THE 12

linzismith

When I played soccer in college and when I was a wildland firefighter we had to run what we called THE 12--Dunh dunh dunh! Technically it's called the Cooper's test and it's a way to test (and push) an athlete's physical fitness. Basically, you have to run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes or less (if you're a girl, guys have only 10 minutes).

Technically that's an 8 minute mile, which doesn't sound so bad. But let me tell you, it really hurts. I used to dread monday afternoons when we had to run THE 12. As I was running and fighting the cramps in my side and my screaming lungs, I would repeat to myself over and over: "This too shall pass. This too shall pass." I was always able to pass the test, but just barely. Usually my times were 11:45 or 11:52, something like that.

Anyway, I never thought I would be in as good of shape as I was back then (back then I was in shape but I was still about 30 pounds overweight). But since I started MFP I've been running a lot more (long runs, short runs, interval runs--always something different). I run THE 12 about once a month and today I can officially say I'm in the best shape of my life and I genuinely feel that there's is still even more improvement left in me.

Here are my running times since last September for THE 12
13:43
12:42
12:22
12:42(an off day)
11:46
11:36
10:40 Are you kidding me??!! I shaved off almost a whole minute! The best part is, it didn't even hurt as much as when I used to run it. I still think I can go even faster.

Finally! I feel like I'm in shape and I LOOK like I'm in shape too! that's a first.

Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start calling it THE 10 :drinker:

AlynnP1005

Thats awesome!

kimberly428

AWESOME!!! Great job girl!

hill242

Nice progress!

mszSHOGAN

You freakin rock girl! Keep it up!

KatWood

That's great and it is a neat way to monitor your progress. I am training for my next 1/2 marathon so I am mostly focusing on distance. But I think I might copy you and do this once a month to. Right now it takes me a lot longer than 12 minutes to run 1.5 miles but I'm sure if I work on it I will see improvement too. Thanks for sharing.

amylynna1

you should be very proud of yourself. The fact that you remember that so vividly means it has a impact on you. You have over come congratulations to a true athlete and inspiration.

aippolito1

Awesome! I can't wait 'til I can run a mile and a half in ANY time. Right now I'm only on intervals. Any tips?

linzismith

arielle0489:

intervals is the best way to do it! in fact, apart from the 12 and an occasional 30 minute jog, i rarely just run at one pace.

back in september when i started running again intervals is exactly what i started with. my motivation was really low so i just told myself i was going to walk/jog in one direction for 15 minutes, then come back. (i would walk for about 100 yards then jog 100 yards). the key is to start jogging again BEFORE your heart rate gets all the way back down.

once or twice a week I would add in sprints (jog 70 steps, sprint 30, jog 70, walk 50, jog 70, sprint 30, jog 70, walk 50). count the steps only when your right foot lands so it's technically double that amount of stepping. the key to this one is that you build up by jogging, then after you sprint, you don't let yourself start walking right away. force your body to start the recovery phase while jogging. only after jogging for 70 steps and recovering a bit that way do you let yourself fully rest with a 50 step walk.

After a while i started doing intervals of a slow jog/faster jog. now i can do 30 minutes at a fast jog/full run. sometimes i also end a run by running up a large hill three times (each time I have to run a little farther than the time before).

either way, the big thing for me was that I never set out with a specific plan to use intervals to become faster and be able to run longer. instead, the more i walk/jogged the easier it got and then the more i WANTED to challenge myself. make sure that this is how you allow yourself to do it. you have to want the challenge. in fact, a lot of days when i set out to run, i'm not sure myself what type of day it'll be until i'm out there. some days i think i'm feeling really tired so i plan to just go walk/jogging, but then i get out there and i find myself running as hard as I can. other days it's the opposite. the beauty of intervals is that you can easily adjust them to how you feel each day. good luck!

aippolito1

Thanks!! Last night, I ran more times than I normally do when I go out for my intervals... I had eaten half a banana right before 'cause I was starving so I was getting cramps at the very end of my run so I would walk but fast until the cramps subsided, then run again. The thing with me... I don't feel comfortable jogging. I feel awkward. I have to either be walking or running, there's no comfortable in-between for me. If it feels too slow, I speed up. I know I'm getting faster on the treadmill and want to increase my time outside and just to be able to run for longer amounts of time or more frequently (which I achieved last night).

I'm the same way as you about not knowing what kind of day it will be...last night, I thought...okay, 3rd day in a row I'm running. It's gonna suck but I'll push forward anyway. I ended up running more times than I ever have in a walk/run and I burned more than I thought, even though it look me longer because of the cramps.