How to improve my mile time?

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BubbaCool12

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Sep 26, 2021
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Hello, I'm a sophomore and the biggest part of the Application Process that I have trouble with is the mile run for the CFA. My current best mile is a 8:37, I'm aware that the average is about 6:30 and the max 5:20. Is it possible to shave off almost two minute off of my mile to hit the average or even 3 for the max before I take my official CFA in about a year? Any suggestions on a workout plan I could follow? I understand this isn't really a fitness forum but I'd appreciate it if anyone who is or was in the same shoes as I am would be able to give some pointers. Thank you!
 
Try running cross country for this upcoming high school fall sport season. It should be no cut and I would bet my life savings you would improve your mile time. They will take you and make you a better runner no matter where you start from. And it can count as a sport you did in high school, so you get a 2in1 package.

Or just run on your own time. Either way, get on your feet and start running if you haven’t already.
 
BubbaCool12 said:
Hello, I'm a sophomore and the biggest part of the Application Process that I have trouble with is the mile run for the CFA. My current best mile is a 8:37, I'm aware that the average is about 6:30 and the max 5:20. Is it possible to shave off almost two minute off of my mile to hit the average or even 3 for the max before I take my official CFA in about a year? Any suggestions on a workout plan I could follow? I understand this isn't really a fitness forum but I'd appreciate it if anyone who is or was in the same shoes as I am would be able to give some pointers. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Simple suggestion: run, run, and run some more. I shaved off nearly 40 seconds in 2 months by just running everyday. You will be fine! But also make sure to practice the CFA in its entirety because you will be fatigued by the time you get to the mile run.
 
I’m sorry, but the recommendation to just run, while helpful for your overall health and fitness, is not very effective at improvising your mile and 2 mile times.
Many mistakingly believe that 1, 1.5 (also called the Cooper Test), and 2 mile runs are long distance. They are more long sprints, however, and are about 20% anaerobic versus longer runs that are almost all aerobic. Because of this you really need to incorporate sprints into any training for the 1-3 mile distances.
Start off by getting your base time, which it sounds like you’ve done.
Go to the track and do 220s, 440s, and 880s (1/2 lap, 1 lap, 2 laps). Do these as hard as you can, and pyramid them. So do the shorter distance, walk a lap, the next longest, walk a lap, the longest distance, walk a lap. Then work back down to 1 lap the same way.
Also do “fartleks”, or “fast slow” in longer runs. Start off jogging for about 5 minutes. Then alternate between sprinting and jogging. Sprint all out for 15-30 seconds, then jog for about 1-2 minutes to recover. You can also use trees, lamp posts, anything else for alternating.
Also, look up Stew Smith. He has great exercises to improve your times.
 
It’s may not be mandatory but it’s highly suggested to have HS varsity sports in your background as far as an application. Most successful applicants have played varsity sports

Why not CC and track? Your times for the mile will certainly improve and your overall fitness will be much better.

Not being in varsity sports makes your road harder

And if that is out of the question then follow the advice in the post just above this one.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
It’s may not be mandatory but it’s highly suggested to have HS varsity sports in your background as far as an application. Most successful applicants have played varsity sports

Why not CC and track? Your times for the mile will certainly improve and your overall fitness will be much better.

Not being in varsity sports makes your road harder

And if that is out of the question then follow the advice in the post just above this one.
Click to expand...
I'm involved in a lot of jrotc year round so I unfortunately can't do any varsity, I train a lot at home and at raiders.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
I’m sorry, but the recommendation to just run, while helpful for your overall health and fitness, is not very effective at improvising your mile and 2 mile times.
Many mistakingly believe that 1, 1.5 (also called the Cooper Test), and 2 mile runs are long distance. They are more long sprints, however, and are about 20% anaerobic versus longer runs that are almost all aerobic. Because of this you really need to incorporate sprints into any training for the 1-3 mile distances.
Start off by getting your base time, which it sounds like you’ve done.
Go to the track and do 220s, 440s, and 880s (1/2 lap, 1 lap, 2 laps). Do these as hard as you can, and pyramid them. So do the shorter distance, walk a lap, the next longest, walk a lap, the longest distance, walk a lap. Then work back down to 1 lap the same way.
Also do “fartleks”, or “fast slow” in longer runs. Start off jogging for about 5 minutes. Then alternate between sprinting and jogging. Sprint all out for 15-30 seconds, then jog for about 1-2 minutes to recover. You can also use trees, lamp posts, anything else for alternating.
Also, look up Stew Smith. He has great exercises to improve your times.
Click to expand...
This is really helpful, thank you.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
I’m sorry, but the recommendation to just run, while helpful for your overall health and fitness, is not very effective at improvising your mile and 2 mile times.
Many mistakingly believe that 1, 1.5 (also called the Cooper Test), and 2 mile runs are long distance. They are more long sprints, however, and are about 20% anaerobic versus longer runs that are almost all aerobic. Because of this you really need to incorporate sprints into any training for the 1-3 mile distances.
Start off by getting your base time, which it sounds like you’ve done.
Go to the track and do 220s, 440s, and 880s (1/2 lap, 1 lap, 2 laps). Do these as hard as you can, and pyramid them. So do the shorter distance, walk a lap, the next longest, walk a lap, the longest distance, walk a lap. Then work back down to 1 lap the same way.
Also do “fartleks”, or “fast slow” in longer runs. Start off jogging for about 5 minutes. Then alternate between sprinting and jogging. Sprint all out for 15-30 seconds, then jog for about 1-2 minutes to recover. You can also use trees, lamp posts, anything else for alternating.
Also, look up Stew Smith. He has great exercises to improve your times.
Click to expand...
Yes—This!
I was going to write something similar, but this advice excellent.
My son went to a track and trained by running quarter mile intervals at the pace he was aiming to run for his mile time. He would run about 6-10 of them with short breaks in between.

