Hey guys. I am training for my PFT test that I plan to take next summer when I go to my Marine OSO. I can do the 100 crunches in 2 minutes as well as the 20 pullups. However I just started training for the 3 mile run. I have googled for tips however I was just wondering what tips any of you might have that have done this before because I am shooting for no less than a perfect score. Any advice?

Next summer, as in 2012? If that's the case. I would find a good 10K training plan and go nuts. Find 3 or 4 local ones and enter. With about 6 weeks or so left I would really focus on speedwork. With your 10K endurance already there the speed should put you over the edge.

Tips?

Don't eat something that's going to give you a lot of gas the night before. I'm serious.

Integration by quarter mile parts. Doing this on a track is easy but boring. With a Garmin Forerunner you can do this on any path as you tick of the 1/4 miles. You can run daily, weekdays only, or three times a week and this will probably work if you doe each step for a couple of weeks before moving on. If you are in a hurry and want to push it then you may be able to spend a week on each step and then move on. It sounds as if you have plenty of time.

Week one
Run 1/4 mile at 90 second pace and then throttle back to a jog for 1/2 mile. Repeat three more times. Total is to have run one mile at a 6:00 pace and two mile at any pace that allows you to catch your breath for the next 1/4 mile run. Do this daily for a week, take the weekend off if you want. Do this for two weeks if you like before moving on to the next step.

Step/Week two
Run 1/4 mile at 90 second pace then jog/shuffle for a 1/4 mile. Repeat six times. Total is to have run 1.5 miles at 6:00 per mile pace and jog/shuffle 1.5 miles to catch your breath.

Step/week three
Run 1/2 mile in 3:00 minutes and then jog/shuffle 1/2 mile. Repeat two more times. Same total distance at 6:00 per mile pace as the previous step. Do this daily for as many weeks as you like before moving on to step four.

Step/week four
Run 3/4 mile in 4:30 and then jog for 3/4 mile. Run 1/2 mile in 3:00 second and then jog for 1/4 mile. Run 1/4 mile in 90 second and then jog for 1/2 mile. Total running at 6:00 per mile pace is the same 1.5 miles as the previous week. Do this daily for as many weeks as you like before moving on to step five.

Step/week five
Run one mile at 6:00 pace. Throttle back to a jog for one mile. Run the final mile at a 6:00 pace.

Step/week six
Run two miles in 12 minutes and then run the third mile at a comfortable pace.

Step/week seven
Run three miles in 18 minutes.

thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate it.

I have started running on a plan similar to the one already posted, and am on the third "step" (we call them tiers), but every 3-4 weeks, you run a 3-mile like you would on the PT, just to check progress.

Only do this AFTER your body is used to running, I started by just going out every other day and running a mile, with a 1/2 mile warm up and cool down jog. If you just go out and start running 5 or 6 days a week, it is very rare that you don't start developing chin splints which will halt your progress while you recover.

Son, if you are developing chin splints then you are doing something seriously wrong!

Dang iPhone. Either way, if your body isn't used to it, your legs really start to hurt...

I simply ran my _ss off like 5 days a week when I was preparing for OCS.

If you are in B/CS, I know there's not a lot of hills to run up and down on, but I turned to the treadmill for that. But, MCB Quantico, especially at OCS, is full of hills, some really steep ones too on the OCS running trails.

Obviously, you want to be careful and stretch a lot so you don't get IT band syndrome or any other kind of muscle/ligament/tendon inflammations.

I wouldn't do anything crazy like...run some crazy distances with a pack on your back or anything like that. You can end up getting hair-line fractures or just simply wear out your knees.

Yes, you will do that at OCS in boots and utes with a pack and a weapon, and other deuce gear on you that is extremely annoying. Everyone's body is different, but I wouldn't risk it by running with a pack or weight on your back before OCS.

Now back to the treadmill. I think what helped me the most was, simply plain and put, running a lot. At least 3 miles a day and usually closer to 4 or 5 during my usual routines.

But on the treadmill, in tennis shoes of course, I would start a brisk walk at like....3.0,..... just to get warmed up. Every two minutes that went by, I increased it a whole point. No breaks in between in intervals. I would keep increasing the level every two minutes to where I couldn't keep up, and then walked it back down, a whole level every two minutes until I got back down to 3.0 and then cooled off, and did lots of stretching afterwards.

Every day that went by, I increased the starting level by .1. Yes. .1

So, the very next day, I started out at 3.1, two minutes went by, I bumped up to 4.1, two minutes went by, 5.1 and so on and so forth.

I think in the first couple of months, I was peaking out at around 9.0, or 9.1, respectively, for two straight minutes before I walked it back down every two minutes.

But eventually, I got in good enough shape to where I could peak out at 12.0 for two solid minutes and walked it back down one whole point, every two minutes. I always started out with a 3.0 two minute walk though. Then, if my new day was supposed to start out at 5.6, I just moved up to that level and continued from there.

So, when I took my pre-ship PFT wit the OSO there in College Station (we did it out at research park back then), I ran an 18:13 3-mile time. That was after a whole year of running my _ass off at the age of 26, 5'9", 165 lbs. My total PFT was 298.

I will tell you at OCS, I checked in and was one of the faster guys there, probably top 5%. We did have one guy that ran in like....16:35 or something crazy. He was a slalom skier at some small school in Colorado, probably weighed 145 lbs and was just a gazelle. Plain and simple.

We also had another guy do 75 straight pull-ups without stopping. Insane! Some freaks like that just exist out there.

None of that stuff mattered. Because after a week or two of high stress and absolute sleep deprivation, it all becomes mental. So of course, you want to be in the best possible shape you can. And don't go trying to sleep deprive yourself in preparation. But, you might try to adjust your lifestyle to only 6 hours of sleep. See how you feel after two weeks or so. Not that we ever got 6 solid hours of sleep when I was at OCS. Especially since my rack was right next to the drill instructors' duty hut/office.

And if you go to OCS in the winter time (which I did: Jan - March time frame of that year), the cold and snow will beat you down and again, it's all mental toughness. Especially when you have to low crawl through the quigley completely engulfed in water in 15 degree weather with a howling wind about.

That's probably more pointers than you were asking for, but good luck to you.

Semper Fidelis,

Capt B., USMCR

[This message has been edited by SemperFiAg (edited 6/23/2011 7:27p).]

I'm Army so we don't do 3 miles for our test but a workout that I have always found good for me and my Soldiers was intervals on a 1/4 mile track.

We would do a 1 mile warmup then
2x 1/4 mile sprint with an easy 1/4 mile jog between
4x 200 meter sprint with a 200 meter jog between each
8x 100 meter sprint with a 100 meter jog between (sprint the straight, jog the curve). End it all with a ab workout.

I have to work at running more than the average guy and I can't stress the "running hills" advice above. I know when I was in HS that A&M Consolidated had a good route near the Brazos that had decent hills but I have no idea where exactly that was.

quote:

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you run a 3-mile like you would on the PT, just to check progress

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good idea. i would further recommend just signing up for a 5K and getting your adrenaline going as it may be for your test. i know it sounds weird but you condition yourself to be aware of how your heart is going when there are people around you racing as well.