What is the fastest way to improve 2 mile run time?

Running 6 days a week is the time tested guaranteed way to earn yourself an overuse injury. Even advanced runners don’t run 6 times a week. Unless you are an elite runner, or running under an experienced running coach, you should never be running more than three times a week.

The Fuhrman Institute for Running First 5K plan is an excellent running plan from a school that is famous for their running program. It bases your pace for these runs off your current pace. I’ve used it multiple times, I guarantee you’ll see improvement.

Your unit can administer an APFT, but nothing bad can come of you failing it. On OCT 1st there will no longer be an APFT, and commanders are not allowed to flag Soldiers who fail the ACFT.

https://t3triteam.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/furman-1st-5k-program.pdf

Interval training will do more for you speed, you can go to Runners World and find a number of different programs. Unless you have been running pretty steadily, I would only run 3 to 4 days a week. In fact, with the new program, I would probably run 3 days a week and weight train 2 days. That leaves 2 days as rest periods.

As stated by others, I believe the old standard cannot be used. If true that would be an automatic waiver for that particular requirement. The real issue here is you stamina, you should really work on that run time anyway, units will still PT and that would put you well behind the formation. Conditioning runs with intervals for 3 miles once a week on Saturday, wind sprints once a week on Wednesday and push yourself twice a week for a set pace try to drop at least a minute every two weeks. Even if you can’t hold the pace for two miles, set it as if you can. If you run out of gas before two miles integrate sprints in between slow jog. Hopefully we are right about the APFT, you would need two to three months to trim that kind of time. In closing, make sure you have no underlying health issues before trying anyone else’s plan.

Do 60-120s and actually push yourself incorporate it twice a week with a 3-6mi. Run once a week. This will sound bad but you should be sick by the end of the 60-120s.. but you will start cutting time. Make sure to hydrate!

60-120s and 30:60’s intervals do more for cutting down run times than just running 2 miles frequently.

what I hear you asking is, how do I run faster? IOT run faster, you have to practice running faster. If you want to run slow, then run long and slow...
So start doing speed work. 100m x 8-12 then progress to 200m x 8-10, then progress to 400m up to 8 reps. this may take a few weeks of running 2-3 times per week.

so you are currently running 20 plus two mile time? I hope this is a wake up call to maintain so its not a crunch to improve. Your job is to stay combat ready.. a couple miles a week should be sufficient to sustain. I love sprints to reduce my times.. but mix in some longer runs for stamina and for the mental aspect. I would do a three miler or more at least once a week and three to four days of sprints. Im not a scientist but thats what works for me to max my run. Run on a treadmill with a mirror in front of you so you can study your form and make improvements.

SPC Josh Tharp Good morning the APFT is no longer the test of the military. I will have to find the memo. But basically as of Sep 30, 2020 the APFT will no longer be conducted. I will find it and post it here later.
Now about the running, their is no fast way to drop your time. To do it right you need about a month to two months. Running everyday will give you shin splints cause your body is not used to it.

I do a regular run on Monday, Intervals Wednesday, and a Long run say 4-5 miles on Friday. You have to build up your endurance otherwise you will burn yourself out. Recommend the Nike App. I have had great success with it.

Edit:
https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/acft/army_directive_2020_06_acft.pdf

I was a competitive distance runner back in the day. As far as the training that will do the best for you is going to depend upon you individually. For distance running, the first rule is to run enough volume that you will not injure yourself. For some of the most gifted athletes, that's over 120 miles per week after years of building up to it. For some people that are more prone to injury, 9 miles per week for three days spread out can almost be too much. The one thing to remember no matter where you are on that continuum, you'll need to build up from a smaller manageable volume to a higher volume, so your body can adjust.
Lots of people like to talk about interval training, and it is a great way to get improvement rapidly, but you will see the rapid improvement for a limited period of time. I found from my experience the improvement typically ran its course in 9-12 weeks. Long Slow Distance(LSD) takes much longer to see improvements, but you can continue to see it pay off for years. Intervals are a prioritization tool to help sharpen you leading up to a peak performance, while LSD at a volume you can handle, is something you should always use.
There are other training types (tempo short and long, cruise intervals, steady state, repeats) you could incorporate, however I believe they are better reserved for a competitive distance runners who are focusing on pushing themselves as far as possible. For the vast majority of SMs, LSD will be adequate for just your 2 mile run event. The other events require additional training, which are out of scope for this discussion but can definitely have positive effects on overall fitness and potentially run time.

For me the best way to prep is a 4 day routine:
Day 1:2 mins pushups and situps, drop to your knees if you cant push for full 2 mins
Day 2: full diagnostic apft with no rest between events so 2 mins pushups, 2 mins situps, 2mr for time
Day 3: run day, go for a 2-3 mile run add 60-120s for 2nd/3rd mile
Day 4:rest
Rinse and repeat. Gets me 260+ consistently. Rest days are important, running 6 days a week will just put you in the running for an overuse injury. Dont forget to actively warm up prior to running and passive stretch AFTER