-5 mile range, including intervals.
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