The Ref Stop

level 5-4 fitness

es1 said:
i'm the same, 7 years of fitness tests and i've only ever made the distance in training once, when i went down to a track to do it!

no matter which route i run at home i'm always finishing uphill which is a right killer
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But, as long as you know and have the right expectation that on your training route you won't be hitting the 12:00 for the distance that's fine. Knowing what time is "good" for your route is the important thing.
 
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The Ref Stop
Justylove said:
I don't think anyone truly appreciates the jump until they've experienced it. Expectations are significantly higher, margins for error are much smaller and the merit table tends to be quite congested, so a matter of a few 1/10's of a mark on average can make a huge difference to your season.
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This is so true.

Our enlightened RDO recognised this and has introduced fitness tests for those going for 7 to 6 (2000m in 12 mins) and 6 to 5 (2400m in 12m) so candidates on the promotion pathway are aware of what they need to do when they go from 5 to 4.

Whilst refereeing is good for fitness (and certainly better than lounging on the sofa) it is not enough to only referee if you want to improve your fitness. I would certainly recommend Park Run for anyone wanting to improve their fitness and get a gauge of how fit they are. It’s free, you get a time for your 5Km, and running alongside others will help your pace develop.

Hills have been mentioned- a great “resourace” for improving your fitness— you don’t even have to sprint up them, running up a hill in the middle of a 5 or 6K run will work wonders. Similarly, doing some shuttle runs, or say 20 min three quarter pace sprints, once you’ve got your breath back from a continuous run are great.
 
I wonder how many fitness test candidates are 40+ and over say... 15 stone
A rare beast of such description at Level 4+
The OP referred to 14 stone. Try starting the fitness campaign at 17'3 and 47 after 6 months out injured...
I'll see where 8 weeks back in action gets me
 
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My first effort back from injury was no more than about 2200m. So 8 weeks to find 400m or about 110s
TBH my fitness was pants. Be interesting to see if I can magic up 50m a week. I've given it a stern effort, but hard for the younger feather weight crowd to appreciate how difficult it is to reverse the bus on a slippery slope
 
Big Cat said:
My first effort back from injury was no more than about 2200m. So 8 weeks to find 400m or about 110s
TBH my fitness was pants. Be interesting to see if I can magic up 50m a week. I've given it a stern effort, but hard for the younger feather weight crowd to appreciate how difficult it is to reverse the bus on a slippery slope
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8 weeks is very doable imo. Keep at it regularly and you'll be fine
 
Justylove said:
Agree that track access is not easy everywhere, it's not for me either, but I deliberately made the effort to go a handful of times, even though it meant it took me out for the whole evening for a single training session.

Part of the test is about pacing yourself and getting the right cadence on the track. Generally the pack goes off way too fast and it's easy to get sucked into trying to keep with them as opposed to running your own test, it's amazing how many people that have gone out fast come back to you rapidly in the second half of the test.

Setting your watch at a speed and running at that pace for 12 minutes is fine in principle, but you do need to be fit enough to do that in the first place, if you are not, then that approach simply doesn't work.

Most of my training was on a loop near my house, 3 3/4 laps gives me 2.6k. Each lap has one 200m gentle incline and 2 90 degree blind right turns (meaning I have to slow down into taking them).

I know that if I can do that route in <13:15 I'm on track to be able to do the test on the track in 12:00. Obviously the faster I am on my home route run, the more I'm under on test day.
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Defintly agree about the pack. The 2 that failed the test last month tried to keep up with the 4 of us in the pack and then tailed off significantly after half way. 4 of us set off at 15km/h (often reaching 16km/h) and stayed there for the entire test. I found it easier staying at the back of the lead pack and treating it like a race, so on the last lap I went past them and we did the distance in 10 mins. I couldn't do that when I was doing my training runs outside (usually hit 11 mins once I had done a couple).

Doing it on the track is easier BigCat. 8 weeks is enough time for the body, it's getting the head right which is the challenge (I'm not far from the big 40 so I'm no whipper snapper). When it starts to hurt just remind yourself that if you're going through hell then keep f****** going 😀
 
RefJef said:
RustyRef said:
Once you stop that is an automatic fail, it has to be a continuous run. I've even seen a referee disqualified for stopping to tie his shoe laces.
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Not that anyone superfit has a problem but if someone gets to the required distsnce in 11 mins, they too must keep running, or as it be shouted by the judges, "keep moving"
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Wonder if anyone has failed for reaching the distance in 11 mins 30 yet walking within the last 30 secs....

You done the distance but you are failed because you stopped at 11 mins 45
 
Anubis said:
Wonder if anyone has failed for reaching the distance in 11 mins 30 yet walking within the last 30 secs....

You done the distance but you are failed because you stopped at 11 mins 45
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Walking is fine. Coming to a full stop is not.

So the first would be acceptable, the second not so much.
 
AlexF said:
Walking is fine. Coming to a full stop is not.

So the first would be acceptable, the second not so much.
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The clue is in the letter from the FA

Level 4 Fitness Test

The test will remain unchanged for Season 2021/22 and will be as follows:
  • The Level 4 Continuous 12 minute run and minimum distance of 2600 metres within that time
  • Two 50 metre sprints, each in under 7.5 seconds (for clarity, this will be without the use of timing gates)
 
And just when things were going really great and my numbers were looking good for the upcoming test, I've torn a hamstring (the other one)
Never had a muscle injury in my life; and then both hamstrings have gone... coincidentally following that herniated disc thing. Surgeon agreed the two could be linked
Gutted right now. I'd made massive fitness gains over the last six weeks and lost best part of a stone and a half as a result of the effort applied. I've felt 5 to 10 years younger over recent weeks
Can't see how I'll be doing anything other than languishing around for the next year now
 
AlexF said:
Walking is fine. Coming to a full stop is not.

So the first would be acceptable, the second not so much.
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not sure, its titled as, a run,

potentially someone could fall over the line on the distance and pass
yet someone could walk 30secs after completing the distance, and fail.
 
Anubis said:
Wonder if anyone has failed for reaching the distance in 11 mins 30 yet walking within the last 30 secs....

You done the distance but you are failed because you stopped at 11 mins 45
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Yes, many. Although the invigilators usually shout at people to keep on running after they pass the 2.6 / 2.7km mark.
 
RustyRef said:
It definitely isn't. You could probably get away with slowing to a very slow jog, but if they deem that to be walking you will be failed.
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Interesting -- when the Cooper test was run here, walking was allowed.

Different situations for different areas I guess.
 
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