Wondering how you would set up max speedwork for a varsity squad most of whom are around 4:40-55 in the mile (track).
I take two lanes and put the first limiter down at 20m and then the second limiter 30/40/50 beyond that. I cue them to run the 20m as the acceleration zone and the next 30/40/50 as the fly zone. I say after 20m they should be at top speed and then trying to squeeze out every cell of extra energy in the fly zone. Don't know if this is the correct language but it has worked so far. I tell them to take a long, slow deceleration.
I have them run in pairs and imagine it's the finishing chute.
I do the full 3-4 minutes rest but don't know if this is too much. They are almost always ready to go again after a jog back to the start (60-90 secs) but everything I've read seems to caution 3 min minimum and then go.
The thing I find is that, more than any other workout, some kids kill it and feel fine the next day and some kids kill it and are ruined the next day. These are kids with almost the same race times.
They all say it helps more than anything else with their finishing kick.
Any tweaks, feedback, etc?