Jack Daniels

Jack Daniel's Running Formula

I have compared many training plans and I've found a lot to like about the Jack Daniels' plans. The book provides a series of plans for various distances, various abilities and ways of calculating the correct pace for each workout. The book is well written, and Jack Daniels is one of the most respected coaches; Runner's World famously called him "The world's best running coach". However, the plans require some hard work to interpret and analyze, as they can involve multiple segments at different paces.

1 VDOT and the Formula

The 'formula' in the title of the book refers to the calculation of the various training paces that he used. The book includes tables to calculate "VDOT", which is a measure of fitness and running ability. The term comes from V̇O₂max which is a measure of aerobic capacity, and if you look closely you'll notice that the 'V̇' actually has a small dot above it, hence 'V dot' or 'VDOT'. Typically the value for VDOT is a looked up from a race performance, and the resulting value is usually fairly close to the runners actual V̇O₂max.

2 The Training Paces

The running formula has tables of training paces for each VDOT. These paces are:

• Easy. The E pace is for easy running. It is typically used for recovery between intervals, the bulk of many long runs, and "non-quality workouts". In the third edition, this is a range of paces rather than a single specific pace.
• Marathon. This is a runners predicted or actual marathon pace, and is used as a component of a number of marathon training runs.
• Threshold. Sometimes referred to as Tempo Runs, this is intended to be around the Lactate Threshold. In the second edition, there is a table (7.1) that provides modifications to the T pace for longer tempo runs, but this has been dropped in the 3^rd edition. (Science indicates Tempo Runs should be avoided in favor of other training paces.)
• Hard. The third edition introduced the idea of hard running that is based on subjective effort rather than a specified pace.
• Interval. This is the primary pace used for intervals, and is intended to maximize V̇O₂max by running at the pace that corresponds with V̇O₂max. (This is known as 'velocity at V̇O₂max', or simply 'vV̇O₂max'.) You can read more about this at Aerobic Interval Training 101.
• Repetition. This pace is a higher intensity than the I pace and is anaerobic, but is generally longer and slower than true High Intensity Interval Training.

3 The plans

Jack Daniels has a wide variety of plans. There are plans for Starting to run, for those wanting to train for general fitness, and race distance specific plans for the 800 meters, 1500 meters, 5K-15K, half marathon and marathon.

3.1 Marathon Training Plans

The 3^rd edition contains 6 plans; novice, 2Q, 4 week, 5 week, 18 week and 12 week. The novice, 2Q, 4 week and 12 week plans are fully specified while the 5 week and 18 week plans are loose templates on which a plan can be built.

• The novice plan is intended for beginners, and uses a run/walk approach for the first half of the plan. The plan is 18 weeks long and specifies 2 to 5 workouts per week. The first 9 weeks have 5 workouts with 2 of them optional. The next 8 weeks have two quality workouts specified, with the recommendation to run 5 days/week, and the last week is a taper. The plan specifies time rather than distance, so the length of the run will depend on your speed. The longest run is 2:30, plus two 2:15 and a 2:00 long run. There are a few interval workouts at Tempo pace.
• The 2Q plan is so called because it specifies two quality workouts per week, with all other (easy) running is left up to the individual. The long runs mostly involve variable pace rather than steady easy running. For instance, week 9 of the 41-55 miles/week plan has a 15 mile long run as 2 Easy + 6 Marathon + 1 Easy + 4 Marathon + 1 Tempo + 1 Easy, and a second 14 mile run of 5 Easy + 3x (2 Tempo + 2 min rest) + 1 Tempo + 2 Easy. The workouts change between each of the different plans based on weekly distances. Also, the plans for the lower weekly distances only specify time, not a distance limit, so be cautious about using these plans if you are a faster runner.
• The 4-week cycle is a 26 week plan with two quality workouts per week for three weeks, but only easy running on the fourth week. The general pattern of the four weeks is:
  • No-quality run
  • A steady long easy run
  • An easy segment followed by a longer marathon paced segment (e.g. 30 min Easy, 15 miles Marathon).
  • An interval workout, such as 3 miles E, 3x (3 miles T + 3 min rest), 2x (2 miles T + 2 min rest), 2 miles easy for a total of 18 miles, 13 at tempo pace.
• The 2Q and 4-week cycle plans have separate workout tables for different weekly mileage. The plans are for up to 40 miles/64 Km, 41-55 miles/66-89 Km, 56-70 miles/90-113 Km, 71-85 miles/114-137 Km, 86-100 miles/138-161 Km, 101-120 miles/163-194 Km, over 120 miles/194 Km. Yes, that's seven different plans.
• The 12 week plan is a tough program intended for elite or highly trained athletes. This plan is the last 12 weeks of the elite plan in the second edition, so if you want to follow this plan you may want to get a copy of the earlier book to have the full 18 weeks.
• The a five week cycle provides the workouts for five weeks of training, with the intention that this is repeated as many times as required prior to the race. There, some simple instructions for converting the five week cycle to the last three weeks of tapering before the marathon. This plan is more of a general outline than the other plans, giving rough guidance of what to do rather than a specific workout. For instance, this plan might say Thursday is "R session", and that our sessions should total no more than the lessor of 5% of your weekly mileage or 5 miles, and that of recovery should be 2 to 3 times the length of the interval. Other than that guidance there is a lot of flexibility. This is the only marathon plan that includes I and R paced interval training.
• There are three 18 week programs; two by distance and one by time. The two distance programs are equivalent, one being in miles and the other kilometers. These programs have a quality workout every fourth or fifth day, which may make it tricky if you only have time for your long runs at the weekend.

