I have to run two miles in 16 minutes. Tips?

In My Humble Opinion
1

OK, I understand that I’m not exactly running a marathon here. By next weekend, ideally, I hope to be able to run two miles in sixteen minutes. I’m not horribly out of shape, but I’m not particularly fit, either… I’m about 5’7 and 170 lbs.

I had been running on a tread mill at my gym for about a month prior to three weeks ago, when I was away and did little running. While I was running, I would “jog” for about an hour, usually getting to about 5 miles in that span. At that time, I would run the first two miles in about 20 minutes… too long, but I was just trying to get in a groove of running at that time.

So, assuming I go to the gym each day until then, does anyone have any advice on how I should approach this training? Should I set the tread mill to make it so I do the two minutes in about 16 minutes, or should I continue to jog for a long distance and run at a low speed?

2

Is this one of those “magic” treadmills I always hear about on the Dope? :wink:

But seriously, I’d personally do a form of interval training. Set the treadmill to 7.5 mph, and run for as long as you can. When you get too tired, turn the speed down to slower than you’re used to. When you’re 75% recovered, back up to 7.5.

As the saying goes, if you ask 10 people, you’ll get 12 different responses. Pick the one that works best for you.

3

Get a set of rollerblades and a jet-propulsion pack :wink:

4

Have a large angry dog chase you?

5

A few questions first: (1) if you had to do two miles right this second what could you do it in, and (2) why by next weekend?

6

I’m in the Guard. Like I said, I was getting into a nice little routine of running daily–albeit, not exactly at a blazing pace–but then we did our Annual Training in Mississippi and did exactly nothing to help us stay in shape over that period. Moreover, the MREs that we were fed each day contained a ton of calories… when, by the middle of the second week, none of us could take eating any more of that crap, we had no choice but to eat Domino’s daily. So, believe it or not, I actually left the Army in worse shape than I started in.

Also, in regards to the first question, I probably could run it in 16 minutes if my life absolutely depended on it. However, when the time comes next week, I’m going to know that failing the test won’t result in much more than my promotion being delayed and some stern looks from my platoon sergeant. Things I want to avoid, yes, but not exactly something of which I’m truly horrified.

7

I don’t expect you could build up any useful endurance in a week. I suggest things that will allow you to push yourself.
Take a couple of Advil ahead of times to stave off pain.
Stretch as much as possible until you run.
Load up an iPod with inspirational music.

8

Good, I was afraid you were going to say you were still at ten minute miles. Two weeks is good to fine tune, but not enough to get into shape. You really need a base to work with.

What I’d do is run three to four miles every day this week except one day, which I’d save for interval training. If you’re running your event on a track, I’d do that, except I might do intervals on a treadmill at a one degree incline. Treadmill intervals can be done like Santo Rugger described; basically get your heart rate up near max, and let it come down but not all the way, and repeat. On a track, I do intervals by sprinting for a quarter mile and then a slow run for an eighth, sprint for a quarter mile then slow run for an eighth, etc. until I’ve completed four circuits. The week after that I would intersperse the training of the last week with some two mile runs on a track for time so you know what your pace should feel like. Two days before the event, rest. The rest will be as important as the training was.

9

Hills

Running hilly course will build your performance on flatter courses.

You can build your pace/distance incrementally: Determine the longest distance at which you can run an 8:00/Mile pace. Then repeat and extend the distance.

That, and run the nastiest, most challenging hills that you can find.

10

Oh, and use GU.

11

Throw in some Red Bull as well.

12

You know, for a 2 mile run in 16 minutes I’m going to disagree with Don’t fight the hypothetical on both the Advil and the GU.

I am not a sports therapist, doctor or competitive runner but I do run regularly, have made noticeable improvements in my mile times and like long distance runs (20+ miles), those are my only credentials…

Anyhow I read in Runner’s World that at one of the recent Western States Endurance runs (100 mile race) a group of doctors studied runners who took ibuprofen (Advil) and compared them to runners who didn’t use the stuff. They found no benefit to taking it before or during running and came out with a recommendation against using it (they did not say anything about taking ibuprofen after the race to deal with muscle inflammation, that was outside of their study). They actually found that the runners taking “vitamin I” were a bit worse off.

I did use to take the stuff before and during my long runs. Can’t say that it did any good and I found that just paying more attention to diet, hydration and sleep the day before and morning of my long runs made for much more improvement in performance and recovery.

