How to drop 25-30 seconds from 1.5 mile run?

Triathlon Forum
1

Asking for a friend…my lazy son actually…

My son’s high school soccer team is very elite and he has the skills necessary to make the varsity team as a sophomore. A team requirement is a 1.5 mile run in under 9 minutes…expectations are clear…if you don’t make the run, you don’t make the team no matter how good a player you are.

He was lazy all summer and ended up running 9:25 at the time trial. Coach told him he’s out until he make the run and gave him 2 weeks…

What say you? How does he drop the time in two weeks? Seems to me a 15 year old athletic kid should be able to drop that time extremely quickly. What would you recommend to your son in this predicament over the net 10-14 days? (other than you should have got your ass in gear over the summer).

2

Invest in the next% will get a few seconds
.

3

Check my maths but 1.5 miles is 14 meters overs 6 laps of a 400m track. So pretty much 90 seconds per lap.

If you went to a track and started dialling in individual 90 second laps it shouldn’t be too daunting plus you learn your pacing. Has he got anyone to run with him to pace him through the test or can someone be there to time it? Sports watch with a 90 sec alarm going off? You don’t want the GPS if it’s on a track just know if you are ahead or behind each lap.

Get his feedback from the failed trial while it’s still in his head. He might of started to fast or underestimated it.

Work hard for the first week, dial it back nearer the time to hit it fresh.

4

First of all, a run with a time cut-off is a stupid way to decide who makes a soccer team. Your son’s high school team could probably be better than “very elite” if they got a coach who took more into consideration in his team selection than how fast the players can run around a track.

But since that’s the game he has to play, I would say just get him out running every day. Mix it up between “longer” runs and short, fast stuff. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to increase his fitness a whole bunch, but as you said, he’s young and it might be helpful for him to get used to how it feels to run the speed he has to run to make the cutoff.

Good luck to him!

5

I disagree. Any able bodied teenager that is a good soccer player should be able to run 6 laps around a track at 6min pace…easily. Making sure you are in shape to do that when the time comes shows a commitment to the team and the program. Not doing so is evidence that you are not committed to making yourself and your team better. If I was the coach I wouldn’t be giving him the 2 weeks…

**First of all, a run with a time cut-off is a stupid way to decide who makes a soccer team. Your son’s high school team could probably be better than “very elite” if they got a coach who took more into consideration in his team selection than how fast the players can run around a track. **

But since that’s the game he has to play, I would say just get him out running every day. Mix it up between “longer” runs and short, fast stuff. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to increase his fitness a whole bunch, but as you said, he’s young and it might be helpful for him to get used to how it feels to run the speed he has to run to make the cutoff.

Good luck to him!

6

My 2 cents

10 days isn’t a lot of time to build a ton of fitness, obviously.

The other poster was spot on: focus on pacing. What were his splits like when he ran before? If he went out too hard he can find those 25 seconds with better pacing. Practicing to run at the proper pace would build a little fitness and get him experience running at the speed he will need.

7

I disagree. Any able bodied teenager that is a good soccer player should be able to run 6 laps around a track at 6min pace…easily. Making sure you are in shape to do that when the time comes shows a commitment to the team and the program. Not doing so is evidence that you are not committed to making yourself and your team better. If I was the coach I wouldn’t be giving him the 2 weeks…

Not a soccer expert here, but I know for sure that in my very non-elite high school soccer team, almost nobody could run a 6 minute mile. I know this because I ran a measly 5:45 in high school in gym class, and nobody on that team even went under 6:10. (Only a few kids in my school ran faster than me, yeah, it wasn’t competitive, so I knew who was running what.) There was at least 1 all-state level player and a few county-level players as well so not all scrubs.

I’m pretty sure they weren’t slacking off either - the gym coach was proud of pointing out the faster runners, especially if they were from other sports like football,etc. so they wouldn’t have missed the chance to stand out.

As for an top-ranked or elite soccer program, that very may be a minimum fitness requirement, but I literally don’t know.

8

I disagree. Any able bodied teenager that is a good soccer player should be able to run 6 laps around a track at 6min pace…easily. Making sure you are in shape to do that when the time comes shows a commitment to the team and the program. Not doing so is evidence that you are not committed to making yourself and your team better. If I was the coach I wouldn’t be giving him the 2 weeks…

I think you’ve just concisely described one of the reasons the US had trouble breaking through in soccer for so long. :wink:

There are tons and tons of really good soccer players who could not run that distance in that time. And of course, making that run time doesn’t make you a good soccer player.

