Urgent running help

[BigDH01]

I need to pass a PFT on Feb 13th. I'm good on much of it but I'm a little short on the running which includes a sprint and 1.5 mile run. The sprint is 300m long. I've never really much experience with track and most of my exercising has focused on weight lifting. I don't know the best way to increase my speed to pass this test and I was looking for a program spanning 12 weeks from the local experts.

I would also like some dietary recommendations as well if possible.

Although my situps and pushups are fine, I need to maintain my current strength level in those areas so I would probably need to work that in as well.

I can run the 1.5 mile in about 12:40 in the cold wind, but have run a 7:30 mile in good weather. I can run the 300m in about 51 seconds.

I would like to get my 1.5 mile time to 11 minutes or so to be safe (need to do it in 12:24) and would like to get my 300m to sub-50 times (needs to be 52.4).

I have access to an indoor track so can run any day. I am willing to run 7 days a week if I have to.

So, I guess I'm asking for 2 things. First, is it possible for me to increase my times by this much in 12 weeks? Second, I kindly request the workout and dietary plan to get me there.

 

[teb468]

Well just getting in a bunch of good miles will help you with the 1.5 mile run. knocking off 1:40 should be easily doable in 3 months. If your running 30-40 miles per week consistently by January, you should be fine for that. Doing that alone will probably make it easier to run a sub 50 second 300m, but you can always take a day or two a week and do 200m or 400m repetitions at 50 second 300m pace.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: teb468
Well just getting in a bunch of good miles will help you with the 1.5 mile run. knocking off 1:40 should be easily doable in 3 months. If your running 30-40 miles per week consistently by January, you should be fine for that. Doing that alone will probably make it easier to run a sub 50 second 300m, but you can always take a day or two a week and do 200m or 400m repetitions at 50 second 300m pace.

Lol, you really don't need 30-40 miles per week to run an 11 min 1.5 mile. I would actually just say to do sprint drills, interval training and the occasional 5k. That means, do something like 10 100m sprints one day (2 min rest), then do 4-6 200m the next (3-5 min rest), and do something like 800m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 800m (full recovery), etc. 300m is an awkward distance, but you'll want to train your all out sprinting ability (100m sprints to train) and your endurance 400m+. I used to run 300m during track season in about 37 seconds. That was doing distances always 600m or lower (mainly 100-400m's). As you train sprints, your mile time will go down for sure. If you want, you can train 5 days a week - 3x for sprints, 2x for distance.

 

[SWScorch]

I think that a combination of mileage and intervals is best. You don't want to start doing any high-intensity workouts unless you are good shape already, or else you're likely to get injured. Here is what I would do:

Weeks 1-3 - run 2-4 miles 3-4x a week
Weeks 4-6 - run 3-5 miles 3-4x a week
Weeks 7-12 - run 2-5 miles 2-3x a week, and do 2 of the workouts that SC recommended as well.

You'll want to be eating a fair amount of carbs (no Atkins diet for you!) so you have fuel for this kind of work, and try to replenish your carb and protein stores after each interval workout with chicken and rice or pasta and steak or something along those lines. Make sure you eat breakfast, something with carbs, protein and fiber (cause pooping is good for you!) Eat a lot of fruit and veggies and drink a ton of water! That's about all I can say!

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: SWScorch
I think that a combination of mileage and intervals is best. You don't want to start doing any high-intensity workouts unless you are good shape already, or else you're likely to get injured. Here is what I would do:

Weeks 1-3 - run 2-4 miles 3-4x a week
Weeks 4-6 - run 3-5 miles 3-4x a week
Weeks 7-12 - run 2-5 miles 2-3x a week, and do 2 of the workouts that SC recommended as well.

You'll want to be eating a fair amount of carbs (no Atkins diet for you!) so you have fuel for this kind of work, and try to replenish your carb and protein stores after each interval workout with chicken and rice or pasta and steak or something along those lines. Make sure you eat breakfast, something with carbs, protein and fiber (cause pooping is good for you!) Eat a lot of fruit and veggies and drink a ton of water! That's about all I can say!

You can start doing intervals as soon as you like, however knowing the limits can be challenging. I would say start with something like a half load of what I said to do and then maybe jog a mile. The problem with not training his 300m earlier is that I think that's going to be harder to get down than the 1.5 mile time. Sprints go down incrementally and distance training transfers less-so to sprints than when those who train sprints run distance. I bet he could do a workout totally centered around high intensity sprints, be injury-free, and still get his 1.5 mile time down below what he wants.

