Finally got around to doing a running vdot test. I have been meaning to do for a couple of months but have been busy training for specific races that taking a workout out to do a test like this was not possible.
So before anything else my final vdot is 44 . My time 21:55 for 5k run with LT 175. A lot to be improved on. My legs were tired and aching from the crazy,getting lost, long run 10mi from the day before. Most coaches would say that it is a bad idea to do a vdot test after a long run but for the moment this will have to do.
I had to establish a baseline for the rest of the marathon training. Now going forward I will feel comfortable with heart rate training. My goal in the next 3months is to get the time down to sub 20 and get the LT to 180+ . In the long run I want to have 50+ vdot for next years races. Possible ? I think it is.
Now a little about these crazy numbers. If you remember your highschool biology class (and boy do I remember this one) your body continues to burn glycogen as aerobic respiration into energy+ CO2+ H20 upto a specific threshold. For the most part you do mostly aerobic respiration and a slight amount of anaerobic. The lactic acid produced by the slight amount of anerobic can be broken down further in your muscles eaisly. At the lactic acid threshold you start on primarily doing anerobic respiration. Beyond that threshold you continues to burn glycogen but now as anaerobic respiration and produces the by-product of lactic acid. Now a couple of things about anaerobic respiration (If I remember the facts right, forgive me Mrs E. ). It produces less energy as a whole for the same amount of glycogen , it also requires energy later on to breakdown the lactic acid. Lactic acid slowly increases the H+ ion concentration in your muscles causing increased acidity.
So in all the LT is a measure of what pace / HR/ power you can maintain while still doing aerobic respiration. Using that you can setup a HR / power training scheme which would allow you to condition your body to run faster, harder , longer.
Now the vdot is just a lookup in the Jack Daniels . It is a specific number using the time it took you to do the Xmi run to predict what you would do in other shorter or longer races. It also sets up your pace zones for different intensity thresholds.
And yes I enjoy all this jargon. For one thing I have always been fascinated with physiology of the human body. Throughout highschool I was more interested in what an individuals body could achieve over time. So now I like to bring it a full circle I like to bring back science in the sports I enjoy so much.