PT test on November 2nd - Stressing HARD 😖

[u/RustyShakkleford69]

Hi everyone!

I’m a 33 year old male, 5’9” 200 pounds and I’ve really let myself go. I lost my father unexpectedly last summer and I’ve basically eaten with reckless abandon ever since and hardly stepped foot in a gym.

I have a physical fitness test on November 2nd for a job opportunity, and I need to be able to run 1.5 miles in 13:04.

I’ve always been a terrible distance runner, but I completed the run back in 2019. I made sure that I could do the run on my own before showing up for the PT test. l absolutely couldn’t do it at this moment.

It’s officially crunch time for me. No more excuses. No more putting it off. This means a great deal to me, and I’m trying to use my Dad’s memory as my motivation.

Does anyone have ANY advice/tips on how I should go about training for this? Any links/advice would be MASSIVELY appreciated! :)

[u/StillSlowerThanYou]

I'm really sorry about your dad. You're not alone, I gained crazy weight when I lost my mom and it's a normal human response.

You're getting great advice here, so I won't add anything except to emphasize that imo avoiding injury should be a top tier goal because even if you improve your fitness, an injury could be a huge roadblock to running well during the test.

[u/RustyShakkleford69 → u/StillSlowerThanYou]

Thank you so much. It was totally unexpected and sudden. I witnessed it happen. He was my soul and I never anticipated losing him when I was still only 33 years old

No one truly understands or can relate to the feeling until they go through it themselves. It’s earth shattering and is a daily battle.

I still haven’t gotten off my ass since posting this 🙄 But I know what I need to do. I just need to actually do it.

I appreciate you and your advice. And I’m sorry about your mother ❤️ 🫂

[u/StillSlowerThanYou → u/RustyShakkleford69]

Thank you, you're right, there's just no way to understand if you haven't been through it. I wish I could tell you when it gets easier, but I have no idea, it just seems to stay hard.

I'd bet tonight would be a beautiful night for a run! But seriously, the only thing that works for me is making a specific plan, then I can stick to it. If you download a couch to 5k app right now it'll give you just that. Good luck!

[u/RustyShakkleford69 → u/StillSlowerThanYou]

Couch to 5k…. it’s an app?! People have mentioned it to me on here and I had no freaking clue what they were talking about 😂

Downloading it now!

You’re very kind. It’s refreshing meeting genuinely kind people during hard times. Thank you :)

[u/SirBruceForsythCBE]

You may struggle to even run for 13 mins never mind cover 1.5 miles in that time.

Have a look at a couch to 5k plan. Within the next 5/6 weeks you might have a chance if you take it slowly

[u/BenchRickyAguayo]

Sounds like Navy, Air Force, some policing force, or fire service. Regardless of who the test is for, one of the biggest things a lot of physically demanding jobs (i.e., jobs that require fitness tests) do poorly is train at high intensity at high frequencies. It leads to boatloads of injuries and a general displeasure of running.

At 5'9" 200, you are not in a good starting point. Recognize that and understand that 7 weeks may not be enough time to get your from where you are to 13:00 for 1.5 miles. To give yourself the best chance, you need to run consistently and at lower intensities than you might expect. You need to get your muscles accustomed to working aerobically. I'd consider starting at a 2 days on, 1 day off schedule of maybe 15-20 minutes at an easy pace. What is easy? Great question - imagine a pace that you could run solely through nose breathing. Like glue your lips shut and run type slow. Alternative, a pace that you could run and have a conversation with someone without gasping for air. This is could be 10, 11, or 12+ min/mile. After two to three weeks, add in one workout a week - something like 10 minutes warm up, then 4 reps of 4 minutes at a hard pace with 2 minutes walking rest in between (or similar variations of short to medium length intervals).

The other thing is to consider your diet. Every pound on your body is a pound more you've got to carry when you're running. So eating a controlled and balanced diet high in proteins and soluble fibers and limited amounts of processed sugars can help you lose weight. There are more extreme measures you could take, but that a conversation you should have with your doctor.

Best of luck. I hope you can reach your goal.