One Key to Running Faster — The Six-Minute Time Trial

Hi everyone. I’m Bryan Jilka, a co-founder of Trainsweet and the head cross-country and track & field coach for Laguna Creek High School (just outside Sacramento, California). Soon after I started coaching, I began looking for a simple test I could use to assess the current running ability of my distance runners (800 meters and up). If you’re in the endurance sports game, I’m certain you’re aware of the VO2max test or the Lactate Threshold test in evaluating the aerobic potential of athletes. Unfortunately these tests are location sensitive, expensive, and the idea of testing an entire team (especially if you’re talking about a high school track & field team vs. a national team) is simply out of the question.

However, training my team at an appropriate pace to maximize training benefits was (and is) important. And even though relative accuracy of results was important, the other major consideration was finding a test I could use throughout the season without taxing my athlete’s ability to perform regularly scheduled workouts. After a fairly significant number of hours in the library and researching online, I ran across a book written by Dr. Own Anderson called, Lactate Lift-Off. Through that research, and specifically Lactate Lift-Off, I learned about several ways to leverage field-testing methods (vs. a lab setting) to assess an athlete’s ability and then create workouts that lead to improved running economy.

The field test which made the most sense to me was a six-minute time trial. It’s easy to perform for both my top athletes and freshman runners new to running. The test is four easy steps:

1. After about four weeks of consistent running, my team heads out to the track (400 meters).
2. I group my eager harriers according to ability or age, they toe the starting line and I blow the whistle.
3. The kids take off running, building to the fastest pace they can sustain over the six minute time limit. I blow the whistle again at six minutes and all the runner’s stop where they are at on the track.
4. I measure the distance each athlete ran (distance ran would be an indicator of aerobic capacity); then, convert the distance covered in six minutes to velocity per 400 meters (this velocity is the running economy component). The result of the six minute time trial distance converted to meters per second (velocity) gives a value called vVO2 max or — velocity at maximal oxygen capacity.

What this means to you…

Trainsweet’s six-minute running time trial test does not directly measure aerobic capacity of athletes — but it does give a coach the most important data of all: the running velocity at which there is a “shift” in how energy is being produced — a threshold, if you will. With that information and Trainsweet’s six energy system specific training pace zones, you now have a powerful tool to create workouts allowing athletes to train “at” their personalized vVO2 pace, train “above” their personalized vVo2 pace, and train ‘below” their personalized vVO2 pace. And that simply means — athletes are effectively training the appropriate energy systems needed for successful distance running.

Over the years I’ve continued to refine the pace chart based on my observations using the training velocities with my athletes. And I doubt this is the final version of the chart. I’d really like you to use the test and training velocities and provide feedback to help refine it and make it perform even better. So try the Trainsweet Six-Minute Time Trial and training paces (velocities), and let us know what you think. One of the best things about our time trial is it’s price… A lab-based VO2 test will run between $100–300 each time. But Trainsweet’s vVO2max test and training pace calculators are free, so you can use them throughout the season and continually refine your athlete’s training paces as they improve! (and there is also a roster management feature built into the system to help you manage and keep track of both test results and whatever other athlete details are important to you.)

Obviously, the time of season, phase of training, and an individual athlete’s reaction to training stressors will dictate the volume and mix of each training velocity. So even though we’re providing you with a tool, how you use the tool is a component in the art of coaching… and that’s up to you!