Lets say…purely hypothetical:)…that you were a long distance triathlete who needed to run a sub 8 minute mile and a half on Feb 16th. How would you train for it.
Its a PT test for work(swat school). I want to be the first one across the line, and I believe that the record for the school is 7:56. My Fastest time for the mile and a half was an 8:04, but that was a few years ago when I was playing hockey. Any chance on me getting the speed back to go sub 8 in 6 weeks?
Where are you now?
I ran a 9 minute mile and a half a week before ironman arizona, but I was kinda on cruise control. Not really pushing it. I havent ran an all out mile and a half since then. Im propably in the 8:30 range if I pushed it right now
How many miles per week do you run, how old are you and how much do you weigh?
Socalbeachbum,
too many questions are being asked of you here. Are you LE? I assume so unless you are conducting joint training through another service branch. I too am LE, so here’s the simple deal my friend. How did you get to your 1.5mi PR if/when you did your last LE PT test? For me I also train longer and slower, but come time to impress during the PT test, I hit the treadmill and track. So do it. If you can run 8:30 now and you have two months, you should know you can easily bring that down to 8:10 if you drop 3 seconds a lap on the track. Take your 8:30 splits and drop them by 10 seconds and then do LOTS and LOTS of shorter distance sprints. I find using the treadmill works great for increasing my foot speed over short intervals to get me back into some speed work.
Am I as fast as you, probably not. But on any given day I easily run an 8:45min 1.5mi PT test. Giving some training a month ahead of test time, I have been able to go 8:22 and 8:24min. And that’s only hitting the track/treadmill a couple times a week for lots of short timed sprint sessions.
Just my .02 but I wish you the best of luck on that goal!
well I just did an ironman, soooo now I am running about 15 miles a week. I am 26 and weight about 155 pounds. Im 5’11.
yeah Le. I did my PR when I was in the academy in 2005, no run training prior to that. My 8:04 was good enough for the all time academy record. I had played ice hockey my entire life, so that was all the training I had going into the academy.
I’m a PT instructor for my PD (Cooper Institute trained, and all that jazz). Last PT test cycle, I wrote a run training workout schedule for the OPERATORS (who have to hit a certain time in the 1.5 mile run or they are off the team). It focused on speed and threshold training. The runs were frequent, but short and hard. Everyone who used the program I came up with made the cut off and a few set PRs. You’re welcome to it if you want to at least give it a look. PM me your PD email and I’ll send it to you.
(Also, a co-worker was shot on the job Christmas night. Essentially an ambush. Keep him in your thoughts/prayers. And be extra vigilant. The nuts are out in force.)
(Also, a co-worker was shot on the job Christmas night. Essentially an ambush. Keep him in your thoughts/prayers. And be extra vigilant. The nuts are out in force.)
That’s difficult to even try to comprehend. My thoughts go out to his/her family.
Another ambush, wtf. Hope everything will be ok for our brother.
For your mile and half are you in boots? We do our Pt test in Boots and vest which essentially SUCKS, But if Shit ever hit the fan we can do it.
Swat school huh, Which one a dept or Nato. Good luck
We have to do the same exact thing every year for the Air Force. They just changed it to twice a year. I am not a “fast” runner by any means but have slowly been taking down my time since I actually started running. I am in the same boat as you though as training for the long stuff and then having to run the 1.5 mile test. I haven’t actually trained for it specifically and have cranked out an 8:19 this past year. I think some of the other posters have it right that it will take a lot of shorter speed work. When you think about it we train for longer stuff and the longest “speed” work I do is mile repeats, so with that being said I guess you just tone it way down. Not quite sure since I am not an expert on it but I think 100-400’s would be good. Best of luck breaking that 8min mark, it was my goal this year and I fell way short. I might do what you do and concentrate on the shorter stuff about 6 weeks out this next year and see what comes of it.
I’ll repeat the need to move more towards the shorter distances, the track and treadmill. All will help you to control your pace very well. If the weather does not cooperate where you are and find yourself inside on the treadmill running…set the incline to 1-2 deg to make up for wind resistance. I would break up my weeks into days of different focus (speed/distance). “Distance” in your case would be about 1-2mi intervals of pushing the pace and cruising. The speed days will be the key to making your time. I would focus around the 800/1200…you’ll be able to maintain the necessary speed, but also train your body to clear lactic acid and endure lots of pain. I’d also recommend ascending/descending pyramid speed days. 400/800/1600/2200 and back down. Keep track of your pace, make sure you get plenty of REST. When the day comes, be ready to be very uncomfortable for 8 min.
Lets say…purely hypothetical:)…that you were a long distance triathlete who needed to run a sub 8 minute mile and a half on Feb 16th. How would you train for it.
Its a PT test for work(swat school). I want to be the first one across the line, and I believe that the record for the school is 7:56. My Fastest time for the mile and a half was an 8:04, but that was a few years ago when I was playing hockey. Any chance on me getting the speed back to go sub 8 in 6 weeks?
