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Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

General discussions on joining & training in The Parachute Regiment.
reecesure
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Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

Hello to anyone reading this. Lurked on this forum for quite a few months now finding contrasting and varying advice regarding lowering the 1.5 miler run time.

I'm 17 years old and working full-time, applied for the parachute regiment and am currently due to sort out all the medical forms and the rest, along with going along for a "pre-ADSC" so to speak, somewhat of a test to gauge my fitness? Before that, I told my recruiter I'd like more time to bump up my running ability and have since been improving my fitness. I recently ran a distance of 3 miles, running up a hill of a distance of 0.3 mile measured on google maps, and then back down. I did this 5 times, totaling 3 miles and in 24:15. Ignoring the factor of half of it being uphill, 8 minute miles are disappointing (to me) and I just wanted to ask for advice on improving this.

Might be worth mentioning i've only just begun my cardio training, I heard somewhere that there's a dramatic improvement phase when you first begin. Whether there's truth to that I'm not sure.

Thanks for the time it took you to read this, and more-so for any replies.
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Tab
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by Tab »

One of the things that you will have to do is a mile and half run and there is a time limit on that.
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charnock1990
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by charnock1990 »

Try and do some interval running, it's helped me alot!
reecesure
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

Christ, the replies were quicker than I imagined.
Tab wrote:One of the things that you will have to do is a mile and half run and there is a time limit on that.
Yeah, I aim to achieve a sub nine minute run regarding that, so that I can go knowing in my own mind and be comfortable with my own ability to do it. They'll be other hinderances on the day im sure, thing that are likely to drain my energy so if I can achieve the mile and a half run in under 9 minutes I'm sure that'll give me the confidence to be able to achieve it on the day. On an irrelevant note, I've seen a few of your comments on the forum before Tab.. Few giggles here and there to say the least.
charnock1990 wrote:Try and do some interval running, it's helped me alot!
Think you could go into some more detail mate? I live in the city center of Nottingham, but theres an estate near me that's naturally quieter and much hillier, with some impressive steep ones. It's a killer but I thought about making use of them with intervals before, but they instead sort of evolved into just doing hill sprints.

Thank you both for your comments
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ofens
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by ofens »

I agree with Charnock, interval training is extremely efficient if you do it right :-)

The gist of interval training is this:
-You do short intense efforts, usually all of equal length and intensity
-Between each effort, you have a short rest period
-You are aiming to work at a pace/effort level that is significantly harder than that which you would normally do on a steady run.

For example, at the track you might do 1 lap (400m) really fast, then recover whilst jogging a second lap. Then repeat this several times.
400m is a good interval length for developing the kind of endurance you need for short-medium runs including the 1.5 Mile test you'll be doing.

The efforts need to be hard work, to the point you almost could not carry on.
The rests are just long enough to enable you to do the next effort - not a full recovery.

You need to experiment a bit as you get a feel for how fit you are. If you have a local athletics club they might be able to help.
Interval training sessions don't take long, but are (should be) extremely hard work and if done right you'll be in rag order!

It works because you are shocking your body into working at a harder level than normal, then repeating it before you've fully recovered, so you adapt to being able to do this.
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reecesure
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

Thanks for the reply and advice mate! I've been doing hill sprints, sprinting up and having a recovery walk down and it's definitely helped I reckon. I clocked a 12 minute 1.5 miler before I began my cardio training, something I was disappointed with, but a recent time (18th december) saw a 10:11 1.5 mile! felt great to have almost 2 minutes dropped off my time in little under 2 months training.

A concern is, however, my chosen running route. I run uphill, a distance of around 0.3 miles, then once I reach the peak, I turn and run the 0.3 mile (450 meters or so?) back down. Whilst I appreciate and genuinely enjoy the challenge of running uphill, unfortunatly it also means that my 1.5 mile time consists of a fair chunk of downhill running. I wanted an accurate indicator, so made sure three of my five 'reps' were uphill when i timed myself. Any thoughts on this? Surely running uphill is more difficult, however does the fact that you run downhill counter-balance that difficulty? Any insight that can be provided will be hugely appreciated.

Merry christmas and a Happy New year to anyone who stumbled across this post, aswell.
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ofens
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by ofens »

Happy Xmas to you too!

Running uphill is usually harder so for normal running it is ideal for building stamina and leg power.

Running downhill can be useful for improving sprint performance - it trains the body for coping with high impact at high frequency better than the flat.
Beware it carries a higher risk of injury.

If you are running up and down, up and down, you are simulating undulating terrain, which is going to be harder overall than a flat 1.5.
The fact that you are turning around to repeat each time will also make the job harder, probably adding a few seconds... it's not ideal but certainly not bad training if you are indeed covering 1.5 miles.

