Training Tip: What is VDOT and how do I use it?.docx



Training Tip: What is VDOT and how do I use it?If you hang around runners long enough, eventually you will hear someone talk about their “VDOT.” But what is VDOT? The short answer is that VDOT is a performance-based metric of aerobic capacity, and runners care about it because VDOT values have been used successfully in training programs since the 1970s. The long answer* is presented below, after an example of using VDOT in marathon or half-marathon training.How do I use VDOT?Suppose you recently raced a half-marathon (on a flat course, under good conditions) in exactly 2 hours. To calculate your VDOT and determine your training paces, you can use an on-line calculator such as jackd.htm. Following the directions on the website, for a half-marathon time of 02:00:00, you should get a calculated VDOT of 36. The corresponding Easy Pace is 11:02 minutes per mile, so you should be running your Saturday long runs with the 11 minute pace group. For Marathon Pace workouts, the pace is 9:33. Tempo runs should be run at Threshold Pace, which is 8:55. If you have more than one recent race time, use the one that results in a higher VDOT. What if I don't have a recent race time?Run your long runs at a pace at which you can carry on a conversation. Tempo runs should be run at a “comfortably hard” effort. Take advantage of the races scheduled in the training program, such as the Kaiser Half Marathon or one of LMJS's Fourth Sunday Runs, to get a current race time and then modify your training paces accordingly.*The long answer: Oxygen consumption rate, heart rate, and blood-lactate levels can be measured at different running speeds for an individual runner. These measurements define a runner’s aerobic profile. Generally, the measured values increase with running speed, but there is a speed beyond which the oxygen consumption rate no longer increases. That is, as you run faster, your oxygen consumption rate increases, but eventually your oxygen consumption rate will stop increasing even if you continue to speed up. This maximum rate of oxygen consumption is considered a measure of your aerobic capacity and your workout training intensities are specified as percentages of this value. Different intensity ranges are used to target different, specific physiological components for improvement. The training pace corresponding to a particular training intensity can be determined from the measurements of oxygen consumption rate versus running speed in an individual’s aerobic profile.The VDOT method provides a way to determine these individualized training paces based on recent race performance instead of laboratory testing. A VDOT value is a pseudo maximum oxygen consumption rate implied by assigning runners of equal performance ability to a common aerobic profile. The name “VDOT” is simply a shortened version of how researchers refer to the maximum oxygen consumption rate, “V-dot-O2-max”. A person’s VDOT value is not necessarily the same as the value that would be measured in the lab, but when used with the assigned common aerobic profile, results in the same training paces at the same intensities.Brian LeeRRCA Coach* This material is from Daniels’ Running Formula (Second Edition) by Jack Daniels, PhD. ................
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