As part of a 40 minute run, I included a hilly 5K route that I have measured out by GPS from our local bar to home…okay, don’t ask, don’t tell…in 27 minutes…not all out, average 143HR, so mid Z3, and ‘steady’…HR higher going up hills (max 150HR, so more like Z4 HR), so will need to manage that better…considering that my target for the run was an easy side Z2 marathon pace, 9:30’ish/mile run, and this pace even with the hills was a 8:41 pace…well that was off by a bit…geez
It’s a challenge to run pace based, on a hilly route, so at least in the short term Heart Rate (HR) is probably better…of course, also better with practise…I haven’t really focused on pace _during_ a run much before.
So just for fun, I entered the 27:00 for a 5KÂ in the Daniels calculator, and it gives me a vDOT of 35…so I’d have to say worse case scenario for a starting number…my E-Pace, a 11:17/mile, would give me a 4:55 Ironman Marathon potential according to the Endurance Nation folks…well, for one year away from Ironman Florida, I’d say not a bad starting point.
…oh, if that didn’t make any sense, check out my Post on:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/whats-it-take-for-a-43500-ironman-marathon/
Although I ran all the way, I was choking back the speed a bit on the downhills, to get my HR back where it should be…under 140HR would have been the goal…and my knee doesn’t really like faster downhills, so I’ll need to change that route on faster runs
…so maybe a minute faster I’d say in an all-out test on a flat course, so 26:00 would give me a 36 vDOT, or maybe even a 25:30, for a 37 vDOT, without 5 pounds of clothes in 37F weather, and 3 pounds of water on my hydration belt….considering that my initial goal is 25:00 for 5K (8:02/mile…seems fast when I say it that way, although I was easily there only a few years ago), and therefore a vDOT of 38, I can definitely see that I’m in range, and should be able to get there.
…my ultimate vDOT goal of 41, or a 23:30 5K, definitely is going to take some work…will be interesting to see whether the chassis supports the engine long enough to see it.
Alright then…enough with the numbers…for the moment anyway…suffice to say, as I get things ramped up, I can use a vDOT of 35 to establish run pace goals, until I actually test it, to stay on the conservative side.
Actual 5K run test is scheduled for the first week in January, unless I can find a 5K race in around the same time to give me a push.