Pacing a Vdot test
So, I was reading Olivia's post, and thinking about the difficulty of pacing a Vdot test. I know that I've certainly blown my share of 5k-type races in the past. I've had a breakthrough both in fitness, but also in executing these tests, and wanted to share that approach, as well as learn how others approach the 5k.
I've tried very hard to use every workout this OS as a way to practice the mental skills necessary to negative-split both workouts and races. The Vdot test is no exception. My goal is to go out about 5 seconds too slow for the first mile, so that by the time the test gets really hard (somewhere after mile 2), it's also almost over. So, for each test, I do the following
- Take my current Zone 5 pace (equal to the pace I ran the last 5k at), and added 5 seconds to it. Then, I run a half mile. If I'm feeling terrific, I take it up to Z5 pace for the next half mile, otherwise I leave it. End of 1 mile = 3 - 5 seconds slower than the pace from the previous test.
- Mile 1 - 2, either at previous Z5 (if I'm feeling less than terrific) or slightly harder. End of mile 2 = equal to or slightly faster than the pace from the previous test.
- Mile 2 = time to test myself. The speed is going up, either every .25 mi, every minute, or every .1. I've only got just over a mile, and I know that I can force myself to be very uncomfortable for just 1 mile. So, I bump the pace, count to 10, and ask myself if I'm at my limit. If yes, count to 10 and repeat. If no, bump again. It's truly amazing how much the limit goes up as the time remaining goes down.
This has worked out well for me. What's working well for you?
Mike
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Thanks, Mike! I'm definitely bookmarking this thread for my next vDOT test. I boogered my last one, with exactly the WRONG approach. I had a number in my head that I thought I should nail for pace. I started at that number, and was feeling great. But, it wasn't the right number, and I got slower and uglier for the rest of the 5k.
I'm trying your way next time, for sure!
Good advice on how to pace one for sure. I have never been able to be that precise out on the road. Mine usually go something like this.
1. Start out "comfortably hard" avoiding the urge to go like I am shot out of a cannon. Usually is pretty quick but feels sustainable. It is at about the half mile mark that I start having dillusions of grandeur about being able to shatter all expectations.
2. About the end of the first mile and the first third or so of the second I kinda try to "settle in" meaning come to terms with the fact that it hurts and is going to get worse before it gets better but try to relax a teeny bit. Sometimes even thinking about relaxing helps it feel better even though I do not slow down.
3. The half way point is always big for me. Once I get on the good side of half way I can focus on the work.
4. End of mile 2/start of 3 needs to be something like "OK I am doing well and now need to somehow hold it together rather than squander the hard work done to this point"
5. Less than a mile to go means "its less than a mile, I can deal with this for less than a mile"
6. The end is all about "suckitupitude" wanting it enough so that I continue to deal with it when it hurts/sucks.
7. Last 1/4 or so is hair on fire whatever is left.
I would like to say that I have a nice track record of negative splits on tests but that is not the case. Often they are even or mile 2 [occasionally 1] is the fastest. Sometimes this has to do with hills, wind and such sometimes I have just not cared enough at the end. When I have run the last mile fastest it has usually been in a race and more a factor of running a really fast - all I have left - last quarter than to nice even pacing. Someday...
As for an FTP test that is even harder for me. It usually feels really doable for the first 5 minutes or so, like I have no chance and need to quit at 8 minutes. It is again a factor of giving up means that I am just gonna half to do it again and that will even suck more that keeps me going. Usually at the end of the first 20 the thought of starting the second seems like it is impossible. Somehow that 2 minutes is like magic and I can reset. The beginning of the second 20 is always the best feeling part, the end, not so much. I have done them even a couple of times but far more often the first 20 is a bigger number than the second. As long as they are within 5 watts of each other I really do not care.
Hope this helps...
and also what is your mental trick for seeding yourself in a 5k road race? if you get too far in the back... you gotta dodge people, too far in the front and you risk overrunning it that first 1/2 mile....
Fun thread!
I'm an intuitive guy. I ignore my watch and HR during races/tests. What I rely on is my very structured training to ingrain the sensation of what it feels like to go faster/harder through the course of a timed effort.
