coach wrote:
If you're referring to Veronica Billat's protocol then yes I've done the 6 minute run test amd gound it useful. Based on the distance I've then had athletes run 30 seconds at a designated pace with a 30 second float for 20+ minutes. Then we'd progress to 1 minute at the pace with a 1 minute float. Very few guys were able to handle running for longer than 1 minute at this pace.
The plan is to start with segments of 3 minutes at 90% of this pace with 1:30 rest jog. Actually, we'll give a pace range from 85-90%, although I think my kids will be able to do 90% pace and find it easy.
We will do these on the track a couple of times early on so kids can get the feel of the effort level. A couple of weeks ago my guys did a fartlek after final. I rode along with them on my bike. They were going way harder than I wanted them to go. From listening to their breathing, the workout seemed more like a race. After the "workout" part of the fartlek run was done, one of my top boys had to stop and walk/stretch because he was so blown out. The goal here is to get the kids to figure out they can get some benefit without killing themselves. That's why we're going to do it on the track, to get a feel for the right pace.