A Somewhat Successful PR
The Ephrata Firecracker 5 mile was today. Despite my g-mapping, the course wasn't as flat as I expected. As a matter of fact, the second mile really sucked.
However, there were plenty of flat places and downhills to go along with it, and the end result is that I did a 34:09, which translates into a VDOT of 47.81, which doesn't sound much better than my 5k performance with a VDOT of 47.62 just over two months ago.
Then again, there is a difference.... when I ran the 5k 2 months ago, I'd just come down off a taper for a triathlon. In other words, I was ready and rested. Today I'm coming off my biggest mileage week ever - it's 3 days after a 12 mile run and 1 week after an interval workout. In other words, I had a slightly better VDOT performance without tapering at all.
The only reason any of this matters is because I want a 3:15 in the Harrisburg Marathon to qualify for Boston. My performance today correlates to a 3:17:59. However, you can also go backwards with VDOT.... and a 3:15 marathon translates to a 33:39 5 mile performance. So the real question is whether or not I could've pulled a 33:39 today had I tapered (cuz you know I'll be totally tapered for the marathon).
And honestly, I think I could. Truth of the matter is, I was right on pace pretty much until the last half mile. And yes, I fully expect that the next four months of training will make me a better runner...
And the fact of the matter is, I'm pretty much done using VDOT for the next few months... My next race is a half-marathon trail run in August (throw pacing out the window for that) followed by a half in September which I won't taper for either and plan to run as if it's the first half of the marathon. So basically... this is where I am, and I won't really know what I am again until November. As the sports stars love to say, "It is what it is."
However, there were plenty of flat places and downhills to go along with it, and the end result is that I did a 34:09, which translates into a VDOT of 47.81, which doesn't sound much better than my 5k performance with a VDOT of 47.62 just over two months ago.
Then again, there is a difference.... when I ran the 5k 2 months ago, I'd just come down off a taper for a triathlon. In other words, I was ready and rested. Today I'm coming off my biggest mileage week ever - it's 3 days after a 12 mile run and 1 week after an interval workout. In other words, I had a slightly better VDOT performance without tapering at all.
The only reason any of this matters is because I want a 3:15 in the Harrisburg Marathon to qualify for Boston. My performance today correlates to a 3:17:59. However, you can also go backwards with VDOT.... and a 3:15 marathon translates to a 33:39 5 mile performance. So the real question is whether or not I could've pulled a 33:39 today had I tapered (cuz you know I'll be totally tapered for the marathon).
And honestly, I think I could. Truth of the matter is, I was right on pace pretty much until the last half mile. And yes, I fully expect that the next four months of training will make me a better runner...
And the fact of the matter is, I'm pretty much done using VDOT for the next few months... My next race is a half-marathon trail run in August (throw pacing out the window for that) followed by a half in September which I won't taper for either and plan to run as if it's the first half of the marathon. So basically... this is where I am, and I won't really know what I am again until November. As the sports stars love to say, "It is what it is."
Comments
Post a Comment