Yes, if you are at 8:30 now. Go out and do a max effort 1.5 mile to see where you are now. I would focus on 1/4 mile intervals from now until the PT test, at most 2 times per week. You don’t need many. 6-8 of the 1/4 mile intervals at goal pace or slightly faster with :30-:40 seconds of rest in between. You will not need too much running outside of a couple of hard interval sessions. Maybe 1 additional run or 2 easy runs per week.
If you are at 8:30 now, I think you will be very close in 6 weeks.
Forgot to add rests to the pyramid wkout…3-4min after 400/800, 4-5min after 1600/2200. You should be recovered enough to run the appropriate pace for the next interval.
OK, to get to sub 8, you need to string together six sub 80 second 400’s.
The best way to do this is go to the track and get used to doing sets of 12x400m in 77-78 seconds…jog 100m and start the next 400.
We had to do this years ago when I was a cadet at Royal Military College of Canada. The record was 6:40. 7:45 got you 100 points on the PT test. The best I ever got to was 7:08…but that was in 1987! I just went back to the college grounds and ran it for kicks on Nov 27th this year and the best I could do in 2 attempts was 8:36. That’s the fastest I could go and I got that exact time on both attempts. Keep in mind that today with all my long course training I never run faster than 84/85 second 400 repeats. I’m 44 now, so top end speed is not there anymore. My 8:36 equates to 6x86 seconds, so a second or two slower than my 400 interval splits.
I second the move to 400/800 repeats at slightly above goal pace, adequate recovery (whatever it takes for you to keep hitting your target times). Personally, I’d do them above goal pace (2:50-55 800s, 84-85 400s).
I would also add in 100 repeats AT goal pace (this is one of my favorite track workouts):
100m at goal pace: 100m easy jogging (but not walking)- repeat until you can’t hit your times. Love this as a pacing workout and as you get more fit you’ll do more and more and more.
If you have to run in your boots for the test are you training in them too? That sounds like it sucks…
For our (volunteer) SAR team, run through the spec ops of the sheriff’s dept, we have a 1.8mi fitness tests that gains 2000 feet of elevation. Have to be able to do it in 45min with 30lbs. Its really not hard but one guy thought we had 45min to do it car to car… and he made it. 4.8 mph up and down with a pack and that elevation change in hiking boots ain’t to shabby. Good luck!
OK, to get to sub 8, you need to string together six sub 80 second 400’s.
The best way to do this is go to the track and get used to doing sets of 12x400m in 77-78 seconds…jog 100m and start the next 400.
We had to do this years ago when I was a cadet at Royal Military College of Canada. The record was 6:40. 7:45 got you 100 points on the PT test. The best I ever got to was 7:08…but that was in 1987! I just went back to the college grounds and ran it for kicks on Nov 27th this year and the best I could do in 2 attempts was 8:36. That’s the fastest I could go and I got that exact time on both attempts. Keep in mind that today with all my long course training I never run faster than 84/85 second 400 repeats. I’m 44 now, so top end speed is not there anymore. My 8:36 equates to 6x86 seconds, so a second or two slower than my 400 interval splits.
400s sound like a good bet to me too. Maybe some 300s in a similar fashion… 55ish with 100m jog. In high school my coach was a fan of 10x300 with about 100 jog and then maybe 5 minute rest and get on the track for 1 or 2x1600. Maybe try the 10x300 in 55, 5 minute rest, and start with an 800 at goal pace (2:40). A few weeks later, try 1200 in 4:00. I would think if you could do that workout, you should be able to hit your goal.
Good luck!
Hey Steve,
Steve from HBPD here…how is everything? I second the 400s workout with 100 jog rest. I’ve used it several times over the years. Back in the late 90s when I went to the academy, I went from 9:15 to 7:30 in about 12 weeks by doing the academy runs during the week, a long run on the weekend, and the quarter workout once a week. Several years later, I was able to get back down to 7:50 doing basically the same thing.
I just focused on setting my quarter pace at 1 - 2 sec faster than my goal race pace, no faster…no slower. I did as many as I could until I broke down, then I would simply add one quarter per week until I was up to 12. Worked like a charm. I’m also a firm believer on drills and strides. I would do them a few times a week if your trying to build speed.
I would think you could pop 8 min if you are already near 8:30.
Let me know if you wanna hook up to run…I’m off on thur/fri/sat. Thursdays a bunch Baker to Vegas guys from different depts go up to Turnbull Canyon in the afternoon to do about 8 - 9 miles.
Good luck.
Not to bump the thread away from a great training discussion, but I’ve got to say…it’s great to see such a large number of LE individuals present and piping in on here!
Sorry for your brother that was ambushed, just read of another up in Ottawa today…never a pleasant thing to see in the headlines.
Stay safe guys/gals.
I am really sorry to hear that. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
Ive been running around the last few days, and I am shocked at all the le on here. Thanks for everyones advice. I only have a few years on and am very lucky to have been selected on the team. I am already on the team, just cant respond to call-outs until I go to school.
Update:
-PT does not include boots (normal PT gear)
Ill do some structured track work outs, and report back on my times. Should I continue cycling during this time? or just focus on my running? Will runs at IM race pace in between track work outs hurt my speed?