You will get more out of mixing it up than repeating your 1.5 route over and over.
For example, longer runs (3-4 miles) pushing yourself to a fast pace, plus shorter speed work (intervals etc), and maybe a longer steady run (6 miles +).
To that end be careful how you increase your workload - injuries occur when intensity, mileage etc are increased too quickly from week to week.
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reecesure
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

To ofens and any other poster interested in knowing the fate of the OP;

I acted on ofens' advice and subsequently managed a 9:11 1.5 miler at Chetwynd barracks on a pre adsc. I now have a booked adsc in the 29th which im still training for, upping my milage and running a 6 and 8 miler weekly along with hill sprints during a seperate session during the week. Im confident this is having a positive effect on my run times.. and will continue to post any updates i can, should anyone find themselves interested in following the progress of the 17 year old underdog (who once failed to even complete 800m at school) with ambitions to join the world reknowned parachute regiment.
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by paratrooperRC »

Sounds like you have put the hard work in, still would try and get the 1.5miler time down and maybe few times a week add weight to the run.
How long did it take for the application to get done, medical etc... ??
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

To anyone interested or curious as to the fate of the original poster:

After being messed around for a few days short of a year, I decided to f@#k the whole thing off. I got to ADSC and gave it my all, had a great time and aslong as you put in the hard work and phys then I find that the mental strength the preceded that will take you through whatever barriers you feel you might encounter there. (got the max in all the phys tests bar obviously the run, which I did in 8:52.. Ideally the whole phys thing should be relatively easy and PRAC is the big boy you need to tackle)

Unfortunately, there is only so long you can palm an ambitious and aspiring applicant off before they succumb to immeasurable frustration at the complete f@#k lack of competency that the army recruiting harbours. "Army Recruiting" in a pseudo phrase in fairness to the forces, as the mugs behind the computer screens are disinterested civvies sat at Capita HQ. Time and again I never received phonecalls I expected to receive and was entirely mugged off throughout the process. Alas, I'm not an exception. Every single individual I've spoken to about the issue (applicant, serving and ex forces alike) have all had the same things to say; that the private company responsible for the recruiting targets they fail to meet are indeed absolutely f@#k useless. One ex-serviceman I spoke to who'd succumbed to injuries during a tour has told me that despite the targets of having to recruit numbers in the thousands, that they only successfully managed to get a few hundred through the process each year. If you have 3-5 years to spare and dont mind dealing with a failed project of a company the government is paying to recruit the future of national defensive force, then go ahead. But be warned, as aforementioned, that they are actually LESS useful than windscreen wipers on a submarine.

That being said, Good Luck to whoever has the patience to put both their ambition and aspirations on hold for however many years whilst your candidate support manager stands by the kettle waiting for it to boil. I didnt.
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Zero_Higher
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by Zero_Higher »

Dear oh dear.

For anyone thinking of joining who has just read the rant above, shovel a hefty amount of salt on it.

Yes red tape and vacancy waits can be frustrating, however reecesure's post should not be the brush that tars the entire Army recruitment.

I applied, passed and was offered a start date within 6 months. I then went on to complete a busy tour of Afghan and picked up a promotion along the way. Believe me, it's not all bad. If the current system isn't working then get in touch with your local AFCO and chase up applications. The squeaky door gets the oil.

People apply and achieve, do not be put off applying.

Remember folks, do not take advice from those that didn't make it. Bitterness is an emotion that blurs the truth.

Reecesure I am sorry you decided to walk away from it and hopefully you find something in the future.

Best of luck,

Zero.
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by tractorboydan »

Totally agree with the above poster - it's worth the wait, and patience is a virtue.

I understand how this applicant feels, and empathise with him - by the time I get to depot it will have been just short of 15 months since submitting my application, but I am only 5 weeks short of that now (22nd June, '14) and I'm so pleased that I've stuck it out through some frustrating times.

Capita have been far from the best, but every applicant experiences something different - not all applicants experience a process as tardy as myself and this chap did. Not to forget, Capita have been doing this for a little over a year and are still ironing our creases and honing their abilities. I spoke to a serving soldier who is also s CSM (in fact, he'd just taken on a new roll one step above CSM) while on my PRAC. He understood the frustrations that some of us had but addured us that things would be steadily improving as new batches of applicants come forward.

Anyway - anyone who wants it bad enough will wait the indefinite time that it takes.
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by Tab »

Well it is nice to see a ten year old post still causing interesto
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by Zero_Higher »

The first post on this thread was 2012, but yeah I agree oppo great to see some life in here.


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reecesure
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Re: Standard of Fitness/ 1.5 Miler advice

Post by reecesure »

Interestingly enough...

I got a phonecall the other day after registering interest with the Army Reserves, something I can do part time without having to put my life on hold whilst waiting for the regular army's CSM's kettle to boil before they sit back at their computer.

Perhaps CSM's scour this forum time to time, funnily enough the phonecall I received was from a chap from 4 PARA and went on to tell me that they were establishing a new company, D Company in Nottingham.. a mile or so away from where I live. He told me that since my application for the regulars was completed and still in date that he'd be able to just transfer it. I've got a zero weekend in Leeds from the 8th to the 10th of June, sizing up for kit etc.. time to brush back up on the phys.

Faith in the armed forces somewhat restored, 20 months on its good to know that people aren't entirely useless..
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