Revisiting The 1.5 Mile Test

A couple of weeks ago, Soraiya asked me if I would help her out with a project for school, the dreaded 1.5-mile test.  Now I am a big fan of this test but just for my clients.  Wanting to show my support for our little girl and to kinda see where my fitness level is at this pivotal week in my life, I agreed.  Then I got full on head cold, I rolled my ankle…my life fell apart, very high drama.   But one thing that I have learned is that this body (my body) heals up quite nicely, call it denial maybe stupidity (on occasion) I call it strength baby, and I met Soraiya at the track this morning.

After filling out some forms and then signing my life away we started with a walk test, 4 laps of the track with a brisk walk.  Now be honest, am I the only person who is competitive against themselves, and of course, the clock on a walk test?  Lap 1 and 2 were the same, lap 3 was 2 seconds faster and the final lap was 1 second faster than the first.  I think that I may have a problem.

The walk test served nicely as my warm-up and we moved directly into the 1.5-mile test.  Having done this twice before, I had a couple of times to beat in my head already.  I am also quickly approaching an age category change and originally (when I was feeling poopy) I had asked Soraiya to use my new age category, but stepping onto the track today was a new woman I had a little somethin’-somethin’ to prove and told her to use my current age.

Off I went.  Soraiya had given me a heart rate monitor to wear before we started but the watch and the band were having some difficulty communicating, and not because I am heartless either (my Body Campers think that I am), I guess I didn’t put enough spit on it to start with (yes you do have to).  So instead I was going to use it as a lap timer; that was until I broke a sweat on lap 2 and it started to beep at me and now Soraiya had to call out my lap times.

Rounding the second to last corner of lap 2 I had to yell at a couple of grade 8’ers (one of their math text books was actually laying on the track) to get off the track.  What is it with people at the track?  You can see me coming, I am sweating and snorting, so why must you stand in the middle of lane 1 where nobody else is and have a conversation?  I guess I should be thankful that I didn’t have to run through the puffs of smoke as well, those teens moved to the outside lane.

Coming into the third lap I was starting both to fatigue and I was starting to feel my injured ankle, but I wasn’t giving up, I was half way!  Lap 4 is always a struggle and I was wishing that I had taken Soraiya up on her offer to use her ipod, but by the next lap I was in a zone that no amount of hamster music or Nickelback could have put me in.  Into the final lap and time to push it, feeling fierce and half my age this was by far my quickest lap.

As I crossed the finish line Soraiya called out my time and I was more than a little shocked.  After performing the calculations my time was 5.7% faster than that from a year and a half ago, can I get a “hell ya”?  Soraiya also calculated my V02 Max (V02 Max WTF? A factor that can determine an athlete’s capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. It is generally considered the best indicator of cardiorespiratory endurance and aerobic fitness) for both the walk and 1.5-mile test and gave me a superior classification! Now really, what else could a girl want for on a milestone birthday?

Crazy cardio Tuesday, a day late

When double cardio Tuesday came to a grinding halt last night, my intentions were to write, instead I ate and went to bed.   I would like to tell you that I slept like a baby and felt refreshed and rejuvenated when I woke this morning, but I would be lying.  I don’t know about you, but on days when I have done too much activity, it’s like my legs won’t stop moving, I dream about running or spinning (I have actually woke up doing the Pilates side leg series)…following each of the half marathons that I have ran, I have this exact sleep pattern.  I can tell you though, tonight I will sleep like log and feel like a million bucks in the morning.

Yesterday was a busy day; Conny and I hit the trails for a rainy morning run.  The first rainy run after a solid couple of weeks of sunny runs always sucks in theory.  Really it only sucks until the first few raindrops have hit you, then you are already wet.  We had only seen each other briefly since the weekend so we had so much to catch up on, a lot happens in two days.  Have you ever zoned out in mid conversation with someone?  Of course you have, for whatever reason (usually boring conversation) you completely tune out what the other person is saying, their lips are moving, but you are thinking  “hmm, the black shoes would look fabulous with that outfit” or “what shall I have for lunch”, and then you get busted…you are asked what you thought of that comment or what would you do or if you even heard a word of what was being said.  When I have been put in that situation I always try to cover my tracks as best as I can without making the other person feel like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  Conny told me a story yesterday where the person who zoned out actually said “sorry, I drifted off”…I thought that it was really funny, as much as you may like to say that sometimes, can you imagine if you did and can you imagine how furious the other person would be when you said that?  We finished run with our usual debate as to whether the end of Canoe Landing as three hills or two.  For the record I still say it is three, when a hill goes down and then goes back up again, it is the start of a new hill.

I finished off my sessions with the Thomas Haney Recreational PE class yesterday.  We covered Pilates, ball and finished off with a 45-minute spin class.  I worked much harder than I meant to, I am sure that they will remember me as the sweaty instructor!  I love working with the young things, although they don’t really like to sweat they are willing to try anything and always give a good effort.  Last session I was given a property of Thomas Haney t-shirt, and I have been wearing it with pride!

The Speed Clinic also met at the track for a final-final 1.5-mile test.  The results were fantastic; everyone met my ambitious goal of a 5% improvement!  So proud of the group, they have been working very hard; give yourselves a big hug and a pat on the back!

I finished the day hill training with the 7:30pm group at the Leisure Centre…no wonder I was tired!

The need for speed

For the past six weeks, I have been busting the Speed Demon’s butts on the track. They have squatted, lunged, leap frogg’d (not a crowd favorite), fartlek’d, glided, skipped and fast footed all for the love of running and the thought of doing it faster. The workouts were tough; I was even called a bully (that hurt) by a track user! So was the abuse worth it?

