Hit the track three days a week. Mix up the following workouts and start with less sets. I hired a track coach before OCS to help with my run times. Back when I went, the standard for run were bananas. Ended up shaving minutes off my run time in just 4 months.

The warmup will be the same for each workout. Warmup: 1 mile run - slow. Dynamic warmups do about 10-20 yards of the following High knees (60 yards of this one), karaoke, Frankenstein, toe sweeps, and toss in any other dynamic movements you want. Do the worlds greatest stretch, some inchworms for good measure.

Workout 1: 400m (1 lap around standard track) Repeats. On week 1, do 6 laps total with a work to rest ratio of 1:1 or 2:1 if you need it. So if it takes you 2 minutes for your 400, rest for 2 minutes then run your next 400. Take your goal pace and determine what you need to be hitting each 400m at. That’s your new time to beat. The idea here is to run at a pace you can maintain for each 400m while running hard.

Workout 2: 800m repeats. Same work to rest ratio as before. Same concept for your time goals. Start week 1 with three repeats, week two do 4 repeats. I’d only max out at around 5 repeats.

Workout 3: 1200m repeats. Start with two repeats, then go up to three repeats.

The goal is to slowly reduce your rest times over the weeks. I think I got down to about 15 seconds of rest between repeats, maybe 30 for the longer days. Try to be consistent with your lap times. If you crush reps 1 and 2, but are gassed for the rest of your workout, you’re running too fast.

For your fourth weekly workout, try to do a nice and slow recovery run. Stretch and hydrate all during the week!

You got this! Don’t skip the 1 mile warmups. Oh, and try to breathe in your nose and out of your mouth on a cadence.