It has been a few months since marathon season, and I've since focused on improving my 3 mile speed. I spent eight weeks focusing on a few areas to improve my speed and see how well I could do on a yearly physical fitness test.
The USMC physical fitness test (PFT) consists of dead-hang pull-ups, abdominal crunches, and a 3 mile run. Each event is scored on a 100 point scale with a maximum score of 300. Pull-ups are worth 5 points each (max score is 20), and crunches 1 point each (max is 100 in 2 minutes). For the run, 18:00 is the 100 point time and for each ten second interval after 18:00 you lose a point. So an 18:05 is 99 points, and 19:00 is 94 points, etc.
Historically I've been very successful in the first two events; I typically max the pull-ups and crunches. The run is another story. I usually complete the three miles in 22:00-22:30. I've trained hard in the past, running intervals and building and endurance base, but still come in right at 22 minutes. If I don't train as well, I'll push hard and get a 22:30. Frustrating, and a good part of me believed that my ceiling for speed was 22:00.
I set out to raise the bar over the past 8 weeks. Following a plan I designed myself I ran a 286 PFT this past Wednesday, April 4th. 20, 100, and a 20:15 3 mile. My goal had been 21 minutes or below. Three miles fast is a different kind of run than 26.2, but I feel a similar sense of achievement after years of frustration. The last time I ran 3 miles under 21 minutes was 2002.
This is a significant breakthrough for me, and I believe I can repeat it and even improve. I did lose some steam by the third mile at the pace I was maintaining. I think I've nailed down the critical factors.
1. Endurance base. I had a good base coming off of about 8 months of marathon training. My weekly long run was usually 9 or 10 miles at most, and I averaged between 20-25 miles per week. Having this base gave me confidence.
2. Intervals. I found a speed interval workout that challenged me, and it worked by combining shorter 200m bursts of speed with middle range 400m and 800m distances. The 800m sprint is a tough run, and I don't think I'd ever done them consistently.
3. Hills. I'm not sure I did this right, because I found a massive hill and ran up it a bunch of times. I've read that 10-20 seconds of all out speed bursts on hills is what you want to do, and I didn't do that. I did quarter-mile runs that weren't sprints up a very steep incline, watching my heart-rate skyrocket to 190 bpm each time. Still, the effect was teaching my body to run efficiently when it is under stress.
4. Tempo/mile repeats. The mile repeat is the max bench press of speed training. You get fired up all week to do them and once you begin are humbled into submission quickly. I did a fairly good job of hitting all my splits at a goal pace of 6:50 per mile. I think I need to bump it up and do more if I'm going to do this plan again.
5. Body weight. I weighed 183lbs on Wednesday after the PFT. I've sustained that weight for a while now. I last consistently weighted below 185lbs when I was 16. Being lighter just makes sense for speed and health. Feels good and I have no intention of going back to higher weight classes, as long as I can fight and drink like a 200 pounder.
6. Cross training. I did plyometric or Crossfit workouts once or twice a week for core strength as well as endurance. These build the fast twitch muscle fibers necessary for speed and get your body used to using lactic acid. (Did that sound smart? I read that kind of thing all the time but don't really know what it means. So I'm well informed, I guess.) I don't really have a method to this madness, just mix it up and come up with something that leaves me exhausted after 30-45 minutes at most. Crossfit.com provides a library of workouts and options. From what I've read, there's a school of thought that says these are THE critical workouts for speed and endurance. So maybe I'll do more of these going forward.
Next step is giving myself a week or two of experimentation with new workouts and having some fun running whatever I want to during Spring Break. After that it'll be time for some new goals, and a new design to achieve them. Cannot stress enough how satisfying it is to run the best PFT score in 13 years as I near 40 years old.
The USMC physical fitness test (PFT) consists of dead-hang pull-ups, abdominal crunches, and a 3 mile run. Each event is scored on a 100 point scale with a maximum score of 300. Pull-ups are worth 5 points each (max score is 20), and crunches 1 point each (max is 100 in 2 minutes). For the run, 18:00 is the 100 point time and for each ten second interval after 18:00 you lose a point. So an 18:05 is 99 points, and 19:00 is 94 points, etc.
Historically I've been very successful in the first two events; I typically max the pull-ups and crunches. The run is another story. I usually complete the three miles in 22:00-22:30. I've trained hard in the past, running intervals and building and endurance base, but still come in right at 22 minutes. If I don't train as well, I'll push hard and get a 22:30. Frustrating, and a good part of me believed that my ceiling for speed was 22:00.
I set out to raise the bar over the past 8 weeks. Following a plan I designed myself I ran a 286 PFT this past Wednesday, April 4th. 20, 100, and a 20:15 3 mile. My goal had been 21 minutes or below. Three miles fast is a different kind of run than 26.2, but I feel a similar sense of achievement after years of frustration. The last time I ran 3 miles under 21 minutes was 2002.
This is a significant breakthrough for me, and I believe I can repeat it and even improve. I did lose some steam by the third mile at the pace I was maintaining. I think I've nailed down the critical factors.
1. Endurance base. I had a good base coming off of about 8 months of marathon training. My weekly long run was usually 9 or 10 miles at most, and I averaged between 20-25 miles per week. Having this base gave me confidence.
2. Intervals. I found a speed interval workout that challenged me, and it worked by combining shorter 200m bursts of speed with middle range 400m and 800m distances. The 800m sprint is a tough run, and I don't think I'd ever done them consistently.
3. Hills. I'm not sure I did this right, because I found a massive hill and ran up it a bunch of times. I've read that 10-20 seconds of all out speed bursts on hills is what you want to do, and I didn't do that. I did quarter-mile runs that weren't sprints up a very steep incline, watching my heart-rate skyrocket to 190 bpm each time. Still, the effect was teaching my body to run efficiently when it is under stress.
4. Tempo/mile repeats. The mile repeat is the max bench press of speed training. You get fired up all week to do them and once you begin are humbled into submission quickly. I did a fairly good job of hitting all my splits at a goal pace of 6:50 per mile. I think I need to bump it up and do more if I'm going to do this plan again.
5. Body weight. I weighed 183lbs on Wednesday after the PFT. I've sustained that weight for a while now. I last consistently weighted below 185lbs when I was 16. Being lighter just makes sense for speed and health. Feels good and I have no intention of going back to higher weight classes, as long as I can fight and drink like a 200 pounder.
6. Cross training. I did plyometric or Crossfit workouts once or twice a week for core strength as well as endurance. These build the fast twitch muscle fibers necessary for speed and get your body used to using lactic acid. (Did that sound smart? I read that kind of thing all the time but don't really know what it means. So I'm well informed, I guess.) I don't really have a method to this madness, just mix it up and come up with something that leaves me exhausted after 30-45 minutes at most. Crossfit.com provides a library of workouts and options. From what I've read, there's a school of thought that says these are THE critical workouts for speed and endurance. So maybe I'll do more of these going forward.
Next step is giving myself a week or two of experimentation with new workouts and having some fun running whatever I want to during Spring Break. After that it'll be time for some new goals, and a new design to achieve them. Cannot stress enough how satisfying it is to run the best PFT score in 13 years as I near 40 years old.
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