From Dave Powner: The rep session on Thursday 14th will be the first session of the season the the grass! (Weather permitting).
If it is a bit damp, you will probably benefit from using trail shoes if you have them, or even your XC spikes if you prefer.
The session will be in the form of a Bleep Test, with the intention that you can do the same session again at the end of summer, to gauge your improvement over that period.
The session will be suitable for all of us, coming in three grades of difficulty (determined by distance of rep; 100m, 120m, or 132m). It starts easy, but gets fractionally harder each rep (slightly less time available, indicated by the bleeps). You have a short time for a rest period at each end of your distance.
We have produced our own software (for Windows) to provide the bleeps, and it is available for you to take a look at so you can get an understanding of how it works. To help you find the required pace, there are 6 evenly spaced bleeps per rep, which will coincide with markers we will lay down. Six of these “legs” equals one level, or one rep. You then have a 24 second rest, before embarking upon the next level, which will require you to run slightly faster.
This software can be downloaded here:
Just unzip, and double-click the .exe
Finer details will follow!
Sorry about how the table looks! Try Facebook for a clearer table.
Here’s a table of how long each rep takes.
Note that there is a 24 second rest between each level. Don’t expect to get very far down that table! I imagine most people will get into the teens, and some into the twenties.
The pacing assumes the distances are 100m, 120m and 138m.
Lvl Time(s) TotTime PACE (mins:secs / km)
Shrt Med Long
1 40.8 0:40 6:48 5:40 4:55
2 39.6 1:44 6:35 5:29 4:46
3 38.4 2:46 6:23 5:19 4:38
4 37.2 3:48 6:12 5:10 4:29
5 36.1 4:48 6:01 5:00 4:21
6 35.0 5:47 5:50 4:51 4:13
7 34.0 6:45 5:39 4:43 4:06
8 33.0 7:42 5:29 4:34 3:58
9 32.0 8:38 5:19 4:26 3:51
10 31.0 9:33 5:10 4:18 3:44
11 30.1 10:27 5:00 4:10 3:38
12 29.2 11:20 4:51 4:03 3:31
13 28.3 12:12 4:43 3:55 3:25
14 27.5 13:04 4:34 3:48 3:18
15 26.6 13:54 4:26 3:41 3:13
16 25.8 14:44 4:18 3:35 3:07
17 25.1 15:33 4:10 3:28 3:01
18 24.3 16:21 4:03 3:22 2:56
19 23.6 17:09 3:55 3:16 2:50
20 22.9 17:56 3:48 3:10 2:45
21 22.2 18:42 3:41 3:04 2:40
22 21.5 19:28 3:35 2:59 2:35
23 20.9 20:13 3:28 2:53 2:31
24 20.2 20:57 3:22 2:48 2:26
25 19.6 21:40 3:16 2:43 2:22
26 19.1 22:23 3:10 2:38 2:18
27 18.5 23:06 3:04 2:34 2:13
28 17.9 23:48 2:59 2:29 2:09
29 17.4 24:29 2:53 2:24 2:06
30 16.9 25:10 2:48 2:20 2:02
31 16.4 25:50 2:43 2:16 1:58
32 15.9 26:30 2:38 2:12 1:55
33 15.4 27:10 2:33 2:08 1:51
34 14.9 27:49 2:29 2:04 1:48
35 14.5 28:27 2:24 2:00 1:44
Which distance should you do?
There is no right or wrong answer. Obviously, if you are one of our faster runners, and you choose to do the short version, you will find yourself doing a session over 25 minutes, and be bored for the first 5 or 10 minutes.
Conversely, the steadier runners will struggle early on if they choose the long distance, and have a disappointingly short session.
As a *very rough* guide, those of you with a sub 20 minute 5k time should consider the long version. Those of you with 5k times longer than 25 minutes should go with the short version.
This is a completely new session, so you will have to forgive me if that guide is a bit off!
What should I do when I can no longer keep up?
Firstly, make a point of remembering what level you got to! Myself and Tony will do our best to keep a note for you, and keep you all informed of the current level during the session.
If you want to get a longer session out of it once you have reached your limit, feel free to continue at a shorter distance. If you are already on the shorter distance, then just cover what distance you can.
If you are racing this weekend, it would probably be best to just continue with a cool-down jog. This is a good session to do a couple of days before a race, as you will be working at or near your top end for a few reps only.
Or if you prefer, stick around to encourage those who are still pushing themselves!
What if I can’t hear the bleep?
It is just about audible from 70 meters, but if it is windy it might be difficult. Either way, we will support the bleep with a whistle and a wave!
What if I go too fast?
That is quite likely for the first couple of reps, which will be extremely easy. Remember there will be six marked legs to coincide with intermediate bleeps, so they should guide you to the correct pace. It is ok to go too fast, but try not to, you will want to save as much in the tank as possible for those harder later reps!
Why isn’t this the same as the other bleep test I’ve seen or heard about?
The most common format of bleep tests involve turning sharply to test your agility, and are over a shorter distance to test your acceleration. As distance runners, we don’t care quite so much about those two factors.
What’s the maths behind the figures in the table above?
The first level duration is 40.8 seconds (6.8 seconds x 6 legs)
Each subsequent level has a duration of 97% of the previous one.