Running to Qualify for Police Physical Test: 2-Month Training Plan

Hi, I'm a 24 yr. old male my weight is 97 kg, height is 175cm. I started smoking for last 5 months and I have to run to qualify for police physical test. First off I have to run for 800 mtrs in 3min 10sec, and after that I need to run 5k in 25 min, but I can't run that fast. I only run constantly for 150mtrs in 1 min. I haven't run before and two months left until the physical test. Please help me and tell me how can I run faster to complete my test for police.

Answer by Dom:
Hi Salamat, thanks for your question!
Your situation is tough but not impossible. You need to attack this on multiple fronts, and there's no time to waste. This is a common challenge for police candidates — many people face similar time crunches with even less training background.

Two months is not a lot of time. But it gives you time to make real improvements if you're willing to put in consistent work every single day. Candidates have successfully improved from your starting point to pass both tests with this kind of focused approach.

You need to address several factors simultaneously:

1. Essential lifestyle changes for your police test
2. Building your base endurance with periodization
3. Developing speed for the 800m test
4. Creating your two-month training timeline

1. Essential lifestyle changes for your police test

Let's be honest about your starting point - at 97kg, you're carrying extra weight that's going to make these times much harder to hit. Additionally, the smoking is killing your chances here. Every cigarette is working against the exact fitness you need to pass these tests.

Every kilogram you lose will make your test times easier to hit. Even modest weight loss combined with fitness improvements can dramatically impact your running performance in just two months.

The smoking habit is directly attacking your cardiovascular system — the very thing you need for these tests. Cutting down significantly will help your oxygen uptake improve, even if complete cessation feels impossible right now.

Start walking on your rest days. Do some basic bodyweight exercises. Your body needs to adapt to being active every day, not just during your running sessions. The fundamentals are covered in much more detail in the beginner running tips guide.

2. Building your base endurance with periodization

You need a structured approach called periodization — that's building your fitness in planned phases rather than just running randomly.

For your first month, focus on running four times per week using run-walk intervals. Start with 1 minute running, 1 minute walking, repeated 8-10 times. When running, maintain a comfortable jog — you should be able to talk in short sentences. A key mistake that many beginning runners make is that they think that running should be hard and that you should push yourself. Take it easy, just a jog is fine.

Every few sessions, extend your running intervals. Go from 1 minute to 90 seconds, then 2 minutes, then 3. By week three, you should manage 5-minute running intervals with 2-minute walk breaks.

Your total workout time should build from 20 minutes to 40-60 minutes. This progression works consistently if you are willing to follow it religiously. You can find full structured example plans in the beginners running program section.

The key is consistency over intensity right now. Your cardiovascular system needs time to adapt, and rushing this phase leads to injury or even burnout.

3. Developing speed for the 800m test

Month two is where you add speed work while maintaining your endurance base. That 800m in 3:10 requires you to hold a 3:58 per kilometer pace — that's genuinely fast for someone at your current fitness level.

Add a goal pace session each week to get used to what this pace feels like. Start with 4 x 200m runs at your target 800m pace (about 47-48 seconds per 200m) with 90 seconds walking recovery between each.

Progress to 300m intervals, then 400m intervals. The 400m repeats are crucial — you need to run two of these back-to-back for your 800m test. Aim for 95 seconds per 400m with 2-3 minutes recovery.

For your 5k endurance, you can follow a similar approach. Start with 12 x 400m at 5k goal pace with 60-90 sec rest in between and build up from there.

This speed work will hurt. Both of these sessions add a lot of intensity. When you have a much longer timeline the approach would be different. We'd be focusing on tempo work to push your speed up from below. But with such limited time and a big mountain to climb, the approach needs to be more aggressive.

Keep in mind: adding speed increases the risk of injury. At any sign of possible injury, take a rest day or plan in an easier day. Injury is the last thing we need!

4. Creating your two-month training timeline

The below provides a general structure that you can use and modify based on your needs:

Week 1-4 (Base Building Phase):

• 4 run-walks per week, building from 1-minute to 5-minute running intervals
• 3 active recovery days with 30-minute walks
• Focus on consistency and gradual progression

Week 5-8 (Speed Development Phase):

• 2 endurance runs per week (maintaining your run-walk progression)
• 2 speed sessions per week (800m and 5k focused)
• 3 active recovery days

Breaking your plan down like this, means each phase builds on the previous one. Don't skip ahead to speed work before you've built your endurance base. Speed is useless when you are not able to maintain that speed for long enough!

In your final week, reduce training volume by 40% to arrive fresh for your test. Your fitness won't improve much in that last week anyway, but your legs will thank you for the recovery.

You've got serious work ahead of you, but significant improvements are possible if you commit fully to this plan. Candidates have successfully moved from tougher starting positions than yours.

This plan should help. Wishing you the best of luck with your police test preparation.

Dom

Some Other Pages You May Like

Home > 1.5 Mile Test > Other fitness test distances > 800m and 5k Police Fitness Test

  ☕ Buy Dom a Coffee