Time Trial Meltdown!

Today I ran a 5k time trial at the track. I've been bothered by the nagging feeling that I'm training at the wrong paces. That's because I've been using a VDOT (and associated training paces) based on my best 10k performance from two years ago. Thus, I could really use a current, up-to-date measure of my fitness.

I warmed up with around 2 miles of easy running, plus a few 100-meter strides. The day was cool and sunny, but there were also some gusty winds to make conditions less than perfect. After lots of procrastination, I finally started my 12.5 laps of pain.

The plan was to break the run into twenty-five 200-meter segments. If I could average slightly under 48 seconds per 200, I'd break 20 minutes in the 5k. This would be a new personal record for me (my best was 20:00 from four years ago). Ideally, I would finish in 19:45 or slightly faster. This would justify my current VDOT estimate of 51, from which all my recent training paces have been based.

In order to get to 19:45, I planned to run the first 10 segments in 48 seconds each, and the final 15 in 47 seconds each. I figured that would prevent me from going out too fast, while also preventing me from losing too much time in the first half. It was also a plan based on one big assumption -- that I actually could run that fast right now.

The first laps started off well enough. The pace felt hard, and I admit it wasn't long before I began to wonder if I could hold it for 12.5 laps around the track. Still, I was hitting my splits right on the money. The first warning came at 1800 meters, when I was a full second off my 200m split target. I chalked that up to a lack of concentration, and ran the next kilometer in 3:59, just under pace. By this point, I could tell that just breaking 20 minutes would be enough of a challenge, not to mention 19:45.

Nearing the 3-kilometer mark, the effort to maintain pace suddenly shot up. My breathing went from a 2-2 pattern (breathe in for two steps, breathe out for two steps) to a 1-1 pattern, practically hyperventilating. I knew I was way over my lactate threshold, and I still had 2 km to go. I held out to the 3-km mark, but it was too fast. Seconds after that, I got the worst side stitch I've ever had. I was reduced to a painful walk for the next half lap, and then could only manage to jog it in to the finish. My total time was a disappointing 22:26.

Here are my splits:

Meters	Split	Goal Pace	200m Lap	1000m Lap
200	0:47.0	0:48	47.0
400	1:35.2	1:36	48.2
600	2:23.5	2:24	48.3
800	3:11.3	3:12	47.8
1000	3:59.6	4:00	48.3	3:59.6
1200	4:47.6	4:48	48.0
1400	5:36.1	5:36	48.5
1600	6:23.6	6:24	47.5
1800	7:12.7	7:12	49.1
2000	8:00.3	8:00	47.6	4:00.7
2200	8:48.2	8:48	47.9
2400	9:35.8	9:36	47.6
2600	10:23.6	10:24	47.8
2800	11:11.9	11:12	48.3
3000	12:02.2	12:00	50.3	4:01.9
3200	14:15.7	12:48	2:13.5
3400	15:17.5	13:36	1:01.8
3600	16:12.2	14:24	54.7
3800	17:06.6	15:12	54.4
4000	17:58.7	16:00	52.1	5:56.5
4200	18:51.5	16:48	52.8
4400	19:46.3	17:36	54.8
4600	20:38.0	18:24	51.7
4800	21:32.1	19:12	54.1
5000	22:26.1	20:00	54.0	4:27.5

As you can see, things started to break down at 3000 meters, and disintegrated immediately after.

What did I learn from this painful experience? The whole point of running this time trial was to assess my fitness, but I'm not even sure I did a good job of that. Trying to hit an arbitrary goal of sub-20 definitely hurt my chances of running my best 5k on this particular day. I was more worried about hitting every 200 on 48 seconds, and paying less attention to my perceived effort. The signs were all there (that this pace wasn't sustainable), but I ignored them. So, this wasn't a good test of my current best 5k ability.

I think the effort was a better test of my 3k ability, since I don't imagine I could have run a 3k much faster than today's time of 12:02. Plugging this into the VDOT calculator, I get a new VDOT of 48. That's quite a difference from the VDOT of 51 on which I've been basing all my recent training paces!

Should I use this VDOT from now on (at least until my next real race)? I've gotten some feedback on the CoolRunning boards saying if I can run 3-4 kilometers at 4-minutes per km on the track, solo, then I should be able to run sub-20 in a 5k race. I don't know. Perhaps they are right, but it sure didn't feel like I could have done it today, race or not.

For now, I think I'll just take my medicine and use the slower training paces designated by a 48 VDOT. That means my Easy/Long pace is now 8:31 mpm (it was 8:07 using a 51 VDOT). Threshold runs are now at 7:02 (instead of 6:44). 1000-meter intervals are at 4:03 (formerly 3:51), and 400-meter reps should now be run in 90 seconds instead of 86. I feel like I've been demoted, but in reality I have to admit that I'm just not in as good of shape as I thought.

