I had the same experience on my run test Wednesday. I tested slower, AGAIN!I know I have been doing the work and feel like I am getting faster. I tested the same course this time as well.I have no idea why I am not seeing results but decided not to let myself be discouraged.So many folks have pointed out that getting faster is a fitful process with plenty of potholes along the journey.I plan to keep plugging away and trust that it will all sort itself out in the end. I know it is tough mentally and I struggle as well.I hope that we will both have a breakthrough soon.
These are great posts...glad we do archive them for future reference.
Barb, Wendy, hang tough. I won't bore you with excuses, but I barely hit my same VDOT with this last test. Yes, I was pissed but tried not to share that aspect of it with team, though now empathizing with your feelings. However, anger/frustration aside, I am like an elephant, I will remember that test on every run between now and the next test and use that to fuel my drive along the way.
Like the veterans below have advised, stay consistent, work to hit those zones as prescribed in the plan, and the fitness will come. When it does, the victory will be that much more meaningful.
I registered for a half marathon in Key West prior to starting the OS and coincidentally it was this past Sunday so I used it for my test. Left Chicago on Friday, 8 degrees, race start at 7 am on Sunday morning was 75 degrees, 90% humidity, storm front moving across the island creating gale force winds. Good day for a race! At about mile 3 my husband started talking me off the ledge with the 'need to adjust expectations due to conditions' speech, hate it when saner minds prevail! Nonetheless pulled out a 1:35.05 for what my Garmin said was a 13.2 mile run, won the Female Masters group with a time I have not experienced since the mid-90's and my age started with a 2. New vDot of 48.
Now, about that bike.....(testing on Sunday, ugh).
Okay, went at it again week, this time on the dreadmill. Slightly better, but still off. Maybe I need to lay off the beer. Ran at 1.0% inclince for 23:17. Vdot 42, down 3 from my best. I''ll keep working on it.
When you guys are determining your V-Dot score which do you use. the Average pace or the NGP (not real sure what that is)? My avg was 7:13 my NGP was 6:57?
Wow Heather! Way to go! Congratulations! Shaughn, thanks for your post. And Greg, keep on keepin' on! I'm ready to do the bike tomorrow, and run on Sunday!
When you guys are determining your V-Dot score which do you use. the Average pace or the NGP (not real sure what that is)?
My avg was 7:13 my NGP was 6:57?
NGP is Normalized Graded Pace.............it takes the grade of the run into account then normalizes the pace accordingly.
When I do the test on the track, I also just record the time. The track is flat, so whatever the NGP says means nothing to me. I also run on recorded time when I do the interval drills on the track. Because everything around my house is hilly, I look at the NGP on none track days like today and strive to hit the pace prescribed in the workout. For example, I needed to hit a HMP of 7:00 today. Ran on rolling hills. Time was 7:16 but NGP was 7:02....
Posted By Heather La Freniere on 05 Feb 2010 04:24 PM
I registered for a half marathon in Key West prior to starting the OS and coincidentally it was this past Sunday so I used it for my test. Left Chicago on Friday, 8 degrees, race start at 7 am on Sunday morning was 75 degrees, 90% humidity, storm front moving across the island creating gale force winds. Good day for a race! At about mile 3 my husband started talking me off the ledge with the 'need to adjust expectations due to conditions' speech, hate it when saner minds prevail! Nonetheless pulled out a 1:35.05 for what my Garmin said was a 13.2 mile run, won the Female Masters group with a time I have not experienced since the mid-90's and my age started with a 2. New vDot of 48.
Now, about that bike.....(testing on Sunday, ugh).
Wow, that's an awesome race! Congratulations on winning for the masters! Put that one on the scoreboard coaches! Have you been doing any longer runs to prep or just the OS runs? I did a 1/2 last year after the OS and went ~1:36 which I thought was nothing short of miraculous given that I hadn't done any long runs all winter.
@Barbara - echo what everyone else said. These tests are a tricky thing for lots of reasons. Sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day, and sometimes it rains. I blew up on my first run test and still managed to go 17 seconds slower this week. This time I didn't go hard enough and had enough left to go flat out for the last 30 seconds. DANG...should have started out a bit faster. If you really think you could have gone faster, find an actual 5K road race with a reasonably flat course and go run that. That's what I'm doing. It seems like you can always find some extra speed when there are a few hundred folks around to motivate you.
Nov. OS Lurker and wanna be here. I had to drop back to the Dec OS due to injury. I just wanted to share with you guys that I read everyone of your posts and I am so impressed with your work ethic, your talent and your insight.
These most recent test results are amazing, the mojo you guys are creating is spreading throughout the entire team. Although I'm a little jealous at all the commraderie and fun you guys are having as a group, I am so inspired and thankful that you guys are leading the way, dropping the hammer and setting such high expectations.
Keep up the great work, and thanks for your leadership !!!!!!
@Bill: thanks for the congrats. As for prep for the1/2, it was all OS stuff, I did one 10-miler during the holiday run challenge and added 15 min to the Sunday long runs in January per CoachR's instruction, otherwise, just OS stuff. Makes it all the sweeter, I felt my legs go rubbery around mile 11 and it was a challenge to rally to the end given no long mileage, so I was rather pleased to hold on! I know people keep saying this but the longer I'm involved here the more it's true - work works!!!!