 

[teb468]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Lol, you really don't need 30-40 miles per week to run an 11 min 1.5 mile. I would actually just say to do sprint drills, interval training and the occasional 5k. That means, do something like 10 100m sprints one day (2 min rest), then do 4-6 200m the next (3-5 min rest), and do something like 800m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 800m (full recovery), etc. 300m is an awkward distance, but you'll want to train your all out sprinting ability (100m sprints to train) and your endurance 400m+. I used to run 300m during track season in about 37 seconds. That was doing distances always 600m or lower (mainly 100-400m's). As you train sprints, your mile time will go down for sure. If you want, you can train 5 days a week - 3x for sprints, 2x for distance.

Well you can also do that as well, as I've done it in college (was XC/MD for two years then got moved down to do sprint training). I personally had better mile times doing distance runs with interval workouts then I did doing the long sprint training. Then again, I was aiming for sub 4:20 mile then, not ~7:30 or so.

I bet more then anything, his body type will dictate which kinds of workouts he will be better off doing. Plus jumping right into sprint work just plain sucks if your out of shape.

Oh and by the way Big, whatever you do, don't try doing all your distance runs indoors, you'll go insane. Save the indoors for the speedier stuff.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: teb468

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Lol, you really don't need 30-40 miles per week to run an 11 min 1.5 mile. I would actually just say to do sprint drills, interval training and the occasional 5k. That means, do something like 10 100m sprints one day (2 min rest), then do 4-6 200m the next (3-5 min rest), and do something like 800m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 800m (full recovery), etc. 300m is an awkward distance, but you'll want to train your all out sprinting ability (100m sprints to train) and your endurance 400m+. I used to run 300m during track season in about 37 seconds. That was doing distances always 600m or lower (mainly 100-400m's). As you train sprints, your mile time will go down for sure. If you want, you can train 5 days a week - 3x for sprints, 2x for distance.

Well you can also do that as well, as I've done it in college (was XC/MD for two years then got moved down to do sprint training). I personally had better mile times doing distance runs with interval workouts then I did doing the long sprint training. Then again, I was aiming for sub 4:20 mile then, not ~7:30 or so.

I bet more then anything, his body type will dictate which kinds of workouts he will be better off doing. Plus jumping right into sprint work just plain sucks if your out of shape.

Oh and by the way Big, whatever you do, don't try doing all your distance runs indoors, you'll go insane. Save the indoors for the speedier stuff.

i'll second that. find an outdoor track to do long runs on, i don't like running on city streets since you have to worry about cars and stuff.. indoor tracks are boring, awesomly convenient but mind numbingly boring.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: teb468

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Lol, you really don't need 30-40 miles per week to run an 11 min 1.5 mile. I would actually just say to do sprint drills, interval training and the occasional 5k. That means, do something like 10 100m sprints one day (2 min rest), then do 4-6 200m the next (3-5 min rest), and do something like 800m, 600m, 400m, 600m, 800m (full recovery), etc. 300m is an awkward distance, but you'll want to train your all out sprinting ability (100m sprints to train) and your endurance 400m+. I used to run 300m during track season in about 37 seconds. That was doing distances always 600m or lower (mainly 100-400m's). As you train sprints, your mile time will go down for sure. If you want, you can train 5 days a week - 3x for sprints, 2x for distance.

Well you can also do that as well, as I've done it in college (was XC/MD for two years then got moved down to do sprint training). I personally had better mile times doing distance runs with interval workouts then I did doing the long sprint training. Then again, I was aiming for sub 4:20 mile then, not ~7:30 or so.

I bet more then anything, his body type will dictate which kinds of workouts he will be better off doing. Plus jumping right into sprint work just plain sucks if your out of shape.

Oh and by the way Big, whatever you do, don't try doing all your distance runs indoors, you'll go insane. Save the indoors for the speedier stuff.

Yeah, I'm just assuming his sprinting time is gonna be harder to decrease than his mile time. A 4:20 mile is a very different thing than a 7:30. A 4:20 IS practically sprinting

 

[irishScott]

I know this is going to sound weird, but you might consider looking into MREs. They're high calorie, high carb, high protein, and high fat, but you'll be burning plenty of the latter. If you buy them from the right place, they cost about the same as a Panera Bread sandwich; and they taste better than you might think.

I use these:
http://www.readymeal.com/store/home.php
They're made by Ameriqual, one of the companies that produces military MREs. They're the best bang for the buck (calories/price) I can find. Total cost was about $70 shipped (to Delaware) for a case of 12. You get 2 of each of six different menus.

If you want more info on the other brands (there aren't many) check here:
http://www.mreinfo.com/civilian/mre/civilian-mres.html

I generally use mine for camp/hiking food, and these have easily seen me through some 13 mile hikes up steep inclines.