Players should be “in shape” to play a 90-minute soccer game, definitely. I think we agree there. But being in shape isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all thing that can be governed by an arbitrary number. If I was coach, I’d rather select a good player who runs 9:25 or even 10:00, than a player who doesn’t understand the game but runs an 8:45.

9

That was my first thought too.
I would say that Maradona, Messi and Pirlo (first 3 names who came to my mind) would have failed at 16 years old that test while starting to play professionally.
And I would agree to have periodically running tests and ways to improve especially for certain positions. 20-40 yards repetitions I would say should be more indicative of the soccer dynamic.
Sorry. I understand this comment is not helping the OP but I get kind of mad reading these kind of things as an ex-player and moreover having a child just starting to play.

10

I disagree. Any able bodied teenager that is a good soccer player should be able to run 6 laps around a track at 6min pace…easily. Making sure you are in shape to do that when the time comes shows a commitment to the team and the program. Not doing so is evidence that you are not committed to making yourself and your team better. If I was the coach I wouldn’t be giving him the 2 weeks…

**First of all, a run with a time cut-off is a stupid way to decide who makes a soccer team. Your son’s high school team could probably be better than “very elite” if they got a coach who took more into consideration in his team selection than how fast the players can run around a track. **

But since that’s the game he has to play, I would say just get him out running every day. Mix it up between “longer” runs and short, fast stuff. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to increase his fitness a whole bunch, but as you said, he’s young and it might be helpful for him to get used to how it feels to run the speed he has to run to make the cutoff.

Good luck to him!

A sophomore highschool kid, who can run 9 minutes for a mile and a half, with just soccer training- is a potential D1 running talent.
Forget soccer!!!

My son is an actual D1 soccer player.
Their COLLEGE fitness test is NOT more difficult- more speed, less fitness.

Soccer running is about speed and durability. It is not necessary that a highschool soccer team consist of kids that could also run varsity cross country.

Honestly I smell BS.
(One of my son’s highschool soccer team required something similar. But the miles were very short.
Another official story was that a college basketball team required that “every player run a 5 minute mile.” But the truth is that, occassionally a guard could run a 5 mile.

At any rate…
I did consistent easy runs with my college son, during a couple of summers, to help him pass his test.

I agree that you don’t have much time.
But 4 x 3 miles/week- he would start to show benefits pretty soon.

Getting a feel for how to pace the distance could easily be worth 30 seconds.

11

If “being lazy” means that he did no training over the summer, then 2 weeks is enough time for a high schooler to make that improvement. If he ran 9:25 off no training, have him run 3 miles a day the next 2 weeks and he will be ready.

If he has some running experience already then it will probably take a more concentrated effort. Depends how much running he can handle, but I would target 30 minutes a day of running. Assuming the next test is Aug 20th:
Week 1)
Sat: Hills. Find a hill to go up and down. 10 minute warm up + 15 mins hills + 5 min cooldown
Sun: off
Mon: 2-3 1 mile reps with 6 minutes rest. warm up + cooldown
Tues: Easy 30’
Wed: 8x400 @ 90sec with full rest (90 sec). 1 mile warm up + cooldown
Thurs: Easy 30’
Fri: 10 minute warmup + 15 minute/2mile tempo + 5 minute cd

Week 2)
Sat: hills again
Sun: off
Mon: 2 1 mile reps with 6 minutes rest. warm up + cooldown
Tues: Easy 30’
Wed: 6x400 @ 90sec with full rest (90 sec). 1 mile warm up + cooldown
Thurs: 2 miles easy
Fri: Race day

The above is similar to what I did freshman year of cross country. It might be hard to get a soccer player to do running focused workouts. Especially if it is on top of soccer training. Running easy 4 times a week + soccer training could be enough.

12

Buy this and put it on his wall. Tell him to remember it when he needs inspiration to push through those final laps.