Nice results everybody - great accountability here as always.
Due to scheduling issues, I was a few days late in doing my 5k test.
Brief background:
-Initial start of OS test was 19:25, VDOT=51.5. Felt really hard.
-Subsequently cracked a couple of ribs and went into maintenance mode (Easy pace only) running. Ribs were just healed by the time the second test rolled around.
-Second test after 8 weeks I didn't want to overdo it, so just tried to hold on to 19:50, VDOT=50.5. Felt pretty hard.
-Latest test after 6 weeks was 19:35, VDOT=51. Didn't feel nearly as hard, so I probably left a bit of time out there.
So essentially I am tread(mill)ing water from a VDOT perspective - but given the minor injury circumstances of the last few months, I'm ok with that. We'll see what the next couple months bring!
Testing on the treadmill sucks - probably worse than FTP testing on the trainer...
Comments
Barbara, you are not alone, I too feel your pain.
I had the same experience on my run test Wednesday. I tested slower, AGAIN! I know I have been doing the work and feel like I am getting faster. I tested the same course this time as well. I have no idea why I am not seeing results but decided not to let myself be discouraged. So many folks have pointed out that getting faster is a fitful process with plenty of potholes along the journey. I plan to keep plugging away and trust that it will all sort itself out in the end. I know it is tough mentally and I struggle as well. I hope that we will both have a breakthrough soon.
These are great posts...glad we do archive them for future reference.
Barb, Wendy, hang tough. I won't bore you with excuses, but I barely hit my same VDOT with this last test. Yes, I was pissed but tried not to share that aspect of it with team, though now empathizing with your feelings. However, anger/frustration aside, I am like an elephant, I will remember that test on every run between now and the next test and use that to fuel my drive along the way.
Like the veterans below have advised, stay consistent, work to hit those zones as prescribed in the plan, and the fitness will come. When it does, the victory will be that much more meaningful.
SS
Now, about that bike.....(testing on Sunday, ugh).
Okay, went at it again week, this time on the dreadmill. Slightly better, but still off. Maybe I need to lay off the beer. Ran at 1.0% inclince for 23:17. Vdot 42, down 3 from my best. I''ll keep working on it.
GV
My avg was 7:13 my NGP was 6:57?
Actual pace. Just plug elapsed time into the data tool and you will be all set.
Thanks that's what I was thinking.
NGP is Normalized Graded Pace.............it takes the grade of the run into account then normalizes the pace accordingly.
When I do the test on the track, I also just record the time. The track is flat, so whatever the NGP says means nothing to me. I also run on recorded time when I do the interval drills on the track. Because everything around my house is hilly, I look at the NGP on none track days like today and strive to hit the pace prescribed in the workout. For example, I needed to hit a HMP of 7:00 today. Ran on rolling hills. Time was 7:16 but NGP was 7:02....
Forerunner305 [Run]:
Duration: 29:01
Work: n/a
rTSS: 44.1 (0.916)
NGP: 7:02 (228.6 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: 10.06%
Distance: 3.998 mi
Elevation Gain: 522 ft
Elevation Loss: 495 ft
Grade: 0.1 % (27 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 91 170 157 bpm
Speed: 3:52 0:00 7:16 min/mi
Wow, that's an awesome race! Congratulations on winning for the masters! Put that one on the scoreboard coaches! Have you been doing any longer runs to prep or just the OS runs? I did a 1/2 last year after the OS and went ~1:36 which I thought was nothing short of miraculous given that I hadn't done any long runs all winter.
@Barbara - echo what everyone else said. These tests are a tricky thing for lots of reasons. Sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you have a bad day, and sometimes it rains. I blew up on my first run test and still managed to go 17 seconds slower this week. This time I didn't go hard enough and had enough left to go flat out for the last 30 seconds. DANG...should have started out a bit faster. If you really think you could have gone faster, find an actual 5K road race with a reasonably flat course and go run that. That's what I'm doing. It seems like you can always find some extra speed when there are a few hundred folks around to motivate you.
Nov. OS Lurker and wanna be here. I had to drop back to the Dec OS due to injury. I just wanted to share with you guys that I read everyone of your posts and I am so impressed with your work ethic, your talent and your insight.
These most recent test results are amazing, the mojo you guys are creating is spreading throughout the entire team. Although I'm a little jealous at all the commraderie and fun you guys are having as a group, I am so inspired and thankful that you guys are leading the way, dropping the hammer and setting such high expectations.
Keep up the great work, and thanks for your leadership !!!!!!
@Bill: thanks for the congrats. As for prep for the1/2, it was all OS stuff, I did one 10-miler during the holiday run challenge and added 15 min to the Sunday long runs in January per CoachR's instruction, otherwise, just OS stuff. Makes it all the sweeter, I felt my legs go rubbery around mile 11 and it was a challenge to rally to the end given no long mileage, so I was rather pleased to hold on! I know people keep saying this but the longer I'm involved here the more it's true - work works!!!!
Nice results everybody - great accountability here as always.
Due to scheduling issues, I was a few days late in doing my 5k test.