Home OutSeason January 2011

Week 8 Run Test

Had to jump ahead and do run test today, bike test planned for Tuesday, otherwise crazy week coming up.

25" improvement and 1 point Vdot bump. Not huge but improvement nonetheless.

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Comments

  • Nice job, Bill.  Improvement trumps getting slower.  We are aging, right?  Well done.

    Dave

  • On a business trip in an unfamiliar city so I have postponed my 5k test. Instead I did my new favorite workout of 60' with 4x7'(5'). Overall 8.77 miles in 60:01 (6:50).



    Warmup 10' @ 6:51

    Interval paces 6:47, 6:37, 6:34, 6:40

    Recovery paces 7:21, 7:10, 7:16

    Extra time 8' @ 6:46



    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69581227



    Perhaps it is psychological, but after my failed run test in week 1 and running consistently 15-20 sec faster than my paces based on RPE I am not at all motivated to do the next test. I feel like I will probably blow up again because of my "inverted vdot" (5k/8k VDOT 2 pts slower than 15k/half-marathon vdot), likely driven by poor VO2 max.



    So I'll see how I feel when back home, and decide if I'll test or if I'll just use my currnet paces and RPE until my first road race on March 20.



    Cheers,

    Matt

  • Did my test today. I'm still really slow, but did drop 2:18 off the time and 2.3 off of my vdot. Almost down to the best number I had last year. Now if the weather will just hold so I can get my bike test in.
  • Posted By Bob Irwin on 22 Feb 2011 05:44 PM

    Did my test today. I'm still really slow, but did drop 2:18 off the time and 2.3 off of my vdot. Almost down to the best number I had last year. Now if the weather will just hold so I can get my bike test in.



     

    2:18 is huge!! Great work!!

  • Ahhhhh, the sins of my underwhelming bike FTP test are forgiven. I bundled up and headed out tonight for a premature 5K test as the weatherman is predicting snomageddon tomorrow (Read: 2 – 8 inches and scoff in our general direction, please!) and I didn’t want to risk losing the consistency of the track for my test. Results yielded an improvement from a vDot of 39.71 (24:15) to a vDot of 41.46 (23:23). I had no idea what to expect but this felt like a pretty good improvement for a “non runner” and I’ll take it! Good luck tomorrow everyone!

  • ugh... that was ROUGH! Not having the miles over the last year has really shown its ugly face!

    Improvements from last test... I finished a full 5k!!!
    VDOT didn't really change. I did my testing on the treadmill again and I'll be glad for the next test when I can find a local race to test my mettle...

    Mile 1: 6:47
    Mile 2: 6:46
    Mile 3: 6:28
    .1: 00:37

    Total 20:37 = VDOT 48

    Sad perspective for me... about a year ago I was doing the 5k leg of a spring triathlon over a minute faster! Spring is here though. Running in the great outdoors is always a great motivator.
  • No run testing for me. I will race 5Ks in April, that will be in or around week 14. Until than I will just monitor intensity through interval work. Good luck today. 

  • Took care of business this morning and like Tom, my vDot didn't change. I'm still at a 44. Last year, at my second test I was up to 46 (en route to 51). Oh well, fortunately, there is plenty of time to improve and see 50 (+) by race season. Overall, felt pretty good, wish the t-mill HR function was working, I'm sure my HR went down from the first test. Hopefully the next test will show a good bump.

    The one take away I have from this is if you want to run faster, you have to actually get out and RUN! I haven't been logging a ton of miles since my broken foot in Oct and it clearly is showing. Everything is healed and there is no reason to hold back. Hopefully after the VO2 block, I'll be in a better position to crush the next test.

    Good Luck everyone!
  •  Hey guys, I just wish to help with your agonizing yourself over test results.

    @Tom, I would not dare comparing outdoor race time with an indoor treadmill run. Many reasons for that, among those, cooling outside vs. no inside, unless you had a huge fan blowing at you. I am consistently 20sec/mi slower on treadmill even at 1% incline. So, I would not read into that too much.

    For both of you guys, 5K is VO2max affair, not LT, that you have been training so diligently. While LT work has some effect on your VO2max, it does so very little. You have to train VO2max as diligently as you have trained your LT ability to run. Counts for both of you, who are trained well and not getting of the couch. For those that are getting of the couch, anything they do sticks, you are not so lucky and you have to do specific work for 5K and that is coming week 9. You will have clocked major improvement in week 14 after you take this solid foundation and build on it with your VO2max  work, I promise.

    You both rock, stick with it and keep it up.

  • Good work everyone!

    vDot test done.  23:02, or 7:25 pace.  20 second PR.  I am happy since i didn't want to do it.  But major storm coming to NorCal so it was today or nothing.

    Actually did the bike test after and got 12 watt bump.  Totally abysmal effort as I melted baddly the second 20'.

     

  • @John, 12 watt bump is sweet!

    @Alex, thanks for the feedback. I'm definitely looking forward to getting in the outdoors again. I like the treadmill for brick runs for now because I can jump off the bike and hit it hard. On pure run days I will start hitting the great outdoors and working on that VO2max the way God intended!

    @Aaron, injuries suck and I'm still working my way back. Still feel the pangs of PF on run days. Kind of sucks working back from it though.
  • @John - As I mentioned on twitter, Old Dudes Rock! Great job.

    @Alex - great advice. I'm definitely looking forward to retesting in week 14. I know that the VO2 work will help boost my numbers.

    @Tom - Injuries do suck, and I've been a little over cautious as I don't want to have any set backs. It's a long season and staying healthy is priority number 1 (next to getting lighter and faster :-) ).
  • Posted By Aleksandar Tasic on 23 Feb 2011 08:27 AM

    No run testing for me. I will race 5Ks in April, that will be in or around week 14. Until than I will just monitor intensity through interval work. Good luck today. 