INSPIRATION

13

With only two weeks - long runs are not going to do anything. Panic Training comes to mind. How were his splits? positive? negitive? big slump in the middle? Our standard is 9:00 for a 1.5 mile run as well. The big thing on a power endurnace event like this is the mind will go before the body does. He’ll be firmly in the anaerobic lactate threshold pain cave. Excerpt copied and pasted below because we still don’t know the true set point,

“Mader and co-workers determined in 1976 that “anaerobic threshold” was reached at the blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L (milimol per liter) which was in 1981 named by Sjödin and Jacobs “Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation” (OBLA) occurring at the blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L as well. Farrel and co-workers proposed in 1979 the term Onset of Plasma Lactate Accumulation (OPLA) which was the exercise intensity that elicited a blood lactate concentration of 1 mmol/L greater than baseline. Another term proposed in 1981 by LaFontaine and co-workers was the “Maximal Steady State” which in theory happens at a blood lactate concentration of 2.2 mmol/L. In 1983 Coyle and co-workers proposed the term “Lactate Threshold” which was a non-linear increase in blood lactate of at least 1 mmol/L. Another term, “Maximal Steady-State Workload” (MSSW) was proposed by Borch and co-workers in 1993 and was established at the fixed of 3 mmol/L. Veronique Billat in 2003 proposed the term Maximal Lactate Steady State (MLSS) as the exercise intensity at the one blood lactate can be sustainable.”

essentially lactate is produced as a way of supplementing the aerobic energy system. Your lactate threshold is not your ability to handle more mmol/l of lactate but rather the ability to process it faster so your body can make more.

With two weeks to the trick will be finding the pace, proving to himself he can do the pace, and not showing up dead on the day of. He’s essentially looking to drop 16s off per mile.

The best workout will be to try to improve that lactate threshold or lactate clearing ability and to mentally get used to that pace/pain cave area. It can take up to 3 weeks or more for the training effects of a long run to truly show up so skip the pure aerobic workouts.

He’s young so we’ll save the warm ups to be shorter.
1K W/U at easy pace (youth athletes have a tendency to overcook warm ups so we keep them shorter).
Dynamic MOB
3 blocks of 6x 30s Run/30s Rest, 4:00 rest between blocks.
1K C/D

1K W/U
Dynamic MOB
3x1K @Pace - 5s/mile W/2:00 Static Rest
1K C/D

1K W/U
400m@Pace -5s/mile, 200m Float X3
1K C/D.

Can anyone pace him? I was training for a race once, friend asked me my goal pace. I told him and he goes “BS, you’re faster. Put your watch in your pocket and just stay on my heals” We were 30s/mile faster than I thought we would be. I just didn’t let go of his heals, no way in ____ I could have done that workout on my own.

14

First of all, a run with a time cut-off is a stupid way to decide who makes a soccer team. Your son’s high school team could probably be better than “very elite” if they got a coach who took more into consideration in his team selection than how fast the players can run around a track.

But since that’s the game he has to play, I would say just get him out running every day. Mix it up between “longer” runs and short, fast stuff. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to increase his fitness a whole bunch, but as you said, he’s young and it might be helpful for him to get used to how it feels to run the speed he has to run to make the cutoff.

Good luck to him!

Agreed. Stupid rule for a team cut. If a kid has skills his fitness can improve faster than a kid who is decent practicing enough to make the jump to great.

Anyway. I agree with the pacing comments.
Some questions:
-How hard was he breathing at the finish…did he think he was gonna die?
-Did he feel like he started too fast?

  • Was anyone giving him splits each lap?
    -Were there many kids who passed vs failed this same exercise?

I’d take him to the track and have him at 85 to 90 seconds pace to get a feel. Also, take him to a flat section (if you have it) of road 1.5 miles out and make him run it back to you. He might be better at running 1.5 miles vs. 6 laps.

15

I disagree. Any able bodied teenager that is a good soccer player should be able to run 6 laps around a track at 6min pace…easily. Making sure you are in shape to do that when the time comes shows a commitment to the team and the program. Not doing so is evidence that you are not committed to making yourself and your team better. If I was the coach I wouldn’t be giving him the 2 weeks…

**First of all, a run with a time cut-off is a stupid way to decide who makes a soccer team. Your son’s high school team could probably be better than “very elite” if they got a coach who took more into consideration in his team selection than how fast the players can run around a track. **

But since that’s the game he has to play, I would say just get him out running every day. Mix it up between “longer” runs and short, fast stuff. Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to increase his fitness a whole bunch, but as you said, he’s young and it might be helpful for him to get used to how it feels to run the speed he has to run to make the cutoff.

