What do ya think? Thanks in advance.

[E6286]

Okay guys, I am in the final leg of my BDCP application, the pft. Anyway, I have been running on a treadmill and I was wondering your opinions on this. If you set the treadmill to an 8:00/mi pace do you think that when you run outside your time will be slower or faster? Right now I am at 13:40 for the 1.5 mile, what do you guys reccommend for a way to speed this up to par so I can take the exam and send off my application. My recruiter said I should get it in asap b/c there are BDCP slots opening up right now b/c I won't be graduating until a year from this august. My grades are about a 3.3, I scored a 50 on my OAR, great job on my biographical inventory, I have letters of reccomendation from a state supreme court justice, a senator, a guidance counselor, and a county sheriff. What do you guys think of my application?

 

[esco02]

There is one difference between running on the treadmill and running outside. The treadmill won't let you slow down unless you actually slow it down. When you run outside (if you are not a big runner) it will be hard to maintain a good pace.
I recommend that if you are going to run on the treadmill set it to a faster pace than an 8 min mile, and run at that pace for atleast 2 miles. If you want to improve your time you have to run more than 1 and a half miles. If you can get to a track, do sprints. If you sprint 1 lap do it under 90sec. If you run 2 laps do it under 3min.
Remember that you are competing for a job that a lot of people want, so you have to do your very best.

Good luck on your PRT!

V/R
Mike

 

[RC]

Treadmill running is great for working on cadance and pace. I still use a treadmill now and then (more in the winter) When running outside you'll probably be a little slower just due to conditions like slight grades, humidity, weather, turns, asphalt etc. Treadmill running reduces the shock that your legs take by about 25%, which is nice, but when you get to OCS, you wont have that leisure. Also, treadmill running is basically always the same, you settle into the same breathing patterns, the conditions (weather) are always the same that you are running in. Personally, i would try to get outside a couple times a week if I were you, get accustomed to the outdoors, weather, breathing, scents etc. All of which make a big difference. A good way to work speed is to run intervals or sprints. For every minute you run, start double timing your cadence for 20 seconds, building up more and more each week. Before you know it youll be running your whole work out double time.

Good luck and feel free to email me with questions

RC