I got in touch with 4 refereeing colleagues today, all of whom have passed the fitness test within the last 3 months and asked them for tips on their training methods.
I had one question - is it better to build up to the time required and build the speed or to run the speed and build up on the duration?
The first, a contributory league official, phoned me within 2 minutes. We talked for nearly 10 minutes about what I'd been doing so far and how he thought I could build towards achieving my goal. His advice was to start at 14/15Km/h for 3 minutes, then drop to 12Km/h for three minutes and then finish with 6 minutes at 10Km/h. When I explained that I could only do nearly 8m at 10Km/h he offered to take me training either in a local park or to join him training at the School of Excellence training at West Riding County FA. He then provided advice on training frequency (I'm training too often!!!) and the need to allow for proper recovery. So I felt a whole lot better.
My second "victim", brother of the first (and also a contributory league referee) hasn't gotten back to me, but he probably talked to his brother who said he'd sorted me!
My third colleague (another contributory league referee) swapped txts with me for a while and he said either build the time then speed to build the speed then time, it didn't really matter! He recommended training to be able to last 15m at 14Km/h and that way I'd have some strength left just in case I needed to put in a sprint to make sure I achieved the required distance. He also recommended starting with a base time and increasing it by 30s per week until I hit the 15m and then training at that level until the test.
My fourth colleague (an experienced Supply League referee) swapped txts with me over the course of the afternoon and recommended doing pretty much the same as one and three so I have made a plan to go to the gym three times a week and add 10s to my time each session. He also recommended a heart rate monitor so I can keep a check on my heart rate when running on the treadmill. So I have scrolled through pages of them on Ebay and just missed getting a used one at a reasonable price tonight when I was at the gym.
And so to the gym tonight ...
1m30s at 14Km/h on the treadmill giving me my base time and showing that I need 27 weeks of training to get to my goal of 15m at 14Km/h. Not for the first time am I doubting my ability to achieve this!
12m on the cross trainer at level 15/25
4m on the bike at level 8/25
20 minutes on weights (increased the weight from 20Kg to 22.5Kg!)
75 advanced sit-ups
20 back curls
30 reps on a thigh abductor
1m at 14Km/h on the treadmill again
No gym tomorrow, I need a night off to recover, I ache
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