Ok so here’s the situation, in a few months I have a fitness test that consists of a 1.5 mile run/pushups/situps. I was looking for some advice on improving my run time. I am currently 6’5" tall weighing 255lbs. I would like to run the 1.5 mile fast as I can but the minimum is 12:29. Anyone have any advice or maybe training techniques for conditioning. Best would be if someone had maybe a 4 week training log or anything like that? All my life I have been active in football and baseball and big into working out but being a larger guy cardio was always my downfall. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Back in high school when I was just a gym rat and would “jog and lift and stuff,” I also had a 12:00 1.5mile, if I totally busted my ass. Cardio is also my downfall, I could always lift more than my friends but they would tear me up in sprints. I haven’t timed myself lately but I know I have significantly cut down that time and I can go further, due to one thing: rugby practice. I’m more of an athlete and fitness enthusiast than body builder, but for your question the best advice I can give is to alternate HIIT training days with jogging days. Also, aim to go faster every time you do the 1.5mile jog and go a little bit further, even if you can only bust out another .2 of a mile. It really helps a lot. Also, and this is something people forget, take a day off. If your body never recuperates you will never gain. As for the pushup situp part, I recommend doing pushups and situps. hah. good luck in your fitness test!
Edit: I know it uses different muscle fibers and whatnot, but for us cardio-challenged folks conditioning such as sprints are the answer. Sprints helped so much with my distance jogging because they improved my cardiovascular capabilities; I’m not sucking air at the 1mile mark anymore. And I’m not talking about doing a couple sets of suicides. I mean 30 minutes of 300’s, suicides, and sprints coupled with mtn climbers, burpees, etc. Of course, take a break inbetween. yep I just wrote a small handbook so i’m going to shutup now!
thank u. I really appreciate the response. Yea I’m going to start tomorrow morning with my conditioning routine. What would you recommend starting with? like for the first week?
i have to be able to run 1.5 miles in less than 12 mins on top of 42 sit ups, and 32 push ups in less than a minute myself. And the best way to practice for it is to do it, and diet. Right now i can run it in little over 11 mins and my knees are bum as hell and i’m also only 5’3. So running 1.5 miles in less than 12 mins is actually real easy as long as you push yourself.
start out doing 3 or 4 .5 mile runs at your desired pace of 4 mins the increase it to 2 or 3 .75 mile runs at the same pace and then 2 1 mile runs at the pace and the 1.5 mile runs at the pace. work your way up to it but teach yourself how to maintain the pace you need.
I’m assuming you can run 2 miles at a something like a ~10min/mile pace already and just need to up the pace. Take a look a the ‘Running Man’ article on this site. It lays out programs of intervals/repeats. A few buddies and I used it to drop our times for (I’m guessing) a similar end goal. The guys that only increased mileage in their training didn’t see nearly as much improvement in the 1.5 mile times. Everybody had a comfortable base of 2-3 miles in the 9-10 min/mile pace range to start with.
400m sprints work.
I do about 8, at a 1:1 work/rest ratio, at bodyweight of 210. I enjoy running however.
Try a 1:2 w/r and see how you go. It will definitely lower your 1.5m time significantly.
try this
Sunday 1/4 mile repeats 6 at a pace above what you need for your 1.5 mile run record results. Between repeats rest just enough to be able to speak normally
Tuesday 1.5 mile run as fast as can time it
Thursday 1/2 mile repeats 4 at a pace above what you need for your 1.5 mile run record results between repeats rest just enough to be able to speak normally
rest other days or walk It is simple and to the point
same for weeks 2 to 4
Just find a route that is 1.5 miles long and go run it.
Write down what your time was and run it again trying to beat that previous time. Keep repeating that until you get to your desired time.
You’re gonna need lots of practice so don’t just run it once or twice a week. What is this test for?
sounds like standard military.
1 1/2 mile should be quite easy in under 10 minutes.
if you cant run said distance in under 12 minutes you are seriously out of shape and fucked.
if this is for any SO contract you are even more fucked as a 8 minutes mile (what you would be running to make the 12) even on longer runs is pathetic.
sprint with a sled.
Just find a route that is 1.5 miles long and go run it.
Write down what your time was and run it again trying to beat that previous time. Keep repeating that until you get to your desired time.
You’re gonna need lots of practice so don’t just run it once or twice a week. What is this test for?
quoted from gregron…
worst advice i ever heard.
OP. best thing is try to get a runners advice or a good running coaches advice… not a guy that put up 6000+ posts… all making no sense…
maybe thats why flag football is his choice of sport…
all the best
I’m an avid runner and I’ve been doing the tabata protocol and I’ve seen huge improvements on my 5k times.
[quote]spk wrote:
worst advice i ever heard.