E.g., today doing 4 x 1 mi (4') intervals on the treadmill, I started each mile at 6:58 min/mile. I increased the speed (8.5 mph > 8.6 > 8.7, etc) in the first mile every 0.25 miles, every 0.2 miles in the second interval, then every 0.15, then every 0.1 in the last. So I was going 6:22 min/mi for the last tenth of a mile for the last interval. I do something similar for most of my running workouts (also swimming).
On the track, I watch my time per quarter mile (or even 200 meters), and try to learn about perceived exertion from that, increasing my speed within each interval, and from one to the next.
Then, when it comes time to race, I just let my now very well trained internal speedometer take over. Looking at my GPS, or my watch, or my HR, just risks limiting me to what I consciously think I can do. More often than not, I'm pleasantly surprised by what my internal pacemaker which I've been training will push me to, when I look at the intervals after the fact.
Back to "intuitive". Years ago, I learned that "intuition" was really the result of a deep and prolonged immersion in the (right) data. We're training not only our muscles and heart, but also the parts of our brain that our conscious mind is not aware of. Take advantage of that in the race, and don't let your "I" limit your success.
What is funny is that when I mentally "rehearse" my vDot (or FTP) tests things tend to lay out the way you've done, Mike. I tend to be able to translate plan into action in race settings longer than 5K, but for some reason I think I have a mental wall to break down (definitly cracking now) to ensure that I bring the rehearsed approach into the actual running of the shorter event. I don't tend to do much 5K running outside of these tests, and I think in my head they = short effort = max/sprint effort for the whole thing. That means I often do the "shot out of a cannon" start, and then suffer. After all this time I think I'm finally getting that short hard effort doesn't mean absolute max/sprint effort for the whole outing. Close, maybe, but it has to be calculated closely. You all know that and get that it takes a well scripted and well followed plan to execute that well. I think I'm getting there. Perhaps with this last couple of tests I've finally hit bottom on what's not been successful with this distance, and I'm now in the right place for the solid advice that you guys are offereing can finally be assimilated into my approach.
I'm on the lookout for a 5K to run in the next month or so. I think I might just like to give it a try with the primary objective for the outing being the mental planning and execution. Just like with everything we study, I think a bit of timely practice (close after my "failed" attempts) could be helpful in solidifying the lessons.
Again, thanks for this thread! Keep the ideas coming!
I need to find a better location for my testing - currently doing it on a flattish fire-road (hard pack with loose dirt covering but grip ok) and also I have to turn around at one end - pretty much turning 180 degrees within a 2 yard-wide track. Wonder how much time I'm losing given these 2 factors?
Olivia,
after Timberman last year, I really beat myself up over poor pacing, and became hell-bent this offseason on using workouts as an opportunity to practice negative-splitting (since it's totally unnatural to me). This pacing strategy just came as an offshoot of that exercise. I too have gone out way, way too hard on many a 5k in the past. The best part of pacing as above is how little the first mile hurts. The second mile gets painful, and the third mile is not fun at all, but you're so close to the end that you can push through it. I'm not convinced that my approach is totally optimal, because I've been able to really jack the pace in the last half mile, which makes me wonder how much earlier I could be pushing. But, it's the best I've found.
Funny, I think that the effort to negative split most workouts has helped me be more comfortable knowing that it's a successful strategy. But, in retrospect, my motivation for it was misplaced. As it turned out, an analysis of my performance at Timberman showed me just how inconsistent my training was going into that race. I brought a lot less fitness to that day. If I'd just realized that after the race, I may never have gone about this whole negative-split mission!
@Dave, hard to say how much that affects you, but at least it is consistent, so you can measure change, which is really all we are after. Absolute value only matters a little bit. If forced to guess, I'd say maybe 5-10 seconds?
Mike
Not sure how much time you are losing but I have never been in a triathlon or any other race that did not have turns or other funky stuff to slow you down, usually a whole lot of turns, grass sections, dirt whatever. As Mike said not sure it really matters.