To establish their baseline for training, I used the 1.5-mile test, six laps around the track as quickly as they could, which was timed at our first session. The group ‘informally’ (yes, I did record the times) ran the 1.5-mile test again on week three and ‘formally’ ran it again on week six. The goal was a bit ambitious, but we were aiming for a 5% improvement in six weeks. Drum roll please…EVERYONE improved! The group average was a 4.6% improvement (highest was 8.3%, congratulations Jim)! Yeah, give yourselves a big pat on the back!

Sometimes we get stuck in a comfortable running rut.  The pace feels good, but we aren’t breaking any personal records or challenging ourselves. I know that the end goal is always to be able to run tomorrow (or your next running day), but you would be lying if you said that you wouldn’t like to do it faster. If you want to run faster, you have to train faster. Let your body feel the speed at least once a week, you might even enjoy it.

My tips for speed training:

• Ensure that you have a strong running/fitness base before starting, and that you have been injury free for past 6 months.
• Your body cannot be expected to function at its best without proper fuel. Fuel and hydrate before, as well as after.
• Do a comprehensive warm-up. I used a 15-minute warm up before starting any speed/agility/quickness drills.
• SAQ drills for 20-30 minutes.
• Active rest such as walking or light running (notice I didn’t say jog) between interval drills and at the end of the session to cool down.
• Stretch, stretch, and stretch some more,
• At the first sign of any red flags (inflammation, pain, an area not functioning properly) discontinue the workout and take a couple of days off.
• Schedule a rest day after speed training sessions.

1.5 mile test, take 2

For the last nine weeks I have been diligently completing my Lifestyle Logbook for my KPE class. I have to be honest, at times it has been a struggle, it just requires too much information (the time I eat, a list of foods that I eat, food groups, servings, waking heart rate, hours of sleep, activity, duration of activity, heart rate while doing activity, the weather, notes, and overall mood…TMI). So now it is time to put this baby to bed with graphs, charts, summaries, but not before reassessing my overall fitness, including my 1.5 mile test.

Six laps around the track should really not be an issue for a runner such as myself, but sometimes I have been known to put a bit of pressure on myself, today was one of those occasions, as was January 20th (the original 1.5 mile test). After Body Camp I changed into my fastest running outfit (running tights and what I like to call my speed skater top, it is tight and has one of those hoods like the Olympic speed skaters wear, all very cute, all very Lululemon) and drove to the track. Half way there I realized that I had forgotten my mp3 player, there was also a break in the rain, I love my tunes, not a fan of the rain, wanted to beat my time from January, the dilemma…I went with no rain and no tunes, I hoped that I wouldn’t regret it.

My track of choice is at a high school and as luck would have it, several PE classes were also using the track for frisbee football, sitting down and chatting, backpack storage, and there were a few new to walking (not kidding, daycare field trip, I mean track trip) as well. I started my warm-up on the inside lane, it only took a couple of laps of extremely close passes and the fierce look in my eyes (practicing once again for my cover shot on Runners World) before I had claimed my obvious ownership of the inside lane. I stopped for a quick slurp of water, reset my chrono, and I was off. I kept my pace fairly consistent, I knew what I had to do and how it would feel. The only lap that I struggled on was lap four which could have been because I had to dodge the frisbee and three or four slow moving players, come on, what the hell people! I pushed right to the end running so fast that one of my pony tails fell out, that must have been a omen or something because that has never happened before.

So how did I do…I bettered my previous time by 24 seconds (translates into slightly over a 3% improvement) which isn’t bad considering that I have shortened up my long runs since running my 1/2 marathon in March and might be slightly heavier (blaming Easter). Did I miss my music…absolutely!

Speed clinic

One word to describe the weather at this morning’s first session of the speed clinic…monsoon! Rain or no rain, the group meant business. Paperwork a little soggy but out of the way, we were on the track by 8:31am and into a comprehensive (and it was) 15 minute warm-up. Once the group was warm we went into several cycles of strength and power drills, and then what they were all there for, the 1.5 mile test. Six splashy laps around the track, to establish their baseline for the session, no pressure right? Along with my trusty watch and whistle, I brought along the percentile ranks for the 1.5 mile run test set out by the American College of Sports Medicine so that the group could see how they ranked amongst the general population.  For those wishing to play along at home click here.

You will be happy to know that the group placed extremely high, everyone within the top 30% of their age groups! Wow!  So what is the goal?  Improvement of course, duh.  My goal is to see a 5% overall improvement, stay tuned.

Percentile Ranks for 1.5 Miles (2.41km) Run Time (min:s)

AGE (Y)
Percentile	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
MEN	n=1675	n=7095	n= 6837	n=3808	n=1005
90	9:09	9:30	10:16	11:18	12:20
80	10:16	10:47	11:44	12:51	13:53
70	10:47	11:34	12:34	13:45	14:53
60	11:41	12:20	13:14	14:24	15:29
50	12:18	12:51	13:53	14:55	16:07
40	12:51	13:36	14:29	15:26	16:43
30	13:22	14:08	14:56	15:57	17:14
20	14:13	14:52	15:41	16:43	18:00
10	15:10	15:52	16:28	17:29	19:15
AGE (Y)
Percentile	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
WOMEN	n=764	n=2049	n=1630	n=878	n=202
90	11:43	12:51	13:22	14:55	14:55
80	12:51	13:43	14:31	15:57	16:20
70	13:53	14:24	15:16	16:27	16:58
60	14:24	15:08	15:57	16:58	17:46
50	14:55	15:26	16:27	17:24	18:16
40	15:26	15:57	16:58	17:55	18:44
30	15:57	16:35	17:24	18:23	18:59
20	16:33	17:14	18:00	18:49	19:21
10	17:21	18:00	18:31	19:30	20:04

From the American College of Sports Medicine, 1995, Guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (Philadelphia, PA; Lippincott, Williams & Walkins), 113-115.