Also definitely ask someone to help you practice the whole CFA about once every week or two in the two months leading up to the real CFA. It makes a huge difference and improvement to practice the real test in the official order and timeframe.
 

Class Profile | United States Military Academy West Point

West Point Military Academy
www.westpoint.edu www.westpoint.edu

Are you saying that no one at your HS involved in JROTC plays a varsity sport? None on the fall cc or winter or spring track teams or other sports?

Not doing HS sports makes you very much a minority applicant. Most almost all successful applicants play sports , most letter, most have been captains.

You can see the class profile above

Good Luck

Edited: Ok I see you are also in the marching band. HS Sports may not be an option for you.

You could consider following the advice given above about training and then look for community non HS road races in your area.

Having races to train for is IMO more motivating than just training. And being in actual races might get you extra points as far as admissions for looking more like a competitive type..
 
Last edited:
BubbaCool12 said:
Hello, I'm a sophomore and the biggest part of the Application Process that I have trouble with is the mile run for the CFA. My current best mile is a 8:37, I'm aware that the average is about 6:30 and the max 5:20. Is it possible to shave off almost two minute off of my mile to hit the average or even 3 for the max before I take my official CFA in about a year? Any suggestions on a workout plan I could follow? I understand this isn't really a fitness forum but I'd appreciate it if anyone who is or was in the same shoes as I am would be able to give some pointers. Thank you!
Click to expand...
As other people have suggested, CC and Track are great ways to lower that mile time. For me personally, it was an incredible experience that drastically improved my mile time. However, if you can't go to the actual practices, I highly recommend speaking to the CC/Track coaches and requesting to have their workout schedule/miles sheets. At my school, we have varying workouts depending on how experienced we were, and we slowly built up to harder runs. Personally, I found that my coach's expertise was incredibly valuable in giving me a clear path to success. Hopefully whatever coach is at your school has some similar sort of mapped-out regimen, and won't mind you borrowing it. But again, as people here have already suggested, doing the real thing is something that cannot be recommended enough.
 
BubbaCool12 said:
I'm involved in a lot of jrotc year round so I unfortunately can't do any varsity, I train a lot at home and at raiders.
Click to expand...
Is raiders not a varsity sport at your school? I did 4 years of raiders, 3 of which on varsity, 2 of which as captain. You can mark it as "other" under athletics. I know stuff varies a lot in jrotc depending on the district and school tho, but I'd look into it. At my school, we were given varsity letters and it was consider an athletic, not an extracurricular.
 
Jacobko75 said:
Is raiders not a varsity sport at your school? I did 4 years of raiders, 3 of which on varsity, 2 of which as captain. You can mark it as "other" under athletics. I know stuff varies a lot in jrotc depending on the district and school tho, but I'd look into it. At my school, we were given varsity letters and it was consider an athletic, not an extracurricular.
Click to expand...
Good point.

Also a moot point if the OP can’t knock almost 150 seconds, at a min , off the mile time , the best time so far they have allegedly been running. Because no applicant wants to see their time as the absolute minimum mile time.

Recruited all county or all state football players may be ok with a min mile time. The OP is not one of those.

Even for someone running cc or track over the next year or so 150 seconds is a lot of time to cut.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
Good point.

Also a moot point if the OP can’t knock almost 150 seconds, at a min , off the mile time , the best time so far they have allegedly been running. Because no applicant wants to see their time as the absolute minimum mile time.

Recruited all county or all state football players may be ok with a min mile time. The OP is not one of those.