The other, and perhaps most important, thing I learned was what it feels like to "blow up." I've never done that before, in a race or otherwise. Always when I'm approaching that feeling in a race, I've eased off a bit. That leaves me wondering if I could have pushed "just a little bit harder" and finished a little bit faster. Today I didn't back off the pace, because I was trying to hit my splits. I am going to try to remember exactly what this felt like, because I think it's a useful thing to know. After all, how will I know how hard I can push unless I've experienced pushing too hard in the past?

Well, now I have.

What's this about VDOT?

I've mentioned VDOT a couple of times already, but what the heck is it, and why do I care?

VDOT is the brainchild of running coach Jack Daniels. It's just a number that represents a runner's ability. It combines VO2 max and economy, as well as lactate threshold and even hard-to-quantify qualities like mental toughness.

The beauty of using the VDOT system is its simplicity. To find out your VDOT, just look up a recent race time in the VDOT Table. If you've run several races of different lengths recently, go with the one that results in your highest VDOT.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm using my 10k personal best time of 40:39, which gives me a VDOT of 51. That race result is almost two years old, so I may need to adjust my VDOT after I run my next 5k, hopefully in a few weeks.

Now that you know your VDOT, what do you do with it? Here we get to the practical aspect. Look up your VDOT in the Training Intensities Table, and suddenly you know exactly what pace to train for all your workouts. For example, my workout tomorrow calls for 6 x 400 at R-pace. I look it up in the table and see that I should run the 400s in 86 seconds. This is great for people like me who a) are not that knowledgeable about running, b) don't want to bother with hiring a personal coach, and c) still want to train smart.

It's important to realize that your VDOT number is not an estimate of your VO2 max. To make this crystal clear, let's look up the VDOT of a famous athlete, Lance Armstrong. He ran the New York Marathon last November in 2:59:36. That corresponds to a VDOT of 54. But we know that Lance has a VO2 max of 85 ml/kg/min, which is truly an elite-level of oxygen utilization.

Clearly, 54 and 85 are two different numbers. What accounts for the difference? Economy. The fact is, Lance is just not a very efficient runner (that is, compared to elite runners). He's got a great VO2 max, but relatively poor economy. That's why VDOT is not an estimate of VO2 max -- it combines several different factors, and athletes with the same VDOT may arrive there through different combinations.

Ok, enough about that for now.

I had a fun run today - 7 miles easy, with six strides, averaging 8:13 per mile. That's a little slower than my recommended easy pace of 8:07, but I don't think it matters too much. It was cool and overcast, good running weather. Looking at my training plan, I should relish today's run, because there aren't too many easy days like this remaining on it!

Repetitions

Today I completed my first repetition workout at the track. Daniels describes repetition (R, or rep) training as repeated sessions of fast running that last 2 minutes or less. Recovery times are relatively long, to allow each rep to be run just as fast as the initial one. The idea behind rep workouts is to develop good mechanics and efficiency (i.e., economy) at faster speeds, and to develop anaerobic (not aerobic) metabolism.

I pulled today's workout straight from Chapter 13 of Daniels' Running Formula.

R-1: Sets of 2x200 + 1x400 at R-pace, up to 5% of week's mileage.

First I determined how many of these reps to do. Since I'm currently running 30 miles per week, 5% of this week's mileage is 1.5 miles, about 2400 meters. Since each "set" as described above is 800m, I just needed to do three sets of 2x200 plus 1x400.

Next, I needed to figure out my R-pace. Normally this is a simple task. Just look up a recent race time in Daniels' VDOT Table, then use the corresponding R-pace from the Training Intensities Table.

However, I don't have a recent race time. My last 10k race was at the Bolder Boulder at the end of May last year, where I ran a disappointing 43:46. That corresponds to a VDOT of 47. However, I was recovering from my first marathon at the time, and had stomach issues as well. In 2005 I ran a PR of 40:39, which corresponds to a VDOT of 51.

In the end, I decided to use a VDOT of 50-51 to determine today's Repetition Pace. That meant 200s should be run at 42-43 seconds, and 400s at 86-87 seconds. I had no idea whether this would be easy, difficult, or impossible. That should give you an idea of how little time I've spent at the track!

After 2.5 miles of warmup running, I lined up at the Boulder High School track and started my first rep way too fast. I ran the first 100 in 17 seconds (it should have been 21). I slowed down and hit 200 on 40 seconds. After that, my pacing improved, and I hit all the rest of my reps either right on pace, or a second or two fast.

Frankly, I was relieved to complete the workout successfully, considering I was just guessing about my appropriate VDOT value. The reps felt fast, but pretty controlled. Only one of them felt hard -- the last 400, where I finished into a stiff headwind and came in at 87 seconds.

Now I'm waiting to see how my legs feel tomorrow!