Anyone who is familiar with the Gardner/Purdy Point system – what do you think of it? I’m sticking with mostly Daniels VDOT right now since my HS runners are focusing more on LT and VO2max development, but we’ll eventually be moving to shorter and faster anaerobic work. The Daniels system doesn’t really include much anaerobic work whereas the Gardner/Purdy points allow for an endless variety of workouts of varying distances and speeds. I don’t want to overdo the anaerobic work since I read somewhere in another thread that the anaerobic system can be maximized in only 4 to 6 weeks. However, some of the G/P workouts seem too intense for HS.
Example:
A HS 4:49-miler would have a VDOT of 62 and score 660 points on the G/P system. From this, Daniels would determine T-pace as 5:45 per mile, I-pace as 3:17 per 1000, and R-pace as 1:13 per 400.
If I use the above VDOT-determined times to structure G/P workouts using the 660-point scale, the workouts seem insane. For example, using 5:45 per mile, G/P would call for a workout of 6 or 7 repeat miles in 5:45 with 2 to 3 minutes rest. An example G/P workout for 3:17/1000 would be 4 or 5 1000s in 3:17 with 3 to 4 minutes rest. Using 1:13 per 400 as a guide, G/P would call for 16 to 18 400s with 60 to 90 seconds rest. While the first two workouts seem reasonable, asking a HS runner to do 16 to 18 400s at R-pace is a bit much.
One other question:
What range would you suggest to use for T-pace, I-pace, and R-pace? What I mean is, if a runner’s VDOT determines that he should do I-pace 1000s in 3:24, how much faster would be too fast and too slow (i.e., 3:24 +/- 4 seconds)? The reason I’m asking is that I have a small distance team with much variance in their ability levels. I want them to train as close as possible to their VDOT times but would also like to have them run in groups for the purpose of camaraderie. I don’t want slower runners to overstress themselves trying to keep up with someone doing a 3:24 when they should be doing 3:34, but I also don’t want a 3:24 runner training by himself (if it comes to that, I may pace him myself but that would make it very hard to monitor my other runners). Runners who have nearly identical training paces, like 3:34 and 3:37, could surely train together, but at what point should I draw the line and create different groups?