Want to Get Faster: 1.5 Miles in 10 Minutes Goal

I found your site about 2 years ago as I needed to run because I want to get into the RCMP, and have become very addicted to running. I run about 10.5 minute miles, over 4 miles, but need to be at 1.5 miles in 10 minutes, and I am having trouble getting to that plateau.

Do you have any tips or programs that can help me increase my speed?

Thank you,
Rob

Answer by Dom:
Hi Rob, two years of running and genuinely addicted — that's the best possible starting point. Before I get into the training, I need to flag something important about the RCMP test itself. The RCMP replaced their PARE (Physical Ability Requirement Evaluation) test with a new assessment called the PFA (Police Fitness Assessment) in April 2024. The PFA no longer includes a 1.5-mile run — it's a scenario-based test covering foot pursuit, physical control, and similar job-specific tasks. I'd strongly recommend checking the current RCMP fitness requirements on their official site before investing more time in the 1.5-mile goal, in case the target has shifted. That said, the underlying question — how do I get significantly faster over a short distance when I already have a decent aerobic base? — is a great one, and the answer is the same regardless of which test you're preparing for. Here's what to focus on:

1. Why you're closer than you think — and what's actually holding you back
2. The two things that will make you faster: more mileage and real speed work
3. A weekly structure to put it all together

Why You're Closer Than You Think

10:00 for 1.5 miles is 6:40 per mile, or 4:08 per kilometre. Your current long-run pace of 10.5 minutes per mile is your easy, comfortable cruising speed — not your race pace. The gap between your easy pace and your race pace is normal; for most runners it's 60 to 90 seconds per mile. That means your 1.5-mile race pace is probably already somewhere around 9:00–9:30 per mile, which would give you a 1.5-mile time of roughly 13:30 to 14:15. Not 10:00 yet, but not as far off as the easy-run comparison suggests.

The reason you've plateaued is almost certainly not a lack of general fitness — you can run 4 miles, which is the endurance base you need. The issue is that you've been running most of your training at one pace: a moderate, comfortable effort. That pace sits in a grey zone that's neither easy enough to build genuine aerobic capacity nor hard enough to develop speed. To break the plateau, you need to polarise your training — run your easy days genuinely easy, and your hard days genuinely hard.

The good news is that two years of consistent running means your body is ready to respond quickly to targeted speed work. When runners with a solid base add structured speed sessions for the first time, improvement tends to come rapidly — often 30 to 60 seconds per mile in the first six to eight weeks.

Two Things That Will Make You Faster

First: more mileage. Without knowing your current weekly total, I'll assume you're running 20–25 miles a week given your 4-mile runs. Push that to 30–35 miles a week over the next 8–10 weeks. Extend your long run from 4 miles to 6–7 miles. The aerobic ceiling rises when the volume rises, and a higher ceiling directly translates to faster times at shorter distances. Add the extra mileage slowly — no more than 10% extra per week — and keep the additional miles at an easy conversational pace. Read the Increasing Mileage Safely page for the full guidelines.

Second: specific speed sessions. This is the part that's been missing. You need two types of faster running each week:

Once a week, do an interval session: 6 × 400m at 5:45–6:00 per mile pace (roughly 86–90 seconds per 400m). This is noticeably faster than your 10:00 goal pace, which means the goal pace will start to feel more comfortable. Recover for 90 seconds between each 400m. As this gets easier, progress to 8 × 400m or drop the rest interval to 60 seconds. The Interval Running page covers the full approach.

Once a week, add a tempo run: 20 minutes at 6:45–7:00 per mile pace (just above your target race pace). This trains your body to sustain the specific effort level you need on test day. Start at 15 minutes if 20 feels too much, and build week by week. See the Tempo Running page for more detail.

For a properly structured programme that covers all of this systematically, I'd also recommend Daniels' Running Formula — it remains one of the best reference books for runners wanting to move from "I can run for a while" to "I can run fast." Read the Running Training section of this site for additional context on how these elements fit together.

A Weekly Structure to Put It Together

Here's a five-day week that combines all of the above:

Monday: Easy run, 4–5 miles at a genuinely comfortable pace (10:00–11:00/mile is fine). This is recovery work — not training through fatigue.

Tuesday: Interval session — 6 × 400m at 5:45–6:00/mile with 90-second recovery jogs. Warm up for 10 minutes first; cool down for 10 minutes after.

Wednesday: Easy run, 4–5 miles. Keep the pace easy — your legs will be tired from Tuesday and you want them ready for Thursday.

Thursday: Tempo run — 10-minute warm-up, 20 minutes at 6:45–7:00/mile, 10-minute cool-down.

Saturday: Long run — 6 to 7 miles at easy pace. This is your aerobic base session. No pressure on pace; just complete the distance comfortably.

Friday and Sunday are rest days or very short (2–3 mile) recovery jogs if you feel good. Do not skip the rest days — adaptation happens when you recover, not when you run.

Every four weeks, replace one of your weekday easy runs with a 1.5-mile time trial at your best effort. Track your progress. Most runners on a programme like this will see meaningful improvement within 4–6 weeks. If your time trial shows you're getting close to 10:00, hold that structure until you're consistently hitting it in training, then rest for 3 days and go into your assessment fresh.

You already have the base. Now it's about sharpening it. Good luck.
Kind regards,
Dom

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