12-minute test
After warming up, cover your best distance in exactly twelve minutes. Start controlled and aim for steady pacing.
Record: total metres in 12 minutesRun Performance Analyzer
A clearer starting point for your next running or triathlon goal. Test your distance, explore your aerobic capacity and race-pace fuel demand, then turn the results into a plan.
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Your running test protocol
Three fresh, paced maximal efforts on a flat measured course. Allow 48–72 hours of recovery between sessions.
6-minute test
On the same course, after the same warm-up, cover your best distance in six complete minutes.
Record: total metres in 6 minutes3-minute test
Repeat the setup for three minutes. This is a paced maximal effort, not the separate three-minute all-out laboratory protocol.
Record: total metres in 3 minutesBefore testing: course, recovery and warm-up
Use a track or flat measured loop without traffic, stops or large elevation changes. GPS and autolap distance can add error; count track laps and the final partial lap. Use comparable shoes, weather and training load. Warm up with 15–20 minutes easy running, dynamic movement and 3–4 relaxed strides; recover easily before starting. Cool down for 10 minutes. Take recovery days between tests. Skip a maximal test when ill or injured; stop for chest pain, dizziness or unusual symptoms.
What to record and what this protocol supports
Record whole-effort distances for 3, 6 and 12 minutes, using exactly timed laps. The 12-minute Cooper equation estimates VO₂max. All three distances fit distance = critical speed × time + D′. This particular week is a practical coaching adaptation, not a validated combined diagnostic protocol. The old sprint and heart-rate fields cannot measure running economy or VLamax. Choose the updated 12-, 6- and 3-minute test week. Older sprint-based Garmin / TrainingPeaks files use a different sequence.
Take the test week with you
Prefer a guided calendar? Get the free test week on TrainingPeaks: English · Deutsch
Includes the running checklist and a results log. Test on a flat measured course; the running pack contains no Zwift cycling files.
Your test results
Enter distances from fresh maximal efforts. The 12-minute distance alone can estimate VO₂max; all three are needed for critical speed and fuel comparisons.
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Your running profile starts here
A timed distance gives a transparent field estimate. Three efforts help describe the speed you can sustain and your modeled distance reserve.
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Useful guidance for your next race
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Your next goal. A plan we build together.
Bring your results and your race goal. We’ll review where you are now, choose the next training priorities, and build a pacing and fueling plan around your real life.
Understand your results
Review pacing, questionable efforts and what your running profile says about your next training block.
Plan your race
Build a realistic run pacing and fueling strategy, then practice it in race-specific training. The calculator’s burn rate is not an intake prescription.
Measure what matters
Discuss repeat distance tests, direct VO₂max testing and steady-stage gas exchange to check assumptions against your own physiology.
Bring your exported report to the conversation. Clicking a link does not send your test data.
Questions before you test?
Can I use average pace instead of distance?
Measured distance is preferred. If pace is all you have, use the average over the full timed effort: distance in metres = time in seconds × 1000 / pace in seconds per km. Instantaneous or best short pace is unsuitable.
Does this measure running economy or lactate?
No. Economy and fuel mix are assumptions. Critical speed is a performance model, not a measured lactate threshold. VLamax, measured Fatmax and glycogen storage cannot be identified from these distances.
Can I use my old 6- and 12-minute tests?
Your 12-minute distance can give the Cooper estimate. Add a fresh 3-minute effort in the same training period to fit critical speed. Repeat old tests if fitness or conditions changed. The old 20-second sprint is not needed here.