Good luck to him!

A sophomore highschool kid, who can run 9 minutes for a mile and a half, with just soccer training- is a potential D1 running talent.
Forget soccer!!!

My son is an actual D1 soccer player.
Their COLLEGE fitness test is NOT more difficult- more speed, less fitness.

Soccer running is about speed and durability. It is not necessary that a highschool soccer team consist of kids that could also run varsity cross country.

Honestly I smell BS.
(One of my son’s highschool soccer team required something similar. But the miles were very short.
Another official story was that a college basketball team required that “every player run a 5 minute mile.” But the truth is that, occassionally a guard could run a 5 mile.

At any rate…
I did consistent easy runs with my college son, during a couple of summers, to help him pass his test.

I agree that you don’t have much time.
But 4 x 3 miles/week- he would start to show benefits pretty soon.

Getting a feel for how to pace the distance could easily be worth 30 seconds.

I smell BS also.

It would be like having a crit racing bike squad where the fitness test is a 40k time trial under 55min. Haha. The physiology of the two tasks are just totally at odds with the test.

Soccer is trot, sprint, recover. It isn’t some steady aerobic effort.

If I HAD to do a soccer fitness test I would simply rank the players first to last in the following and if you are bottom X% you are out:
-situps in a minute
-pushups in a minute
-400m time
-100m time
-a skills combine

A 1.5mi run is so stupid.

Isn’t this the second time we had this identical forum topic about soccer?

16

My rugby club did a 1.5 mile test pre-season as well. But it wasn’t a “make the team” cut-off, more of an evaluation of who’s coming in in-shape and who’s not. There wasn’t a universal “standard” though there were general positional goals. Tight five minus hooker under 10ish, loosies under 9, backs maybe 8:30? The consequences were individual though. Basically let the coaches know who had put in work and who needed extra before the season started.

I suspect that’s what’s going on. Or at least, it’s a reasonable thing to be going on. It would not surprise me at all if a HS coach misinterpreted some article about a similar test to conclude you can’t be good at soccer unless you can run that.

17

You’d be surprised at how little some college coaches know about the fitness required…when I was playing a 3-5k running test was common in the US as a test for fitness in college soccer.

18

Forgive my bluntness, but that’s insane. Fortunately there’s a 0% chance of him doing that but if he went from virtually nothing to 6days/wk running w/every other days being intervals, he’d either be acutely overtrained, and run slower, or injured, and run slower.

If he really cares about it, he should just do a couple easy runs and maybe some 90sec 400m repeats, to build confidence.

But he can probably do it if he just tries harder.

19

Maybe a little late, but fwiw I played D1 soccer. I suspect the coach wants to see commitment and fire more than dropping 30 seconds. They want to see someone who they think is underachieving push themselves. That said, 2-4 sessions of 8 x 400 at faster than race pace and some easy stuff every day with at least one 5-8 mile long run, and a 2 day taper would be the best you can do. He should leave everything on the track and when he’s done basically collapse.

Also, for some context, this is easier than the test we did in HS, club, and college since we were around 14. The “Cooper test” - 2 miles in 12 minutes - is pretty standard in the US at least. The difference in college was that we ran 400s after and the only people that didn’t make the cooper were the goalies. In “elite” club, 95% of the outfield players made it and the others weren’t that far off and still puked to put up a 12:30. In HS, it was more lenient because it was what it was, but the expectation was there. I ran 11:15-12:00, depending on where I was fitness-wise. I wouldn’t have sniffed being good on our xc team though.

As for whether this is a “good test,” in my experience it’s a pretty fair test for soccer fitness. Soccer players just likely have a much bigger anaerobic contribution to those 12 minutes than endurance athletes. Back then, it was tough for me, but game fitness was good. Now I can do it 5 times in a row, but I think my game fitness probably sucks!

20

A sophomore highschool kid, who can run 9 minutes for a mile and a half, with just soccer training- is a potential D1 running talent.
Forget soccer!!!
’
’

You cant be serious, my sons hockey team had a timed mile between grade 7 and 8, this was last year where kids summer soccer and lacrosse were cancelled so they weren’t in great shape.

The results my son and another kid 5:30 about 3 or 4 kids around 6 mins and the rest under 7 mins, this was pre season. I think going on 13 you’d want to see a kid in the 5 min range if they had real potential.