I was wondering if there are any experienced runners that can give some solid starting out advice on running up to 1.5 miles.
I have a short time to train on this and wanted to expedite the learning curve rather than the 8 weeks of walk run walk run that most articles and advice suggests…
Also if there are any good warm up or stretch routines to ensure the calves are loosened up and don’t start to cramp along the way. My calves always seem to be the starting point of fatigue when running.
Excuse me chi running, very slow this will help at first but you probably have to start jogging as you have a certain time i imagine. Also if it means getting good job invest in good tennis shoes
I don’t know of any fast program, but whatever you do, don’t ignore the warm up and cool down. I get a lot out of doing some dynamic stretching for both. So do some high knees, some skips, kick your legs back to your butt, some bodyweight cossack squats, a few lunges, bring your opposite ankle to the opposite hand (can’t remember what they’re called), and some high kicks. Push the range of motion each rep, and make sure you do about 5 minutes of all of that.
Make sure your hips don’t go into excessive posterior tilt on any of those (i.e. don’t round your lower back when kicking), and make sure your core is lightly engaged. The high kicks will be the most important of those for your calves, so maybe do them at the start and end of both your warm up and cool down. That’ll look more comical than static stretching, but it’ll help a hell of a lot better.
Part of the ‘trick’ to getting better at running IMO is in having slightly different approaches (in much the same way if you were trying to boost your 10rm on bench etc).
Do 1 work-out a week were you just run 1.5 miles as fast as possible, do another were you run 2 miles at a slightly slower pace than your 1.5 & do another were you run 2-3 1 mille intervals (rest 1 minute in between) at a slightly faster pace than your 1.5 time. As long as you make improvements in all these approaches your time will improve + you’ll be less likely to get bored & frustrated by just running the exact same distance and seeing only
minor improvements.
One more thing that’s worth stressing is that a lot of people mess up aerobic conditioning by being too hardcore. They start out too fast or even end too fast. If you are going a pace that you can’t roughly hold for more than 30 seconds, you’re building anaerobic conditioning not aerobic conditioning. And its true that there’s some transfer, but you’ll see progress a lot faster by building up your ability to continually jog the 1.5 miles and then make it faster and faster (through various intervals) without making your life miserable by pushing on your anaerobic limit.
You’re having lower leg issues because you’re doing too much and causing over use injuries so instead of forsaking the slow build up plans you really need to be embracing them.
Possibly true. Maybe I should start out with 1/4 mile, run at a pace I can control and slowly work up to 1/2 a mile on the next time if I accomplish that without issue… Then keep on building up or focus on the suggested walk/run intervals that many support.
For calf stretches man, I’ve found calf pumps to be the most helpful. On all fours, push your heels alternating into the ground. I go for about 20 each side, easing into it each time at first. Then push your knees into the ground to get a stretch slightly lower down too.
For the running, I would actually do a combination of walking and running, but you don’t have to take 8 weeks. The quarter mile, then half mile idea sounds good, just keep increasing the distance slightly each time.
One thing you could try is to run a quarter mile, and then walk (at a brisk pace if you can, if not at any pace you can do it) the remaining mile and a half.
Take a rest day if you’re aching all over, then try it with half a mile (and walk the remaining distance), or even 600m. So for example you could go 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 etc up to 2400, (about 1.5 miles). That way if you run every other day, you’ll hit the 1.5 mile goal in about 3 weeks. You could cut that down by going every day (apart from Weekends/just sundays) for example.
Sounds like a good idea. I’m going to try that and test out the 1/4 mile than 1/2 mile strategy. I’ll make sure to get a good stretch in the calves before as well and hydrate well the night before and prior to running.
I should be good. Just need to pace myself and work on smaller goals and progressions each time out.
I used a program similar to Tepford’s post several years ago to take my 1.5 mile (Navy PRT run) from right high 10’s/low 11’s down to below 9:30.
Track works best, if you know how to keep your pace. If not, use a treadmill. Set it as fast as you can handle for 90 seconds, and run 1/4 mile - you can probably start around 10mph (guessing). Hop off and rest 90 seconds, then do it again for a total of 4 sprints. You can start with more rest time and lower it progressively, and you can start slower if absolutely necessary and increase speed. On a treadmill I will do it at 12mph or a little higher sometimes.
This workout is adjustable, so you can start at a slower speed and progressively increase speed while keeping the rest period the same (I run it at 12mph), or you can start with a longer rest period and decrease rest from workout to workout. I’ve used it several times over the years since I discovered it (on this site), with 90 seconds being my standard rest period (usually). I’ve gotten my best results when I progressively lowered my rest periods below 90, though. Might not technically be the best way to develop the aerobic system, but if nothing else it acclimates your body to working at a higher intensity so you can put out like a mother long enough to score decent on your run. Once you pass the test and get a slot at FLETC, then you can focus on improving your overall conditioning across the zones.
So far I am doing pretty good. This morning I decided to run and I broke my time again.
1.51 miles @ 12:57 minutes 8:35 pace.
Was a bit hard to breathe, seemed more humid today. Kept my back straight, chest out to get that oxygen in, but had to really dig deep and push to finish.
I’m going to start rotating between the distance and sprinting to incorporate both.
Awesome! Since you check your posture already, make sure you’re getting an appropriate leg drive and foot contact. Runners often go through the motions on that and end up wearing themselves out or not going as fast as they can.
I’m not saying to treat every run like a PR attempt, just tuck it in the back of your mind.