     

    I'm taking the same approach. March 20th 8k road race, and another 8k on April 11.

  • I posted my run test this morning on the dashboard with sweat still dripping down my nose...but I was saving the details for the OS group. I got off track a little two weeks ago as I went snowboarding then had to rest through a cold last week, but I got some work in while sick and had some strong rides this weekend. So, I skipped the bike test Monday because I have to take Mondays off and I wanted the fresh legs for the run. I will get the bike test done on Friday. I was concerned that I wasn't prepared, but curious to see where I was....I nailed it. I was shooting for running 8:10's and I ran 8:00's!!! Here's the splits.
    1 00:08:01 1.00
    2 00:07:46 1.00
    3 00:08:06 1.00
    Avg HR: 164 bpm
    Max HR: 174 bpm
    So I ran PR by 22 seconds and beat my week 1 test by 5.4%
    I still have a lot of discomfort while running, but I am really starting to like the results. The work is hard, but the work works. I am still expecting to run faster, but I understand that jumps may not be as much next time around. Eitherway, I am sold on the OS kool aide. I am excited to see what the next phase brings and wondering how these results will transpose into a HIM and IM, but for now, I am telling everyone that I am not a jogger anymore......I am an EN Freak!

    Sending congrats to everyone and lots of LOVE to the HAUS, couldn't have or wouldn't have done it without you. Chap.
  • @Chap - good to see you back posting - awesome result on the run test!!

    Ok, so I guess anytime you're not getting slower is a good thing, but running SUCKS and all the work over 8 weeks made me want a much better result - but I guess I already knew that running was my weakest event. So, I dropped 34 seconds from week one and posted a 25:06, with a 1 point vdot jump to 38. Still not anywhere near my 5K PR (off the bike in a sprint even) of 22:28. Got WORK to do.
  • Greg, everybody improves at different rates, but a 30 second improvement in 8 weeks is awesome. Don't beat yourself up, the results will keep coming.
  • Just finished the Run TT and I killed it!!! Here's my HR chart:
    image
    I started the JOS with a vDot 28 (31:24) and had set my goal to hit vDot 34 by IMCDA. Today I achieved that goal and tested at vDot 35 (26:12). I did both tests at 3 miles instead of 5K. Here are my splits:

    Mile 1 - 8:53
    Mile 2 - 8:56
    Mile 3 - 8:22

    I set the TM at the pace needed for a vDot 34 and then during the last mile I increased the TM by .3 mph every 1/5 mile to the finish. So here are my test results from the Data Tool:
    image
    Big thanks to RnP for such a great training plan. I only skipped the run last Wednesday to ensure the strain on my foot had time to heal before today's test. Otherwise, I followed the plan to the T. Also, big thanks to all of you in the JOS for the encouragement and accountability. EN Rocks!!
  • Allen, a 5 minute improvement in 8 weeks might go down in the EN hall of fame! Way to go!
  • No test for me as I just get back in to training, but excellent job by the group.  I did a run yesterday and took today off.

    @ Tom& Aaron, as mentioned don't beat yourself up about no improvment it will be there at the end when you are rested.  Just don't go and start doing to much extra and burn yourself out.

    @Greg ;34" is a decent improvments even though it's not what you might have wanted.

    @ Allen 5 minutes + is a hall of fame test nice job. 

    Gordon

  • Allen - HOLY Shazbot man!!! That is AWESOME!!! Nice work!
  • I want it to be officially known that Chap sent me a PM calling me out and that he was going to run me down over the next few months.

    Two words, Chap.

    • BRING IT! 

     

    Ya, you better be trembling cuz my bigg arse is all you are gonna see!  

  • Wow, you guys and gals are having some great tests.  I'm almost jealous that I'm not testing, almost.    Just started running again last week, so I'm just taking it easy and getting some frequency in.

    Allen, you're going to get biggest vdot jump award for sure.  Congrats.

    Dave

  • Allen - very impressive gains, at that rate of improvement you'll be under 20 min in no time!

    I tweaked my foot on the brick on Monday so I took a couple of days off and tested today. Traveling this weekend so I'll knock out as much of the weekend bike ride as I can tomorrow morning before work, take Saturday off or easy run/swim (if the hotel pool is worth it) and then hit Sunday's planned run. Back on schedule on Monday.

    Today's test went okay, a slight improvement but I have been focusing more on the bike than the run. Started OS with an 18:28 5k and did an 18:22 today. VDOT went from 55 to 56 so training paces will be about 5" per mile faster. LTHR ended up at 170, up from 169 last test. I think I'm definitely bumping into the roof and am looking forward to the VO2 Max work coming up! (I think)

    Nice work all!

  • Nice work testing people. I will run a 5k in the next few weeks and am going to skip the mental fatigue here. I did do a nice set of 3x1 milers into a headwind!

  • Doing a half marathon this Sunday for my Vdot test, and I will report back with results. Great job, everybody!
  • Posted By Mike Graffeo on 24 Feb 2011 06:25 PM

    Doing a half marathon this Sunday for my Vdot test, and I will report back with results. Great job, everybody!

    @Mike - Perfect.  An outdoor HM is one of the best true indicators of one's vdot, much better than a 5K.  Run strong and let us know how it goes.



     

  • I'm a little late to the party, had to take a couple of days off with some tightness in my back . . .

    I do a 3 mile test and dropped from 24:06 (8:03 avg) to 22:52 (7:40 avg)!  vDot went up almost 2.5 points to 40.76 and both my avg and max HR were a handful of beats lower than last time!

    Keep it up everyone, WORKWORKS!

  • @Mike- Good luck on the Half!!
  • @Allen - duuude awesome run man, congrats.
    @Mike - good luck in the half.
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