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."

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