V Dot.

If you are looking to absorb some great material about training click here. This is Coach Paulo's blog page, he is thought of by some as controversial, but I don't quite find him so. There is nothing that he says or preaches that is actually new. He does a terrific job in my opinion of explaining things without the sugar coating. Coach T turned me onto this site a few months ago, and I hope you find it as informative as I do.

Training 'round these parts is going well, right on target with what we have aligned. The 3 week running break rewarded me with a healed Achilles Tendon (Who knew! Rest is best!), and I am able to now run 5 days a week. I am cycling about 5 days and swimming four and right now, nothing is very long. Nothing is over 1:15. In case i haven't said it before I just finished a season with 2 Ironmans... (Glory Days they sing to me in the pool...) and it's been 2 months, so it's been time to work on the basics and not on the length just yet.

One of my A goals this season is to improve my running. For me, running 5-6-7 days at the appropriate pace will not yield me an injury. Didn't you injure your Achilles? I was dealing with some tendonitis form 2 Ironmans. (Glory Days....)

When I began working with Coach T he guided me into training via V Dot rather than just pure heart rate. At the time I wasn't quite adhering to the zones, as I was struggling with my ego, and likely that was where my Achilles issues began.

But in between IMLP and IMFL I began training by the V Dot system developed by Jack Daniels. Not the drink... the coach. Never heard of him or his V Dot system? Click here for some more info. Heck, you can even ask the man himself if you visit the Let's Run forum. He posts under JTupper and he will answer any question you might have. A great read is Jack Daniels Book on Running. remember it is written for purebred runners. It's a valuable training tool nonetheless.

What this did for me was get me into the right paces for training. Rather than running each run in the grey zone, I ran in the black white and red zones as i call them. Clear, specific, concise. Easy runs easy, long runs with purpose. Every run has a purpose and every run had a pace assignment.

It just so happened that my heart rate zones pretty much matched where I thought they should be. But we all know heart rate can vary so it's always helpful to use a combination of training tools if you have them available.

What my E Paced runs did for me; they allowed me to run every single day. Many runs are just 30 minutes. Running more frequently for some people will benefit them more than running 4 days at a longer volume. More importantly they forced me into a better running form. When you do establish that E Pace your eyes should pop out of your head. THAT'S TOO SLOW! You should cry. ever run in heart rate zone 2, really heart rate zone 2? Should be the same feeling.

To accomplish this you must run with a higher cadence. 90 foot strikes per one foot during a minute is ideal. If I can do it, anyone can do it. What the higher cadence / slower pace allows is for you to run correctly. Do that and you can save yourself $175 on Newtons.

The V Dot system also gives you Marathon Pace, Threshold Pace, Interval Pace and repetition Pace. It allows me to run my easy runs easy, and my hard runs hard. Which in turn, is much more effective than running all runs in the grey zone. In the grey zone as I call it, I am running too fast for my body to recover from workout to workout, preventing me from making gains on my feet.

What this system allows for me to do is train at precise paces, run more frequently, and avoid injury. Of course I do this with a Garmin and a treadmill and under the watchful eye of my coach.

Because running is not my strength I need to focus on it the most. I have entered some running races in the winter. And I hate to race on the road in the winter. I hate it more than a duathlon. But it gives me the opportunity for a tempo paced run, in harsher conditions, which helps me to HTFU. Are any of these 10K, 8 milers.... going to be PR's? Maybe, maybe not. We certainly aren't tapering for them. With the correct training, running on tired legs at a goal pace will in turn, help me in the summer. Suffer now to excel then. So sure, I will do a 15 hour training week and finish it up with a road race. for me, that's what I need.

Stronger runners, may not need to do the same. Their time might be better spent elsewhere.

So give the V Dot system a look at. Notice that this is not a new theory, not a new training program, and take a look at the experience of Jack Daniels. He isn't quite preaching anything new, but he's preaching what all the top coaches are; training at the right paces / zones, building a solid foundation, properly structuring your season, those are the keys to success.