Here's how this works... (To get to the tables click on the
Percents tab above.)
Many training plans use percentages of another value whether it's a
percentage of a PR, vVO2max, Date Pace for some
distance, etc. This calculator has one purpose and that's to compute a
percentage of pace or time for an initial
value. For example, the table below shows 80%, 90%, 100%, and 110% of 5
minutes. This could be a time of 5 minutes
over some distance or a pace of 5 minutes per mile.
|
|
| |
What
are 85%, 90$, and 95% of a 5000-meter
time of 17:30? They're 20:35, 19:27,
and 18:25.
What are the mile paces associated with that? They're 6:38, 6:16, and 5:56.
For the mile paces I used the pace tool at the top left of the screen to
get the mile pace for 5000 meters.
For demo purposes I also used the mile equivalent of 5k... 3.107
There's also a conversion tool at the upper right of the screen that
converts meters to miles and vice versa.
|
|
|
OK, but
what's the "Method Used" Dropdown?
|
|
As
noted above the most common way of assigning effort or pace for a certain
type of workout is to describe it in terms of percent of some known value.
The problem here is just what is 85% of a time or pace. Take a 5-minute mile
for example. Some, if not most, would argue that you divide 5 minutes by .85
for 5:53. Others would say that you should multiply 5 minutes by 1.15 for
5:45. Which is correct? If we were trying to ascertain how much is 85 percent
of 10 inches it's obvious that we'd multiply by .85 for 8.5 inches. Dividing
by 1.15 would give 8.7 inches which is obviously incorrect. It's different
for pace or time because multiplying or dividing by .85 gives us a slower
time (larger number) than the smaller value obtained when considering a
percent of length. Coach John Davis has a popular blog that investigates this
issue at RunningWritings.com. He points out that the multiplication method
yields a linear progression of differences in Speed, while the Division
method yields a linear progression of differences in Pace. In each case the
"Division Method" yields a more conservative (slower) value than
the "Multiplication Method." Since most of the coaches whose
methodology I subscribe to use the division method (Scott Christenson, Dr.
Joe Vigil, Dr. Jeff Messer to name a few) I use the "Division
Method," that's the default for these tables. However, because many use the more aggressive
"Multiplication Method," I included a drop-down that will let you
select either method, as well as an average between the two.
|
|
|
|
|
Please email any errors,
changes, or suggestions to George Green : Plugh@CrownCity.com
|
|
Home |