OP. best thing is try to get a runners advice or a good running coaches advice… not a guy that put up 6000+ posts… all making no sense…
maybe thats why flag football is his choice of sport…
all the best
[/quote]
you are such a hater SPK and cant let go of anything. arent you in your late 50’s or something?
I’m assuming he is screening for a military type of test (based off of his criteria) and since I spent 6 years of my life in a Special Forces unit in the US military I know how to prepare for screening tests and PFT’s.
You can keep holding on to pasts posts and be bitter all you want but if someone is training for a specific test I dont think the “worst advice ever” would be to practice that test. how many 1.5 mile screening tests have you fun?
it seems like you are just a sad bitter old guy who has nothing better to do than try to insult someone who’s young enough to be their kid. I hope you find some happiness in your life and can stop being so bitter. You really seem like you have nothing better to do than try to pick fights over the internet. I feel sorry for you and I wont derail the OP’s thread anymore. I will not be posting in this thread anymore.
Sorry for the derail OP. I hope you find the advice that you’re looking for. If you are indeed screening for a military PFT/PST then you can PM me. I have a lot of experience with them.
[quote]gregron wrote:
[quote]spk wrote:
worst advice i ever heard.
OP. best thing is try to get a runners advice or a good running coaches advice… not a guy that put up 6000+ posts… all making no sense…
maybe thats why flag football is his choice of sport…
all the best
[/quote]
I spent 6 years of my life in a Special Forces unit in the US military
[/quote]
what unit?
thanks guys, its for the local police dept…my best mile time lately has been roughly 8:30.
Just had an experience with this myself, not job related but on a course for adult and cadet instructors in the scc over here. Quickly add that i am over 50 by the way so not so sure about some of the previous comments. Anyway i had been doing a treadmill 1.5 miles at around 11.30 which i was quite happy with, then on the day i did it 2 minutes slower which was weird as i felt that i went around at my usual pace–can only think that one of my laps wasnt counted.
On the advice front–the way i got to my best time was running intervals on the treadmill and specifically aiming for 2 things ie higher running speed and the ability to sustain a faster pace for longer. Once i had those things going i started on doing the 1.5 for best time, the way i got my best time was to go out a bit faster than i was comfortable with and then have a slower lap, then speed up again.
Just another thought here–hill sprints…
not the best runner, but i ran a 4:19 mile in school, and a 4:03 post school…
if your goal is to be faster on a 1.5 mile route, dont just keep running that course and try to better it each run, thats crazy. you’re doing a " max " 1.5 mile run each time you run… terrible advice…
best thing you can do in my opinion, is fartlek type training 1-2 days a week, and a long slow day once a week… on your slow longer day,try to run 2-3 miles on the grass…
wish i knew more about how long you been running, your past running injuries, your sports background, and the time you have to train before this event…
you may be fit from other sports, but this dosent carry over to the specific muscles you will be using to run…
best advice i got when i gave up running when i was 35, was from a really old guy that owned a bike shop. past national champ… he said if i planned on taking up cycle racing, train ez and slow the first year… he said i may be super fit from running, but that i was running fit. not cycling fit … different muscle movements… great advice as i’m still racing the pro 1-2 races at 56 years old…
trying to be faster in a short period of time is a bad way to train, with injuries just around the corner… sure hope you stay injury free.
good luck in this test
all the best
continuing form where SPK left off…I have the priveldge of working with elite runners from the mile to the marathon distances and one thing that spk left out is how important “rolling” with the foam roller on the I.t. band is. It will help reduce the possibility of knee and upper leg injuries.
Also, not knowing your pertinent past running history my best suggestion is a 1:3 work to rest ratio.
Wendler has it right with hill repeats as you are pushing you body weight up the hill. just PLEASE do not
run back down as it typically places 4-7 X body weight through your lower body…" Hills are the fastest way to get fit fast" by dirk. This applies to running, cycling and basic conditioning.
Also, since it is 1.5 miles there is no need to run farther than 2 miles. You may be able to outrun a cop but you cannot outrun the RADIO…lol.
Good luck to you and much success, the killerDIRK.
I really appreciate the advice guy. Some history, I began running about 3-4 months ago seriously before that it was always just cardio at the gym never anything hardcore. Never had any injuries related to running. and my sports background is mainly football all my life and in college, Defensive End. And baseball all my life until I graduated high school. Currently I am done with college, I am 22. The time before the event is unsure as of now, I get a letter saying exactly when it is, giving me about a month notice…but in the end it could be anywhere from about 2 months to a year from now. Tonight’s my 1st workout running wise…I have my chest and tricep day workoutwise…and want to try the interval training on the tredmill. If I did that tonight how long before I should try the long slow run?