Even for someone running cc or track over the next year or so 150 seconds is a lot of time to cut.
Click to expand...
My DD had to do a Cooper test for high school soccer tryouts. The first diagnosis test we did was abysmal. After a couple of months of training on the track doing 220s, 440s, 880s, “Navies”, and fartleks she ended up running the second best Cooper time as a freshman.
Train smarter, not harder.
Note- Navies- on a football field-
Sprint to the 10 yard line and back, then the 20 yard line and back, 30 and back, 40 and back, 50 and back. Then sprint to the other goal line.
Again, look at any training program for the 1-3 mile run and you will see quite a bit of speed training.
www.navy-prt.com

Navy PRT 1.5 Mile Run Training Plan - US Navy PRT

Train to run your best 1.5 mile Navy PRT run yet. In just 6 weeks you can be on top of your game and faster than you've ever been before!
www.navy-prt.com

 
BubbaCool12 said:
Hello, I'm a sophomore and the biggest part of the Application Process that I have trouble with is the mile run for the CFA. My current best mile is a 8:37, I'm aware that the average is about 6:30 and the max 5:20. Is it possible to shave off almost two minute off of my mile to hit the average or even 3 for the max before I take my official CFA in about a year? Any suggestions on a workout plan I could follow? I understand this isn't really a fitness forum but I'd appreciate it if anyone who is or was in the same shoes as I am would be able to give some pointers. Thank you!
Click to expand...
hi, my running is not as good anymore but when I was in middle school, I did a lot of running. In 5th grade I was a 10:15 mile probably to 7th grade a 7:00 mile to 8th grade 6:00 mile. At my MS we had PE everyday somehow and so every week day we spent 15-20 minutes on the track. I'd run my best for a mile then really slow jog the rest of the time because of how tired I was. So overall I would run only 1-2.5 miles max every weekday. But I was able to work really hard because of the environment of everyone else running/walking on the track, the PE teachers being there, and also there being a relatively big timer I can see every lap. I don't know if it will be over running but I do not remember getting injured over doing this during MS. I would probably start this again soon, or a different plan.
 
If the OP is serious about knocking off that much time in the mile or mile and a half I have a suggestion.

keep this thread alive and come back once a week And do a quick update on your training and your progress so far, report whether there has been training and progress or none at all.

like the op I also started running late in life as a HS senior and struggled to break a 5 min mile . Although I must have shaved 55-60 seconds off my first mile time after an entire season of serious daily track training.

I think the op has a tough road ahead.

I hope they were training yesterday.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
My DD had to do a Cooper test for high school soccer tryouts. The first diagnosis test we did was abysmal. After a couple of months of training on the track doing 220s, 440s, 880s, “Navies”, and fartleks she ended up running the second best Cooper time as a freshman.
Train smarter, not harder.
Note- Navies- on a football field-
Sprint to the 10 yard line and back, then the 20 yard line and back, 30 and back, 40 and back, 50 and back. Then sprint to the other goal line.
Again, look at any training program for the 1-3 mile run and you will see quite a bit of speed training.
www.navy-prt.com

Navy PRT 1.5 Mile Run Training Plan - US Navy PRT

Train to run your best 1.5 mile Navy PRT run yet. In just 6 weeks you can be on top of your game and faster than you've ever been before!
www.navy-prt.com

Click to expand...
Thank you for the tips. Could you explain why the ladder distances are 220, 440 and 880? I thought it was 200 400 and 800, I'm wondering what the extra 20 40 and 80 are for.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
If the OP is serious about knocking off that much time in the mile or mile and a half I have a suggestion.

keep this thread alive and come back once a week And do a quick update on your training and your progress so far, report whether there has been training and progress or none at all.

like the op I also started running late in life as a HS senior and struggled to break a 5 min mile . Although I must have shaved 55-60 seconds off my first mile time after an entire season of serious daily track training.

I think the op has a tough road ahead.

I hope they were training yesterday.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll start posting progress of time trials each week and anything additional necessary.
 
BubbaCool12 said:
Thank you for the tips. Could you explain why the ladder distances are 220, 440 and 880? I thought it was 200 400 and 800, I'm wondering what the extra 20 40 and 80 are for.
Click to expand...
Old school back in the day we ran our races and figured our distances in yards not meters.

220 (yards) is old school 200 (meters) is more today.
 
BubbaCool12 said:
Thank you for the tips. Could you explain why the ladder distances are 220, 440 and 880? I thought it was 200 400 and 800, I'm wondering what the extra 20 40 and 80 are for.
Click to expand...
Feel free to be curious but you'd be better served by going out and running and extra series of whichever of the sets you decide on.
Hint: you'll get essentially the same exact benefit from 220/440/880 as you would from 200/400/800 or for that matter 180/360/720.
 
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