RPE Scale in Track and Field: A Guide for Coaches

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is the simplest load measure a track and field coach can run, and the most misunderstood. A sprinter who did 5 × 30 m from blocks and a 1500 m runner who did 6 × 1000 m both leave the track tired, but their bodies absorbed completely different kinds of stress. Asked "how hard was that, 1 to 10?", both will give you a number. Whether those numbers mean anything depends on how well you taught the scale.

This guide covers the RPE scale itself, how to anchor it for each discipline group, when to collect it, and how to keep the ratings honest over a whole season. If you want the step from a rating to a weekly load number, read the follow-up on session RPE × minutes.

What the RPE scale measures

RPE captures internal load: how much the session cost the athlete, not what was written on the plan. The plan says 3 × 300 m at 38 seconds. The athlete's legs, sleep, exam week and a headwind on the home straight decide what that actually cost. Two athletes can run identical splits and report an RPE of 6 and 9. That gap is the signal you are looking for.

The scale most track clubs use is the Borg CR-10, a 1 to 10 scale with verbal anchors:

Athletes rate the session as a whole, not the hardest rep. The question is always: "Taking everything together, how hard was today's session?"

How to teach the RPE scale to a track and field group

Most RPE data is worthless because the scale was handed out, not taught. Spend fifteen minutes on it at the start of the season and repeat the anchors once a month.

Anchor the extremes first

Start with 10. For a sprinter that is the national final, for a thrower a sixth-round attempt with the medal on the line, for an 800 m runner the last 200 m of a personal best. Then define 1 and 2: the walk-through session before a meet, an easy jog with teammates. Everything else sits between those anchors.

Give each discipline group its own examples

Sprinters tend to under-rate short, maximal work because it is over quickly. Point out that 5 × 30 m from blocks at full effort is a 6 or 7 for the nervous system, even though total running time is under 30 seconds. Distance runners tend to over-rate volume, so a 60-minute easy run should still be a 2 or 3. Throwers often rate by how the throws felt technically rather than how heavy the session was. Separate the two: "How did it feel?" is a diary note, "How hard was it?" is the RPE.

Rate the session, not the mood

An athlete frustrated by a poor high-jump session will drift towards a higher number. Remind the group that RPE is about cost, not satisfaction. Frustration belongs in the free-text note of the training diary.

When to collect RPE

The research standard, going back to Foster and colleagues' work on session RPE (Foster et al., 2001), is roughly 30 minutes after the session. Rating straight after the last rep inflates the score, rating the next morning lets memory smooth it out.

In a club setting, "after the cool-down, before you leave the track" is close enough and far easier to enforce. For morning strength sessions followed by an evening track session, rate each one separately. Mixing a 7 and a 4 into one "day rating" destroys the information you want.

Keeping ratings honest

RPE only works when athletes have no reason to game it. Three habits protect the data:

• Private entry. When the group rates aloud on the track, the strongest athlete's number becomes the ceiling and everyone under-reports. A diary app or individual form fixes this.
• No reaction to high numbers. If an athlete logs a 9 for a session you planned as a 6 and your response is "that shouldn't have been a 9", they will never log a 9 again. Treat it as information and ask what made it hard.
• Consistent scale all season. Switching between 1 to 10 and the 6 to 20 Borg scale, or adding half points mid-season, breaks every comparison you want to make later.

RPE by discipline: what to expect

Sprints and hurdles

Expect a bimodal pattern: speed days at 6 to 8, tempo and technique days at 2 to 4. A sprint group living at 5 all week is a warning sign that speed sessions are not fast enough and easy sessions are not easy enough. The post on 80/20 intensity distribution covers how to fix that.

Jumps

Jumpers' ratings track approach count and landing stress more than running volume. Twelve full-approach long jumps on a hard runway is an 8 for most athletes, even with long rests. Short-approach technique work should sit at 4 or 5.

Throws

The combination of throwing volume and heavy lifting makes throwers' RPE harder to read. Ask for one rating per session (throws, lifting) rather than one per day. A pattern of lifting sessions creeping from 6 to 8 at the same loads is a classic sign of accumulated fatigue in the weeks before a competition.

Middle and long distance

Distance groups produce the most stable RPE data because sessions repeat. Watch for the easy run that drifts from 2 to 4 over a few weeks at the same pace. That drift usually appears before a drop in interval times.

Turning ratings into load

On its own, a rating tells you about one session. Multiply it by session duration in minutes and you get session load in arbitrary units: an 80-minute speed session at RPE 7 is 560 AU, a 40-minute recovery jog at RPE 2 is 80 AU. Summed per week, that number lets you compare a thrower's week to a sprinter's week and see who actually had the heavier load. The session load guide walks through weekly totals, monotony and strain, and the ACWR guide shows how to track load spikes over four weeks.

Common RPE mistakes in track and field groups

• Averaging the group. A training-group average of 5.8 hides the hurdler at 9. Look at individuals first, group patterns second.
• Using RPE to confirm the plan. If every speed day comes back at exactly the number you wrote on the plan, athletes are rating the plan, not the session.
• Ignoring short sessions. A 25-minute block-start session at RPE 7 looks small in load units but carries a large neural cost. Combine RPE with a note on session type.
• Collecting but not reading. Ratings only change coaching when someone looks at them before the next session is written.

How Athlog helps

Athlog was built for track and field training groups, so RPE is part of the normal session entry rather than a separate form. Athletes rate each session on their phone after training, privately, and you see the whole group's ratings next to the planned sessions.

• Session RPE and duration are logged per session, with load calculated automatically
• Group and individual views show who rated a session far above plan
• Ratings sit next to sleep, soreness and pain entries so you have the context in one place
• Templates and group planning mean the plan and the rating live together

See how clubs use it on the track and field page.

FAQ

Should athletes use 1 to 10 or the 6 to 20 Borg scale?

Use 1 to 10 (Borg CR-10). It is easier to teach, works well for short high-intensity sessions, and is the scale used in the session-load research. Pick one and keep it for the whole season.

Can I use RPE for strength sessions?

Yes. Rate the lifting session as a whole, 30 minutes afterwards, exactly like a track session. Some coaches also record reps in reserve per set, but the whole-session RPE is what feeds your weekly load.

What if a young athlete always says 5?

Re-anchor the scale with them individually. Ask about a session they remember as the hardest ever (that is a 10) and the easiest (a 1), then place last week's sessions between those two. Most athletes spread their ratings within two weeks.

How many sessions before the data is useful?

Around two weeks of consistent ratings gives you an individual baseline. After four weeks you can read trends such as an easy run drifting upwards.

Start this week

1. Spend fifteen minutes with your group anchoring 1, 5 and 10 with examples from their own discipline.
2. Decide on the collection moment: after the cool-down, before leaving the track.
3. Make entry private, in an app or individual form.
4. Read the ratings before you write next week's plan and ask one athlete about one surprising number.