Training for a 1.5 Mile Run: How to Qualify For Your Test

If you have a 1.5 mile test coming up, do these three things in this order:

1. Build your aerobic base. Run easy, often, until you can keep running comfortably for a long time. Easy means a pace at which you could chat with a running partner.
2. Add strides. These are short, smooth speed-ups at the end of an easy run that keep your legs quick.
3. Add faster running as the test gets closer. Training means running at a variety of paces, from very easy up to as fast as your 1.5 mile goal pace, and paces in between.

Skip that order and you can spend months running hard with nothing to show for it: plenty of effort but no fitness to back it up, or endurance with no gear to shift into when the pace bites in that last half-mile.

Haven't exercised in a long time? Or do you have any health concern? Then see your doctor before you start training.

I have coached 1.5 mile test candidates to pass their tests successfully. My advice in this section of the website is not just "this should work"-advice. It has worked, time and time again, with runners just like you. I know the 1.5 mile test is a real challenge, but with solid training you can improve and you too, can pass this test.

Why the 1.5 Mile Run Test Is So Challenging

So why do police departments and armies worldwide love the 1.5 mile distance? Because it's perfectly designed to expose your weaknesses.

At 1.5 miles, you can't just rely on raw speed like you would in a 400m sprint. But you also can't just plod along at an easy jog like you might in a 5K.

You need both a solid base of fitness AND the ability to maintain a strong pace when your lungs are screaming. That combination trips up most people who try to wing it without proper training.

The distance is long enough to test your heart and lungs, but short enough that you need genuine speed in your legs. Miss either piece and you'll struggle to hit your target time.

And then there is the test itself. Tests are hard. Many of us, when we get to racing, we start too fast. And we burn out. I have got plenty of "crash and burn" horror stories from races. I share one on this page about a half marathon gone wrong. Doing some running in your training at the required test pace ("goal pace") is a good way to reduce this problem.

What Pace Do You Need?

Your target time sets every training pace on this page. Your goal pace is the pace you need to average to hit your target time on test day. It is the fastest pace you train at. Divide your target time by 1.5 for your goal pace per mile, and by a little over four for your goal pace per 400m lap of a track. Here are the numbers for common targets:

Every other pace in training sits below that one, on a ladder. Easy pace is the slowest: you could chat. Tempo pace is comfortably hard: faster than easy, slower than goal pace, and you can say a few words but not chat. Interval pace is close to goal pace, which you can only hold for a few minutes at a time. The faster your target, the more of the faster running you'll need mixed in with your easy running.

Step 1: Build Your Aerobic Foundation

Your aerobic base is how long you can keep running comfortably, and you build it with plenty of easy runs. This seems counterintuitive, but trust me. The aim is to get well beyond the 1.5 mile distance. If you can comfortably jog 4-6 miles, the 1.5 mile test suddenly feels much more manageable, because that base is what carries you when the pace gets uncomfortable.

Run easy three or four times a week. If your test is close and you have a lot of fitness to gain, you may need more. Easy runs should make up about 70-80% of the total distance you run in a week, even when training for a "short" test like this one.

Start where you are. If you can only run for 10 minutes straight, begin there and use a run-walk approach: alternate short stretches of running with walking breaks, and run a little more each week. If you're new to running, the beginners running program walks you through the first weeks, and base running explains why the base matters.

Step 2: Build Your Leg Speed with Strides

When you're doing lots of slow running, your legs forget how to move fast. Well, not really, but kind of. That's where running strides come in: short, smooth speed-ups of 20-25 seconds at the end of an easy run. Do 4-6 strides, twice a week. Build speed gradually, run the last 3-5 seconds at about 90% of your top speed, then slow down to a stop. Walk or jog easily for 90 seconds between each stride.

Strides aren't about fitness. They're about coordination. You're teaching your legs to remember what fast feels like, even when you're tired.

Step 3: Add Speed Work Strategically

Once you have 3-4 weeks of base running behind you, add faster running, starting with tempo runs once a week. A tempo run is a steady run at a comfortably hard pace. Start with 15-20 minutes and build to 25-30. When you're starting out, I'd advise you to do tempo in intervals, for example 3 x 5 minutes with 1-2 minutes of jogging in between. I do all my tempo running in intervals. One prolonged 25-30 minute tempo effort is my idea of hell. You still get the training stimulus, but in bite-sized pieces.

Next come intervals: repeated shorter runs close to your goal pace, with an easy jog or walk to recover in between. For example, 6 x 400m (six laps of a track) with 90 seconds of recovery. In the final weeks, add goal-pace running: practice runs at your exact test pace, in short pieces at first (4 x 400m) and longer pieces later. This is the most test-specific training you can do.

Start with one speed session a week and only add a second when you consistently hit your paces and recover well. The sessions, progressions and weekly schedules are covered further down this page, under Workouts for the 1.5 Mile Test.

If you'd rather not piece this progression together yourself, I built AceTheTest, a free tool that turns your current fitness, target time and test date into a day-by-day plan using this same base-then-speed structure. It takes the guesswork out of sequencing your weeks. You can see how it works on the 1.5 Mile Run Training Plan page.

Find the Page That Fits Your Situation

Each of these pages goes deeper on one part of your preparation, and each one links on to the reader questions that sit under it.

Start with Step 1 this week. Once you have a few weeks of easy running behind you, come back for Step 2 and Step 3, or pick the page above that matches your situation.

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