1.5 Mile Police Test: 13 Minutes in 6 Weeks

Hi. I'm a 36 year old male and a normal weight for my age and height of 5'11". I do eat healthy and I am in good health. I haven't run since last year. I have 6 weeks until I have the 1.5 mile test for a police exam. I'd like some help please. What do I need to do achieve the test? My time limit is 13 minutes. One of the issues I'm having also is the track close to me is outdoors and it is winter time. I do have a large basement in my house so I was going to measure out a distance and work in there when the weather doesn't permit outdoor running. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer by Dom:
Hi, thanks for your question about your 13 minute 1.5 mile police fitness test.

13 minutes for 1.5 miles is possible with your background. You're not starting from zero: you ran last year, you're healthy, and you've got the discipline to eat well. That foundation matters more than you might think. The biggest unknown is what time you'd run today, so section 1 deals with that first.

Here's how to approach this:

1. Find Out Where You Stand Today
2. Keep Training Through the Winter
3. Build Your Base With Easy Running
4. Practice 8:40 Per Mile Until It Feels Normal
5. Follow This 6-Week Plan

1. Find Out Where You Stand Today

The first thing to figure out: if you ran 1.5 miles tomorrow, what time would you hit?

This matters a lot. If you'd run it in 16 minutes right now, you've got a manageable 3-minute improvement to make. If you'd struggle to finish in 20 minutes, you're looking at a much steeper challenge.

Plenty of people underestimate their starting fitness, especially if they've been active in other ways. Walking regularly, playing sports occasionally, or even just being on your feet at work all contribute to your base.

Here's what to do: get out there this week and do a time trial. Run the full distance as fast as you can while still finishing (this is a time trial, a full-effort practice run of the test distance) and see where you land. You need that baseline to build your training around.

If you can't get outside, use a treadmill at a gym and set it to 1% incline to simulate outdoor running. This one test will tell you everything about how aggressive your training needs to be.

2. Keep Training Through the Winter

Your basement idea made me chuckle. Unless you've got a mansion-sized basement, that's going to be tricky!

But here's the thing: I used to train in Dutch winters with snow, ice, rain and brutal wind. And sure, there were times when running outside was a pretty miserable affair. Especially the combination of rain and wind so cold that it seems to pierce right through you can be terrible.

But I often found it remarkable that on a snowy or freezing night I'd be out there running in double or triple layers, gloves and a beanie, and after about 7-8 minutes I'd start getting warm. The beanie would come off, then the gloves, and sometimes I'd even shed a layer. There's a saying (I believe it comes from the Swedes): "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." That's been my experience.

As long as you dress for the conditions, there are a lot of types of weather you can safely run in. And, dare I say it, even enjoy yourself. You can train outdoors in winter. You just need the right approach and gear.

For outdoor running, invest in proper shoes with grip. Trail running shoes work well on icy paths. Layer up but don't overdress. You should feel slightly cold when you start. After 10 minutes of running, you'll be perfectly warm.

When conditions are genuinely dangerous (black ice, heavy snow, or temperatures below 10°F), that's when you need indoor alternatives. Your best bet is joining a gym with treadmills for six weeks. Many gyms offer short-term memberships, and it's worth the investment for your career.

If you can borrow or buy a cheap treadmill, even better. Set it to 1% incline for all your runs to simulate outdoor effort.

The basement could work for very easy recovery runs if you've got 50+ feet of straight line. You'd be shuffling slowly, which actually isn't terrible for building base fitness. But you can't do your speed work in there.

3. Build Your Base With Easy Running

This is where runners like you preparing for this 1.5 mile test go wrong: you try to run hard every single day.

Your foundation needs to be built on easy running. That means a pace where you could hold a conversation. For you, that's probably around 10-11 minutes per mile right now.

You want to get comfortable running longer than 1.5 miles at this easy pace. Build up to 3-4 mile runs by week four. This builds your aerobic fitness (the fitness that keeps you going at an easy effort) and makes 1.5 miles feel short. Since you haven't run since last year, build up gradually, and get a quick check-up first if you have any health concerns.

Easy running also helps you recover between harder sessions. You'll be doing speed work once or twice a week, and you need your legs fresh for those key workouts.

Don't worry about feeling slow during these runs. You may panic because your easy runs feel too gentle. Trust the process. The fitness is building even when it doesn't feel challenging.

Start with 20-30 minutes of easy running and add 5 minutes each week. If you're training indoors, break up the monotony by varying your pace slightly every few minutes, but keep it conversational throughout.

4. Practice 8:40 Per Mile Until It Feels Normal

13 minutes for 1.5 miles works out to 8:40 per mile pace. That's a decent clip, not elite, but you'll need to work for it.

Your speed work should focus on two things: getting comfortable at 8:40 per mile, and running some segments faster so that 8:40 feels manageable on test day.

Start with fartlek running in week two. That's Swedish for "speed play": you mix faster segments into an easy run. Try 6 x 1 minute hard with 2 minutes easy recovery. The hard segments should feel like an 8:00-8:30 per mile.

By week four, you'll progress to more structured intervals (repeated shorter runs close to your test pace, with recovery in between). 4 x 400 meters (quarter mile) at 8:20 per mile with 90 seconds walking recovery. Then 3 x 800 meters (half mile) at 8:40 per mile (your exact test pace) with 2 minutes walking recovery.

The key is learning what 8:40 per mile feels like so you don't go out too fast on test day. Too many people blow up in the final 800 meters (half a mile) because they ran the first half mile in 3:30 (a 7:00 per mile pace) instead of 4:20 (8:40 per mile).

Practice running negative splits too, which means running the second half faster than the first: start slightly slower than 8:40 per mile and gradually pick it up. This teaches you to finish strong when your legs are tired.

5. Follow This 6-Week Plan

Here's exactly what to do each week:

Weeks 1-2: Build your base and assess your fitness.

• Monday: Easy run 25-30 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest or easy walk 20 minutes
• Wednesday: Time trial (week 1) or fartlek (week 2)
• Thursday: Easy run 20-25 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 35-40 minutes
• Sunday: Rest or easy walk 30 minutes

Weeks 3-4: Add structured speed work.

• Monday: Easy run 30-35 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Interval training (400m repeats week 3, 800m repeats week 4)
• Thursday: Easy run 25 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 40-45 minutes
• Sunday: Rest or easy walk

Weeks 5-6: Fine-tune and taper (cut back a little so you arrive fresh).

• Monday: Easy run 30 minutes
• Tuesday: Rest
• Wednesday: Goal pace workout (practice at your exact test pace: 3 x 800m at 8:40 per mile)
• Thursday: Easy run 20 minutes
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Easy run 35 minutes with 3 x 30 seconds at test pace
• Sunday: Rest

Test week: Easy 20-minute run on Monday, rest Tuesday and Wednesday, test on Thursday or whenever scheduled.

Consistency beats perfection. Missing one workout won't derail you, but missing half your sessions will. Adjust the plan if you get sick or injured, because your health comes first.


Many people face similar challenges, and some need to reduce their 1.5 mile time by even more in the same timeframe.

If you'd rather have these six weeks laid out day by day around your exact test date and your own starting time, I built AceTheTest to do exactly that. It's free to start.

Your next step: this week, run your baseline 1.5 mile time trial, outdoors if it's safe or on a treadmill at 1% incline, and write down the time. You've got everything you need to pass this test if you commit to the work. Good luck with your police test.
All the best,
Dom

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