Breaking the 10-minute mark for a mile and a half isn’t just a sign that you can outrun the feds. It’s also an indicator of peak aerobic capacity—your body’s ability to deliver oxygen to your working muscles. Regular aerobic exercise lowers your cholesterol and helps keep your body fat low—both of which significantly decrease your risk of heart disease.

The Test: Run 1 1/2 miles on a flat path as fast as you can.

The Scorecard:
12 minutes or more: Slow
Between 10 and 12 minutes: Ordinary
10 minutes or less: Endurance excellence

Air Out Your Aerobic Ability: To build aerobic capacity, you need to run far. But you also need to run fast, says Barrie Shepley, C.S.C.S., Canadian Olympic triathlon coach and president of Personal Best Health and Performance. Follow Shepley’s plan for 6 to 10 weeks and you’ll increase your endurance about 30 percent.

Perform a 40- to 60-minute run on Saturday at a pace just slow enough that you never feel winded. (Walk if you need to.)

On Tuesday, do four to six half-mile intervals at your goal pace for the mile-and-a-half run. (If your goal is 10 minutes, run each interval in 3 minutes, 20 seconds.) Rest for the same amount of time as each interval takes.

On Thursday, perform four to six uphill runs at a moderate pace, with each lasting about 90 seconds, and take about 2 minutes’ rest after each interval. After your last interval, jog for 10 to 15 minutes at an easy pace.

Bonus Tip: Train like Roger Bannister. That is, split the distance into four 600-yard intervals and run them at a pace that’s about 10 percent faster than your 11/2-mile pace, resting 1 minute after each. Bannister used this method to train for the first sub-4-minute mile