For 16 minutes of exercise you don’t need any special foods like GU or other energy gels (I use them myself, but again that’s only for long runs, several hours). Running two miles will burn something like 250 calories, it’s not much. I’d recommend having a decent dinner the night before and a light breakfast (skip the bacon and eggs) and maybe a light snack (something that is easy on your stomach) if you find yourself getting hungry before your run, but “engineered foods”, electrolyte solutions and the like are just overkill for 2 miles.

If you have one week to get to 2 miles in 16 minutes…how fast can you run it right now? If you’re doing 8:20 miles now then you can probably push yourself a bit within a week, however if you can’t break 10 minutes/mile today you’ve got a tough task. I’d say push your pace a little bit, maybe do some interval training (sprint fast for a short distance, then slow to your normal running pace until you have recovered enough to sprint again, repeat). Don’t overdo it and injure yourself by doing tons of running 5 or 6 days in a row!

I’d also recommend running on the same kind of surface you’ll do your test on - running on a treadmill is not the same as running on a track, pavement, etc.

ETA: Just noticed you said that you think you’re close to your goal. Pretend you’ve got the meanest, nastiest DI pacing right behind you shouting threats?

13

Some good advice.
I’d like to suggest that the biggest determinant of whether or not you break 16 is mental.
How mentally tough are you?
When it starts to hurt - really hurt - can you intellectually realize that it isn’t going to kill you and you can gut it out for another 4-6 minutes or so?
Because as soon as you think you can’t make it, not making it becomes an option.
If you are in decent shape as you say, you can do 2 miles in 16 minutes if you want to badly enough.

14

Yeah, we don’t have enough information about your current status to give you any meaningful advice about how to improve to 2 miles in 16 minutes if you can’t already accomplish it, but I absolutely advise you against doing anything you aren’t familiar with. Gu’s, caffeine (Red Bulls) or any crazy crap you haven’t already experienced can only put you in the definite fail category if you react adversely. The only hard and fast rule to any form of racing, as far as I’m concerned, is don’t do or use anything on race day you haven’t done or used before.

Don’t eat too much before you make your attempt and good luck.

15

Nothing you can do now can really help your fitness enough to get there.

You might try some fast intervals today, Saturday, and Monday. I mean fast. . .like almost all out for 2 minutes. Maybe crank the treadmill up to 10 mph. This will get you used to going through pain.

You have no basis of comparison for different methods right now though. When I did a marathon, I knew how well I ran on 3 days rest. I knew how well I ran on 1 day rest. I knew how well I ran when I had a big breakfast, a small breakfast, after drinking the night before.

You have no idea about your variables.

For someone in your shape, I’d actually recommend not running the TWO previous days before it. That’s not normally what people would advise a real runner, but I think it’s good advice for you.

But, there’s just not enough info to go on.

Basically, don’t sweat it because there’s very little you can do right now to get ready for that. You should have asked 6 weeks ago.

16

This. In Basic, the punishment for failure was another 2 weeks in basic training. I’ve never run so fast. I did the 2-mile in 13:00, and I’m only 5’6" (my stride is puny). I was SCARED TO DEATH of failing…so I didn’t. It’s all in your head, man. Half of me thinks you know this already. You’ve done this before. Just do it like you did last time. Run as fast and far as you can, then run faster. It’ll suck and then it’ll be over. Go Nike style- Just do it.

17

2 miles is all mental. I shaved 2 minutes off my normal 2 mile time when my wife ran with me because she’s a better runner than me and I didn’t want to embarass myself in front of her.

It’s hard to time Red Bull just right - the crash comes at random times for me, sometimes hours later, sometimes not at all, sometimes as soon as I drink it - so drink green tea with no sugar instead.

If you’re allowed to listen to music, do it.

18

Don’t blow it all in the first few minutes by running too fast too early. Shoot for a ~7:30 minute mile for the first one, and check your time at 1/4 mile increments. Adjust as needed. If you start out too hot, it’ll be easy to fade at the end. If you’re running with a bunch of other people, don’t get freaked out if everyone is passing you at the beginning. Keep to your own pace and save a little for a kick at the end.

If you find yourself going too slow, don’t try and get to a faster pace right away. Slowly accelerate until you think you’ve got the right pace-- it’ll be a lot easier on you both mentally and physically.

19

I’d try to do the 2 miles in 16 minutes today so you can gauge how much more you have to push it in a week. You’ll have enough time to recover, and if you do well today it will boost your confidence for The Big Show. After your trial run, do lighter workouts over the next few days. I wouldn’t do anything more than a long walk the day before, and I’d skip the power drinks. A bowl of oatmeal or granola for breakfast should do the trick.

20

How’d the run go, soldier?