Kona Qualifying Stats
This has been asked before, but, I started looking for it in the Forum history via Search and continually am getting errors and can't perform a functional search...so, I will just ask again:
What kind of vDot and FTP/w/Kg should I be aiming for in order to legitimately be thinking about qualifying for Kona?
I was kind of thinking (with my uneducated guess) that a 58-59 vDot and 3.5+ w/kg would about put me in contention for a slot without a trememdous amount of roll down...am I thinking about right?
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I would say more like a 56+ vdot and 4.0+ w/kg.
I would suspect that one's age group/gender would/could be factors in this calculation.
I would say the numbers I suggest apply through 45-49 and maybe even 50-54. The younger you are the higher you want them. Let me put it this way, you are in Mancona's age group. He's around 60 vdot and 5.0 w/kg.
Not sure. Some of the Chicas may have an idea.
Stephen and Beverly - Take a look at the info in the following thread. Note that the vdot for the top runners gets noted later in the thread. Age has a big impact. Also the course you select to try to qualify on is a major impact. I hope this is some help. Note this is on 2009 qualifying data.
http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.com/Community/Forums/tabid/101/aff/60/aft/849/afv/topic/Default.aspx
Matt
Matt I read your linked thread and it has some great info. It would be nice to have w/kg data for the bike because as it stands, in my age group for example, 4w/kg would mean the rider would have to weigh around 150 lbs. Is 4 the standard KQ estimate for men?
Here's some more good discussion on the topic.
endurancenation.us.dnnmax.com/Commu...aspx#27456
Cracking the Kona Code: A Classic!
www.endurancenation.us/en_forums/showthread.php
pretty sure the winning female in that group is down in the low 10 hour range at LP.
when Smaryka won two years ago she went 10:15 I believe.
FWIW.. I've had around 4.3w/kg to 4.5w/kg and 56 to 58 vdot going into IMLou and IMLP and and still came up 15 to 30 minutes short. But in my opinion didn't have that perfect race and other issues on the run caused some slow down. The point is just keep working to get then numbers as high as possible and since you are here in EN try and follow the execution skills as best as possible and You MIGHT have a chance.
Chris -- agree it would be nice to have better w/kg data. See the threads noted by Matt Sulivan. Not sure what age group you are in but as we get older, hitting that 4.0 number becomes less lilely. This 4.0 level is by no way a standard for KQ. As Trent notes there are many factors with exicution being typicaly a more important factor than raw FTP and vDOT levels. Aslo a key factor is how areo you are on the bike.
Thanks for everyone's responses and comments...my goal was really to be able to set a goal that would put me in a position to ligitimately lay out a race plan that would give me a shot at a slot. I fully understand that the stars have to align correctly on race day in order to put together the right race. I have adjusted my signature on my Forum profile to reflect what I think might give me a shot...I MAY need a little more like 3.8 w/Kg on the bike, but, I think the combination will put me in the hunt if I execute and the stars align.
Thanks!
I will get it checked at some point, it would be good to know..m/ood thought, thanks!
While we have w/kg for cycling to take weight into account, there doesn't seem to be an equivalent for Vdot. I get the same number whether I use the EN calculator which asks your weight, or this one which doesn't.
http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm
@Mike wrote, "Two runners with a Vdot of 52 should be expected to run similar times, even if their weight is dissimilar." I think that could be true but do believe the type of training (primary flats vs. hills) vs. race course bumpiness and temps in training vs. race day temps could cause those runners with the same Vdot to achieve substantially different finishing times.
Huh? You're saying weight has no bearing on run speed?
No, he said being lighter makes running easier which equals a higher vdot. If 2 people have the same vdot, they will have basically the same pace for most races no matter the size. vdot cannot be equated with FTP in terms of comparing athletes.
It's not as counterintuitive as it sounds. Frankly, w/kg is slightly overrated, too, since we dot do that much climbing in triathlon. Take a 75 kg rider at 4 w/kg (300w FTP) and a 65kg rider at 4 w/kg (260w FTP). On most all courses, the heavier rider is faster, because they can push more watts, and aren't overcoming gravity on flats.
We use w/kg not because it is what matters, but because it's a pretty good indicator of the range you need to hit to reach the goals you have set out.
So what you're saying is that Vdot automatically takes one's weight into account?
OK, got it.