I'm trying to get on to the Will Co. Sheriff's department DOC here in Illinois. The one test that had me worring a little bit was the mile and a half run. The physical test is on the 24th of October. I've got about 12 weeks to get my cardio up. Damn I hate running. Any officer's out there have any advice for me. BTW Icehog is already helping me.
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With the time they allot for the mile and a half, Don, you can actually jog a lap, walk a lap, etc, on a quarter mile track and still make the time. Pace yourself, don't try to keep up with the marathon runners and the kids who will burn themselves out after two laps, and you will be good.
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I'm not a cop, but I still have to run the mile and a half twice a year. One thing I don't do is run on the streets all the time, as I find it beats up my knees and ankles. Running on a treadmill is much easier on my joints, so it's no prob to run a few miles a day. The elliptical trainer is even lower impact, and it's no problem to do a pretty good pace for an hour. I hit the streets once or twice a week or two before the test to check my pace, as the treadmill and elliptical won't really give you a good feel for your run time on the street.

Another piece of advice is to get a good pair of running shoes that fits your stride. Stop in a a good shoe store that specializes in running shoes, like Roadrunner or Footlocker, and they should be able to analyze your stride and help you select shoes that will help correct some issues you may have, like over pronation. 12 weeks is plenty of time, so just do it! :-)
Good advise, as I always end up passing half the kids who start out with a sprint. The other half are outta my league.
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The last couple of days I've been doing it in 20 minutes. I don't have my target time yet, but at my age I should be right around that time frame. So I'm actually doing better than I thought I would have.
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If it models itself with the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board standards. Don, it looks like this:

Age 21-29 : 13: 46

Age 30-39 : 14: 31

Age 40-49 : 15: 24

Age 50-59 : 16: 21
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AW CRAP I'm not doing quite as good as I thought that I was (I'm 40 yrs. old). Did I mention that I HATE running.
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You will be suprised what adrenaline will do when you want the job, my friend. :-)
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Good luck man, I too am just starting to run again getting in shape for the Border Patrol. I hate running with a passion but I know its for something I really want so thats what motivates me to get out there every day.
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My 16-y.o. had to pass a physical fitness test to qualify for a leadership academy this summer. He was required to run 1.5 miles in 13:00 minutes.

The Senior Chief of his NJROTC unit recommended he NOT run the full 1.5 miles while trainning. Rather, he had him doing a mile 3x per week and 1.25 miles, once a week. He only ran the full 1.5 miles a couple times a month, and that was only as a progress check.

The other piece of advice he got that seemed to be helpful was to maintain an upright posture. As he would tire, my son would bend his head and toroso forward making breathing more difficult and causing his diaphragm to work harder.

I'm a big fat slob, so I can only pass along what I saw work for my son.

Good luck on the test.
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Well, I wish I could run! :-)
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Good luck on the test, I hate running too! No advice on running faster or training...just best wishes, and know that if you want it, you can do it!

:-)
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:-) :-)
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I've got a few things for you:

First, wear a wrist watch that has a stop watch on it when you train and when you run the test. That way you can find your pace for the mile and a half in training and replicate that on the test. Also on the test you will know if you are behind schedule to make your time and you can gut out a sprint if needed.

Second, if you haven't already, clean up your eating habits. I'm not sure of your body composition, but if your diet is clean, and your body is getting more lean then the run will become much easier.

Third, persistence is key. Remember anything worth anything does not come easy. The reason they do all these tests is to weed out the "non-hackers" they do not want representing there department. Many want to wear the uniform, but not all are willing to do what it takes.

Good luck on the test.
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I've run a mile or two in my day, LOL

if you want to get faster you have to run faster.

Two easy ways to do that for someone new to running is:

1) once or twice a week spend part of the time running uphill. Hill training is a great way to increase your fitness without beating your legs up.

2) on your regular run do interval or "fartlek". During the run pick out an object, like a telephone pole, and run faster to it, when you get to it, slow down to your regular pace. Repeat.

Finally, if the run is a mile and a half you need to train longer than that, not shorter. Your run should be at least two miles, at a minimum if the test run is one and a half. Runners train to run longer than their race distance
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:-)

He speaks the truth. Hill training helped me bigtime when I was looking to improve my run time and "fartleks" should be in everyone workout routine.
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:-)This works well, I am doing this currently to improve my speed for my leg of the marathon relay some of my company is running in.
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If you're running this on a track, get out and run a lap at a comfortable pace. Use your timer or stopwatch to guide you to get a lap in at 2:30. (The best of the best sprinters run a .25 mile (one lap) at roughly 40 seconds so if you even run at half their speed, that's 1min 20sec ... a quarter of their speed is 2:40.)

You'll need to run 6 laps at that pace to clock a time of 15:00.

If you run some of those laps faster than others, you can "bank" some time to cruise at the end of the run in case you're feeling a little winded.

Good luck!
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I don't know how long you've been at running but for your test doing longer slower runs on the weekends helps you build endurance and speed that can help a lot. Also, fartleks too...it's a jog with small bursts of speed in certain points..it helps your heart learn to recover faster and also helps the body become more efficient in running biomechanics. (I read this somewhere) I used to do it when I was in the Marines and it seemed to work out well..
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Resipsa has some good advice.

Also, if you're in the market for shoes & own an iPod, I would recommend looking at some of the Nike+ models (see my thread here). That bit of technology keeps all your run data organized and even acts as a trainer--using your account on the Nike+ website, you can plug in what you want to do (run faster, further, a particular distance event, etc.,) and by when, and Nike will customize a training regimen to help you get there. It's a great tool if you've never been into running or training previously.

:-)
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2) on your regular run do interval or "fartlek". During the run pick out an object, like a telephone pole, and run faster to it, when you get to it, slow down to your regular pace. Repeat.

How come it seem like when ever people are talking about me "that word" always seems to pop up.
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