How to go from 9:00 1.5 mile to sub 8 min?

Consistency. Keep at it.

Are you a police officer? Just asking because I know they have to run a 1.5 miler annually and 9 minutes sounds like a good time for an average cop, but shitty time for typical letsrunner. Also, I don't know many runners interested in running a fast 1.5 miles.

To answer your question, going from 6:00 pace to 5:20 pace will take some hard work. If you are actually running 6-7 days a week and still can only run 9:00, it may not be in the cards for you. If you are not running 6 days a week, start running 6 days a week. One you are running consistently and it feels comfortable, start some track work. Work your way to 4X 800 under 2:40 with 1:30 rest and your goal should be easy.

Good Luck!

Could be in the Air Force too as this is part of our yearly Physical Fitness Test. I'm a gazelle in the Air Force (7:30 is my time) but slow by let's run standards. 50 miles a week plus a speed session on e a week will get you well below 9 regardless of talent

That's very fast for the Air Force. Years I ago, I ran 8:05 for the fastest time in my OCS class of 200+.

Firefighter here. We do the 1.5 too. Sub-8:00 would be considered blazing as most firefighters, cops, military etc. are more muscular than your standard runner. I usually run around 8:50 if I train hard for it...Interested in hearing answers. It is hard to find a balance between running, strength training, and not being too skinny. I ran 8:30 at 157 pounds but now at 180 I am afraid I am quite a bit slower. I can definitely drag a dummy out of a building better, though.

Military man wrote:

Could be in the Air Force too as this is part of our yearly Physical Fitness Test. I'm a gazelle in the Air Force (7:30 is my time) but slow by let's run standards. 50 miles a week plus a speed session on e a week will get you well below 9 regardless of talent

No, no, no. A single workout a week will not get everyone 'well below 9 regardless of talent.'

Ridiculous statement.

My last timed 1.5 mile run was actually almost a year ago. My body composition is different now ( less muscular but lower BF%) but I feel like my fitness level is pretty much the same as a year ago. I gauge this by how I feel when I do my 6 x 400m workout.

I am slowly increasing my mileage from last month onwards. I am doing a 45 min ( i cover about 6+miles) morning jog daily. The only exception when I don't jog in the morning is when it's raining.

So my question is, are longer intervals ( 800m, 1000m) better than shorter intervals (300m,400m) ?

Are tempo runs necessary? Or should I just stick to intervals?

And how to determine my recovery time between intervals or tempo intervals?

I agree! i am in the AF as a sergeant and run a flat 9 and max everything. i am one of the top PT on my base. I 7:30 is almost professional athlete/ competitive style

Yea he is stuck on retard and didn't read the original post

Did u really say that wrote:

Military man wrote:

Could be in the Air Force too as this is part of our yearly Physical Fitness Test. I'm a gazelle in the Air Force (7:30 is my time) but slow by let's run standards. 50 miles a week plus a speed session on e a week will get you well below 9 regardless of talent

No, no, no. A single workout a week will not get everyone 'well below 9 regardless of talent.'

Ridiculous statement.

Agree.

What the?? wrote:

I agree! i am in the AF as a sergeant and run a flat 9 and max everything. i am one of the top PT on my base. I 7:30 is almost professional athlete/ competitive style

This thread is doing a great job of being ignorant at both ends of the spectrum. Sub-9 for someone in the 50th percentile or below (and perhaps a fair amount higher, too) is not an easy thing, even at 50 quality miles/week.

But this argument is weak compared to the utter wrongness (born of simple ignorance of the sport) of saying that 7:30 is ANYWHERE near professional. The WR for two miles is below 8. Do the math. That would make a WR for 1.5 well below 6. A world class runner - even one well short of WR ability - would easily LAP that 7:30 runner on a 400M track.

People understand that other sports have LOTS of levels of ability. They understand that the point guard who really impressed people in the HS gym couldn't survive 1 minute on a div 1 or NBA court. But they think that a guy who runs a lot faster than a bunch of nobodies and non-runners must be near world class. See it so often.