I am trying to run a mile and a half in 11 and some change. currently I run it in 13:21
I already plan on doing HIIT for three miles once a week…
Any advice on how to make this happen
It should be noted I HATE HATE HATE HATE running
and I have roughly 30 days to do this.
Sounds like a PT test of some sort. Do you need to stack additional events on top of this (i.e. push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups)? If you are not asking about them, you probably can bang out whatever number you need. Even with a bit of recovery time in between stations in a casual setting, it will take some toll on you for the run.
Suggestions: Kick up your distance to 2 miles from 1.5 and run it 3-4x/week. This will give you a bit more gas in the tank at the end of your run. Each week drop your mile pace by 30 seconds. That’s about a 6% faster pace per week which should be reasonable. With the short amount of time before the test, try to run on the course you will use (i.e. track or the road course). Doesn’t make sense to run on a track if you have to qual on a hilly road course. Stay off the treadmill if you can but it’s better than not running. Similar training got some people past a recent qual.
Be careful with HIIT, interval, fartlek or sprint type work if you haven’t done it before. Make sure you warm up prior. If you get injured now, you won’t have time to recover and train prior to the test.
Litvinovs-
Front squat a decent weight for 8 reps(not maxing), then immediately sprint 1/4 mile. Like literally rerack the weight and take off. You probably won’t be able to squat right next to a track, so a treadmill works just as well(that’s actually what I used).
Anyway, front squat 8 reps, then sprint 1/4 mile, then rest 90 seconds. Repeat for four total sets. You want to keep the treadmill at the highest speed you can maintain for the full 1/4(hopefully your treadmill does at least 12mph). This will suck, but after a few weeks of doing it 2-3 times per week, you should feel it getting a little easier.
At this point, you can progress in any(or all) of three ways: increase the squat load, add incline, increase speed(if you still have some left on your treadmill), decrease rest period, or add additional sets. Okay, that’s more than three, but you can continue to make progress using this workout for quite a while with all the variables.
If you are trying to squat as well, do this once or twice at the opposite end of the week from your heavy squat sessions. IE, Litvinov on Monday and Wednesday, then squat Friday or Saturday. Between the differences of front squatting and back squatting, and the amount of lee time between the two different workouts, your legs should be fine.
Play around with it, and see how it works for you. When I used it to lower my PFT time, I never did more than 4 sets(1 mile). Between the pre-fatigue of the front squats, the short rest periods, and the accumulation of fatigue in the later sets, this is still more than enough to improve your 1.5 mile time.
Here is how I shaved some time off my 1.5 run times.
1x a week: 1.5 mile timed run
1x a week: 400m sprints (2-6) with the rest intervals being how long it took me to walk a 400m lap. MY perceived intensity level was 90% or so.
1x a week: moderately heavy squatting and GHRs. Minimal assistance because the sprints helped with that.
I made it a point to never feel so beat up from the previous workout so as to impair the next one. I also recorded all my running times just to see how I was improving. On the sprints, if I fell off more than 10% from the previous sprint (same session) I quit and went home. Usually, my 3rd sprint was the fastest and fell off noticably after the 5th. Therefore, most of the time, I did 3-5 sprints.
I split these up every other day. If I recall correctly, I knocked 1 min 30 secs off my 1.5 run time (went from around 13 mins to 11:37) in 2 months. To be honest, I really hadn’t been running much until the point I started doing this so factor that in.
[quote]Spencerulz wrote:
I am trying to run a mile and a half in 11 and some change. currently I run it in 13:21
I already plan on doing HIIT for three miles once a week…
Any advice on how to make this happen
It should be noted I HATE HATE HATE HATE running
and I have roughly 30 days to do this.[/quote]
i think most of the other people here added some good advice, but i’ll throw mine in…
i think you need to prioritize your training for the run…
i’d do at least one run per week at 1.5 miles for time, another day of 1/4 mile sprints, and another run of 2-3 miles at a medium pace.
another thing might help is to drop a few lbs, if you can…
just run 1.5 to 2 miles 3-4 times a week… Each time just run faster. You’re not going to get better at something by not doing it. Its not that hard. I never trained for a PRT once while i was in… Just run it then the next time try to run it a little faster. Suck it up and push through cause 13 and some change is pretty slow. good luck
.greg.
Sprints sprints sprints. Keep sprinting longer and farther three times a week. Sprint for as long as you can and as far as you can until you are so out of breath that you are forced to walk to catch you breath.
after you catch your breath do another just the same. Do this for 2 miles. If you follow this you will start to notice that your sprinting distances will increase. This will be a huge carryover to your 1.5 mile time.
If all you do is run the 1.5 mile at the same pace, then all you are going to do is get good at running at that pace. Sprinting is the fastest way to increase your 1.5 mile time and lose bodyfat to boot.
[quote]kingkrs wrote:
Sprints sprints sprints. Keep sprinting longer and farther three times a week. Sprint for as long as you can and as far as you can until you are so out of breath that you are forced to walk to catch you breath.
after you catch your breath do another just the same. Do this for 2 miles. If you follow this you will start to notice that your sprinting distances will increase. This will be a huge carryover to your 1.5 mile time.
If all you do is run the 1.5 mile at the same pace, then all you are going to do is get good at running at that pace. Sprinting is the fastest way to increase your 1.5 mile time and lose bodyfat to boot.[/quote]
Well it looks like this isn’t an option as i fucked something up in my leg so now all I can do is jog… Docs orders