Forums >Running 101>Must Pass Cooper Fitness Test Help
Dear friends I am 50 years old and I must now pass a fitness test the cooper. I am not a runner and have 1 month to jog 1.5 miles in 14:33. I am not overweight 5"10 179 pounds. Can I do it in that short of a time ? please help with any type of training plan.
Thanks,
Tom
Maniac
Dear friends I am 50 years old and I must now pass a fitness test the cooper. I am not a runner and have 1 month to jog 1.5 miles in 14:33. I am not overweight 5"10 179 pounds. Can I do it in that short of a time ? please help with any type of training plan. Thanks, Tom
That's a little better than a 10-minute mile. You've got a month...You say you're not overweight....What kind of shape are you in cardio-wise? Are you doing any physical activity at all right now?
You might just start by run/walking a mile or so and see how it goes. If it's not hard run/walk the whole mile and a half. See what your baseline time is. It'll be easier to come up with a plan to help you once we have an idea about where you're starting from.
Marathon Maniac #6740
Goals for 2015:
Run 3 marathons (modified: Run 2 marathons--Lost Dutchman 02/2015 and Whiskey Row 05/2015)
Run a 50-miler (Ran a 53.8 mile race 11/14/2015)
Run 1,500 miles (uhhh...how about 1,400?)
Stay healthy
A Saucy Wench
It's doable. Start by increasing your daily walking distance to cover the full 1.5. Then throw in some jogging intervals.
Get a baseline like azred suggested and more concrete plans will come out of the woodwork.
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
I walk a mile each day for general fitness but have not run yet !!!!! I have the next month off vacation and can spend each day walking and running. Is it realistic or am I cooked ?
I think it's totally doable. Let's see where you're at first and go from there. Walking a mile each day is a good starting point....It's not like you've been on the couch for the past 20 years and now need to go run 9:45 miles. However, walking and running certainly are two different things.
Thanks for being positive !!!! Would you mind if I stay in contact with you each day ? I need a good coach and being as though I love my job I don't want to fail. My son is overseas and would be here to motivate me if he could.
just put in the time, do what you can to avoid injuries, and it will be very doable.
don't try to make these into anything like a difficult workout. you can give yourself a setback trying to do too much too soon. they key is just getting started.
make sure you have decent shoes. don't skimp and use something kind of like a running shoe... if it is important to you go ahead and get fitted for a real running shoe with someone who can see how you run. You'll want a few miles on the shoes that you will run the test in before the day of the test. A running store will have you run for 1 minute or so on the treadmill and will suggest a shoe for you. 75% of people overpronate a bit and get something with a bit of support.
Options,Account, Forums
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Puttin' on the foil
make sure you have decent shoes.
My first thought as well. Maybe Brooks Beast, good overall shoe for someone your size. Start putting in the time. Walking, jogging then running. Running is a simple (albeit stupid) sport. You can do it no problem.
Don't be obsessed with your desires Danny. The Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.'
Cool Jump Suit
So bittersweet,This tragedyWon't ask for absolution;This melody,Inside of me,Still searches for solution.A twist of faith,A change of heart Cures my infatuation.A broken heart, Provides the sparkFor my determination.
I can't believe you still use the Cooper test--or a variation of. Isn't Cooper test to see how far you can run within 12-minutes? Or did it change? At any rate, probably THE worst thing you can do to yourself, when you are still not quite in shape, or you're just starting out; is to be competitive like "let's see how far you can run in 12-minutes..." or "let's see how fast you can run 1.5 miles..."
That being said, before we can make any assessment, we need to know what your goal is--which you did as 1.5 miles in 14:33--as well as where you are; which I don't believe you mentioned anywhere. Is it doable? It sure is if your current condition is, say, 15:00 for 1.5 miles. It would be hard if you are "only" 20-minutes for 1.5 mile shape.
If you are still "just walking" shape, you should take a look at, as I think someone else suggested, C25K program. I personally don't think it's as complete as can be but it is a very good program as a starter. In order to put 9:50 mile pace for 1.5 miles, you would need decent enough oxygen uptake level to be able to run CONTINUOUSLY; in other words, keeping to have to take walking break won't probably get you there. Realistically, it wouldn't matter how much free time you have; you just cannot cram in fitness. It's a gradual business. The truth of the fact is; walking a mile is a hell of a long way from running a mile and a half.
Not that it is quite advisable; the way you COULD do is to take a look at C25K program; I think this is to bring you to "complete" 3 miles in 8 weeks. With only 4 weeks to go; I would suggest NOT trying to increase the volume, which is actually the way it should be; and stay where you only have to run or run/walk around, say, 18~20 minutes. Try to do the run segment a little bit faster and cover the running segment a little bit longer (say, if the program calls for 3 minutes run + 2 minutes walk; try to bring it to first 3:30 run with 1:30 walk, then 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk...something like that. Also, you would need to see if you can even run 9:50 pace at all. That's about 2:27 per lap. Go to a local track and run A HALF A LAP around the track and see how fast you can run. If you are having a hard time covering it in 1:12, if you're huffing and puffing and feeling a tingling sensation in your hands, etc., you may want to rethink the time-line. The improvement of the speed should come naturally. It may take someone 4 weeks; it may take someone else 4 months. You cannot, and especially at your age should not, force it. The pay-back might be too high. I don't mean to be a stick in the mud but, let's face it, anybody can be a cheerleader and tell you "Great!" or "Go for it!" but deep down, even you know it if it's realistic or not; not us.
If "speed" is the goal, shoes like Beast is the opposite of what you want. As far as I can see, shoes like Beast should be worn by very specific people. Without understanding of the individual's needs, I certainly wouldn't lightly recommend these. I'm pretty much the same size as the OP, maybe slightly lighter; and I do most of my running in ASICS Piranha and my Achilles feels better than ever. Yes, running IS a simple sport. We don't need as much high-tech as most people think we do.
A running store will have you run for 1 minute or so on the treadmill and will suggest a shoe for you. 75% of people overpronate a bit and get something with a bit of support.
75% of people overpronate because it's a natural movement. Trying to prevent something that shouldn't be prevented had created such issues like ITBS that we never had years before we started to over-stabilize the foot movement. All due respect, most people at the running store tell you what the manual says; a lot of them, not all, don't know what they're talking about.
I thought this thread is about trying to squeeze 14:30 for 1.5 miles; not about shoes or specific injuries. If running fast (well, relatively speaking) is an issue, stability shoes is the exact opposite of where you should be heading.
i sacrificed the gift