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Conditioning for OCS
- Thread starter Cookie123
- Start date
OK, I lied. Just did a 10:08 1.5 mile run today. Last one was 11:26 the week after Thanksgiving 2013 on a 1/10 mile track (10 laps = 1 mile).
As a word of encouragement, treadmill running does work (as far as building endurance and stamina is concerned). I've run on nothing but a treadmill until these past 2 weeks and my run time has come down. HOWEVER, definitely ease into road running when you make the transition because, although you may "feel" like the running is comfortable endurance-wise, your body is definitely going to feel the impact change. My evidence: my first road run in at least 2 years (after 4 months of treadmill running) was a 5 mile jog (I was trying to break in my new running shoes!
). Needless to say, towards the end of the run my right knee was experiencing "runner's knee" (have had it before) like symptoms, and my legs were sore for a week!So if you have to run on a treadmill, it's better than nothing. But, it will not prepare your body for the road running you'll be doing at OCS.
On another note... It's OK to be where you are now, it's just not OK to stay there. Stay motivated and keep making progress.
Treadmill. Definitely.
It really could be, my outside run-time today was faster than any of my treadmill runs in the past month. I've read a few articles on road vs. treadmill running and they vary - some say treadmill time will be faster, others say it will be slower. I guess it could depend on the person and what they're used to. As others have said, there are differences between running muscle recruitment on the treadmill vs. the road.
Before you go kicking yourself too hard, I'd do a run outside on a track or relatively level stretch of road.
, and not being creepy.
Do you ever run more than 1.5 miles at a time?
What really helped me with the mental aspect of the run was incorporating a "long" run at least once per week (3 to 5 miles). This way, when you run 1.5 miles, it won't feel like a "long" run (which it does if you're only running the 1.5 miles or 400/800 meter repeats). Also, another thing I would occasionally do is, instead of running a 1.5 miles, I'd set a goal time (say, 10 minutes) and just run as far as I could in that set time. Do this enough and I'm sure you'll eventually get 1.5 miles in that time (within reason).
Thanks for the advice! I'm not a runner by any means, so I never have ran more than a mile in my life. I'm training my legs for stress and endurance for now, then a week or two, I am going to start running outside.
Spekkio
He bowls overhand.
Look at the Navy PRT standards. If you can score a solid 'good' on all events then you will be able to make it through the program. If you can score an 'excellent' or higher on all events then you probably won't feel very challenged physically while at OCS. I would rank push ups and situps ahead of run in order of importance. The runs are relatively low-key, but you will do many sessions of pushups, leg lifts, etc. throughout the day.
Whether or not you do pull-ups depends on your class team. You won't do them as part of any kind of physical evaluation, but they could be part of your morning PT on Tues/Thurs.
Whether or not you do pull-ups depends on your class team. You won't do them as part of any kind of physical evaluation, but they could be part of your morning PT on Tues/Thurs.
Spekkio
He bowls overhand.
If the treadmill is set to a 1.0% incline, there is a negligible difference between treadmill and flat road/track running performance. The treadmill is slightly more quad dominant.
The treadmill is good for working on increasing speed since you have an automatic pacer and most can be set to high/low intervals. But it's not great for agility because of the long wind-up/wind-down times when changing speeds.
Lol you will run up to 4 miles at OCS.
infinitepossibilities
Member
Good thing I was a good cross country runner in high school. I am still a decent runner and look forward to doing some 5k road runs this summer. Also the female times in running are crazy low. I think minimum is 15:30. I personally hate running on treadmills, but a good idea is 1 min sprints on it and hop off for 20 or more body weight squats and then repeat that 5-10 times. My most effective way of reducing my times were doing jogs and then quick sprints for 30sec to a minute and then jog again. Also incorporating some hills will make the flat stuff fast and easy. Everyone has been saying that OCS does road running so specifically work on that as well since you can easily develop shin splints if you aren't used to it.
Lol, I've read that on the OCS website before I applied. Don't worry, I'll be able to survive.
Fronch
OCS 03-15 (IW)
This is true. I almost exclusively run on a treadmill set to a 1.0 incline, and I noticed very little difference when switching to the track once the weather got nice. I would also advise setting a pace that you can maintain, rather than cranking up the treadmill super fast for 30 seconds and then walking for 2 minutes. Run your 1.5 miles at the same pace from start to finish (it may take a few tries to figure out what that pace is), and then gradually work to increase that pace over time.
stretch_29
Member
You won't be running on treadmills at OCS so I'd suggest going outside or finding an indoor track. Also, we had probably about 10 people in my company of 40 either max or almost max the out pfa. So get in as good shape as you can. It'll just make life easier and less tiring. I think I went from good across the board to outstanding across the board, but show up in the best shape of your life and get better. That's my suggestion
Spekkio
He bowls overhand.
You don't show up and just run 4 miles right away. The runs start out at 1.5 miles, 2.0 miles if you include warmups and the like, and if you're not in the fast group you'll stop periodically for plenty of other 'cardio enhancing' mini workouts.
After 3-5 weeks, the runs turn into 2.4 (IIRC) mile runs that include a bit more hills, but by then it's fairly manageable. Again, if you're not in the fast group expect to do plenty of hill sprints and other 'cardio enhancing' mini workouts. Then on occasional Saturdays you'll do a 5k to the carriers and back.*
Honestly, after the first few weeks the morning PT runs became one of the most relaxing things at OCS. I showed up barely able to get a good low in the run and had no diffiuclty. As I said before, pushups and situps are by far the exercises you want to get good at because you'll be working those muscles 3-4x a day for the first month.
*This was all during the spring/summer, dunno what they do in the winter. I hear they just run around the gym like 50 times.