1.5 Mile Run in 12 Min 45 Sec

by Danielle

Hey! :)
Ive been running on and off for about 2 months now, as I am applying for the army. My mile and half time required is 12.45 mins. I run a number of routes all of which equate to 1.5 miles, except some of them I can run in under 11 mins and some of them take 13.

My times are becoming harder to improve on and if anything they seem to be getting worse :(

I was just wondering if you could give me some advice on how to get the best out of myself whilst out running.
THANK YOU :)


Answer by Dominique:

Hi Danielle,
Thanks for your running training question.
It looks like you have a good basic fitness and are at the right level to hit your goal with running the 1.5 miles in 11 to 13 minutes.

I am assuming the slower runs are on more difficult courses with more hills?

For now, my advice on what to do to consolidate and improve further is:


1.Run slower to run faster
2. Add some variety quality workouts
3. Test yourself now and again, not too often
4. Bringing it all together

Run Slower to Run Faster

It sounds like that you are currently racing every time you run. Basically running that 1.5 mile again and again. It helps somewhat, definitely. But it is not the best strategy.

And you are experiencing what others do that use the same strategy as well: stagnation and even deterioration of your times.

The secret of running your 1.5 mile faster is in... running slower. Yep, you read that right.

I am not sure how much time you have got left until your test, but this is the basic idea until then: run slowly, the pace at which you can maintain a conversation and try to build up the distance you run. The goal is to build up your stamina. Imagine if you'd build up to run 5 miles, or even more. How much easier would that 1.5 mile run be then?

Running the same distance over and over again, trying to beat the previous time may work in the beginning. But at some point you will not make progress anymore.

Even worse, because you are doing such tough sessions, you run bigger risks of injury and are wearing yourself out.

So, run at least three times per week and focus on building up your mileage. Check out the Increasing Mileage Safely page on how to do that well.

Add Some Quality Workouts

In addition to regular easy runs, once, maximum twice a week, do a faster workout. No, not a 1.5 mile time trial. Something different. Check out my pages on tempo running or interval running for some ideas.

Test yourself now and again, not too often

You can still do the 1.5 mile time trial once in a while. Maybe once every 3-4 weeks or so. Depends a bit on how much time you have until your test. Preferrably you would do some type of goal pace workout once a week for the last 3-4 weeks of your training cycle to really sharpen up on 1.5 mile pace.

Bringing it all together

I can highly recommend the ecourse I put together. It aims to bring some of these concepts together. And with it, you get a nice short ebook with some ideas for great workouts you can do to sharpen up your 1.5 mile time. It's a nice way to further educate yourself on the 1.5 mile test.

Hope this helps.
Best of luck!
Kind regards,
Dominique