How can I bring down my 2 mile run from 25 minutes to atleast 18:50 to pass my APFT?

I always recommend three distinct workouts, three times a week, for improving your run time. For the first workout, run the two mile portion of the APFT to measure your progress and give you practice at that distance. Workout two, run intervals. For instance, run for 60 seconds, then jog for 120 seconds, repeat four times. For the final workout, run/jog at a comfortable pace for either a set amount of time or for a set distance. See the website below for the complete workout, or e-mail me if you have any questions.

A long sprint!! LOL That made my day. No one can sprint for a half mile, much less 2 miles! But you should be doing 3 miles in 19 minutes if you are in decent shape.

Or, you could just sprint and do the 2 miles in 5 minutes. Hey, that way you will get it done faster and you can take a break while everyone else thinks they are running 2 miles instead of an eighth mile.

A 9:25 mile is very attainable, and everybody here has given pretty solid advice.

I will only mention that sometimes running is downright boring. I have always hated it, and am pretty sure I will hate it forever. The best thing you can do to improve your time is of course to run some more, but I want to hit a few basics here just to make sure you are doing them.

1.) Make sure you are warming up. Running with cold muscles will definitely give you a worse time than your best, and is a good way to get some type of injury.

2.) Make sure you are running properly. It sounds obvious maybe, but I used to run like a retard. When I learned proper form I consistently shaved over a minute of my time over long distance (2 miles is not) and more time down if I am running hard for short distances, like 2 miles.

3.) Make sure you are hydrated and eating right. Your muscles need energy and and water to function the best. If you have poor diet and drink nothing but soda, there is an easy thing to fix.

4.) If you are smoking, stop. Not only will it probably make your times better, it will make basic a little easier. One less mental problem while the drill instructors are yelling at you. On that note, make sure you are breathing right. In through nose, out through mouth, steady pace.

5.) Any cardio you do will help. Most people who can't run is because they can't breathe. Swimming, hard jump roping, hell maybe even riding a bike hard could help. Quick sports like racketball or basketball can help, and are arguably a lot more fun than running.

6.) Listen to music or cadence while running. Something a little faster than comfortable. It will keep you running steady and if you sing along it will help you learn to breathe better.

Bottom line is fix your cardio. For me, sprints always worked the best, while at the same time sucking the most. Go to a football field and sprint 10 yrds, run back, sprint 20 yrs, run back, etc until you have gone all the way across and back down again. Sprint until you think you will throw up, then keep sprinting, then throw up, then keep sprinting, the feel like you are gonna pass out. That is when you take a break. Getting in shape is hard if you are out of shape, but with persistence it can be done fairly quickly. Try your hardest now, push yourself the most now, it will pay of when you go to basic.

Running stairs is also an excellent conditioning exercise. Flat ground seems like cake after you ran up and down stairs for a few hours. It'll help your time go down also.

Redleg, 2 miles is not a sprint. Anyway you should do intervals. That's when you run 2 laps at the pace you need, then jog or walk a lap and then do 2 more laps at the pace you need. Do this until you cover 2 miles. Try it at least 3-4 days a week and then everyweek try your 2 mile. You should see improvement within 2 weeks. On the third week same thing but try to run for a half hour instead of one of the intervals. Do this and you will probably even do better than 18:50. No matter what though you need to get out and run at least 3-4 times a week.

Run a lot.This is how i got faster for a 2 mile run

Week 1. run 1.5 miles with out stopping rest for how long you like then run 1 mile then run half a mile after you rest.The you are done for the day.Do this for 1 week.

Week 2. Run 2 miles with out stopping rest for how long you like then run 1.5 miles then run half a mile.After this you will realize you ran 4 miles.Also do this for a week.

Week 3. Run 2 mile without stopping then rest.Then run 2 miles again.Then run half mile.

Week 4. only do this 4 times then break 3 days then take your test.Run 2.5 miles.then rest.Run 1.5 miles rest.Then run your last half mile.

Also rest at least 1:30 hours between each time and eat and drink water.If you drink soda stop i will kill you when you run not literally.

concetrate on the fist lap running it as fast as you can once you have that tim down to aout seven minutes then concentrate on the second lap if you can do the fist lap in a reall good time then you know eaxactly how much time you have left over to achieve yoyr goal.say you run first lap in 7 min. then you know yoy really have 11:54 min to do second lap . ok so now you know how fast you can do first mile now slow it down a bit but keep even pace then when last mile comes up kick into high gear and get it done .

The other poster is correct, you need to run daily and you need to run "furlinks" which is not the correct spelling I'm sure. You pick a distance, maybe a quarter of a lap and run it as fast as you can. Run normally, the next lap run another "furlink" In a week or so, you make the furlink a half a lap.

If you do this on a regular basis, you can do it by next month.

It takes time to get faster especially if you never run, all you can do is cardio daily, best thing to do is just run long distances to get your body used to running then it should be no problem, you can also have a two day break before your test to have your muscles and body heal. Remember to stay hydrated.

The 2 mile run is a long sprint. Most people treat it as a distance (endurance) run and it isn't. Physiologically it is a sprint. So you need to do more sprint workouts to improve. I usually increase my sprint workouts about 2 months before an APFT to lower my time for the APFT.

Try this:

First 2 weeks:

M, W, F

1/2 mile very slow jog for warmup

10-15 min of stretching and flexibility improvement exercises

1/4 mile at 70% effort

1/8 mile sprint at 90+% effort

do this 4 times

1/2 mile very slow jog cool down

10 minutes stretching

T & Thur

3-4 miles at 9 min/mile pace

Next 2 weeks:

M, W, F

1/2 mile very slow jog for warmup

10-15 min of stretching and flexibility improvement exercises

1/4 mile at 70% effort

1/4 mile sprint at 90+% effort

do this 4 times

1/2 mile very slow jog cool down

10 minutes stretching

T & Thur

3-4 miles at 9 min/mile pace

In one month I promise you will knock 3-4 minutes off your time...

Edit:

@Phildo

Are you an Excercise Physiologist? Are you a Master Fitness trainer?

The 2 mile run IS a sprint physiologically. Your body doesn't switch over to "endurance mode" physiologically until about 20 minutes into a cardio workout. So in order to train for the 2 mile run...you must train for sprints.

21 years in the Army and an average APFT score of >280 in those 21 years. But I have NO idea what I am talking about.

run more...and do it slower but in longer lengths...then speed up your pace when your running shorter lengths. it helps...trust me. im in the army and that is the only thing that is going to help me pass my pt test.