3.2 Half Marathon Plan

The half marathon plan has recommendations for a buildup phase of general running, followed by workouts for 18 weeks in three further phases. Phase 2 has three quality workouts; long, R intervals, and a combined Tempo/R interval session. Phase 3 also has three quality workouts; long, I or H intervals, and the combined Tempo/R interval session. In phase 3 the two interval workouts are on back to back days, making it tougher. Phase 4 has two quality sessions; a long run and tempo intervals.

3.3 Cross Country

The cross country training is more what I would consider a set of building blocks and ideas that you can turn into a specific plan rather than a concrete set of workouts.

3.4 5K to 10K Plans

These plans are 18 weeks long and specify all workouts in detail. There are two plans based on weekly distance; one for 40-50 miles/64-80 Km per week and the other for 60-70 miles/97-112 Km miles per week. These plans generally have three quality workouts per week, including a long run and two interval training sessions. One of the interval sessions is R paced, the other a mixture of R and T.

3.5 1500 meters to 2 mile Plans

There are three plans for these distances based on weekly distance; 30 miles/45 Km, 40 miles/64 Km, and 60 miles/97 Km. These plans are 24 weeks long and specify all workouts in detail. The plans have three quality workouts for most of their length; a long run and two R interval sessions. For the second phase of the plans, the long run is dropped.

3.6 800 Meter Plans

There are three plans based on weekly mileage; 20-30 miles/32-48 Km, 40 miles/64 Km, and 50-60 miles/80-97 Km, each specifying all workouts for 24 weeks. Training paces are giving for runners focused on 400/800 meters and those focused on 800/1600 meters. There are three quality workouts per week; a long or tempo run, and two interval runs using mostly R pace.

3.7 Fitness Plans

There are four plans designed for general fitness rather than racing, each 16 weeks long. There is a white plan for learning to run using a run/walk approach, then a red intermediate plan, blue advanced plan and gold elite plan. Each of the red/blue/gold adds increasing levels of difficulty and interval training. The plans are also structured so that you can progress through white-red-blue-gold, building your fitness as you go.

4 Downsides of Jack Daniels

While I'm a fan of Jack Daniels there are some caveats to his approach.

• The book requires some effort on the part of the runner. You need to look up your VDOT, look up your training paces, and then work out the specifics of the sometimes complex training runs. For instance, a workout such as "2E + 3T + 40 min E + 2T + 1E" requires you to work out how far you'd run at your Easy pace in 40 minutes, and add that to the 3 easy miles and 5 tempo miles. (I used to have a calculator that would simplify this, but Jack Daniels requested its removal.)
• For many of the plans, the book does not give a simple, fixed weekly plan, but instead specifies the quality workouts you should do, and you decide what days you run them on.
• You need to have run a race so that you can use the result to determine your training paces. Jack Daniels does have other approaches, but this is the most reliable. I believe this is better than programs that give no guidance on training pace, or use the target pace for training paces, but it is a limitation.
• The training paces that Jack Daniels provides assumes you are training on reasonably level ground. If you are training in a very hilly environment, Jack Daniel's approach is harder to implement. You can use a Heart Rate Monitor, but that is tricky as you need to have tested your Maximum Heart Rate.
• There is no half marathon training program, with the intention to use the 10K or the marathon programs depending on your pace.
• For many programs, only the quality days are provided for most of the training programs, with the intention that the runner works out how to make up the rest of the mileage. I like this as it allows for running fewer days per week, with more recovery.
• I do not believe that Tempo Runs are the most effective use of training time, and prefer interval training. I would prefer a training plan that avoids tempo runs, and the science backs this up.

5 Third Edition Changes

The third edition of the book includes numerous changes.

• The table of race performance to VDOT has not changed at all, but there is now a table for those with slower performances. This covers VDOT values of 20 to 30, mile race times of 9:10 to 12:55 and marathon times of 4:57 to 6:44. However, I don't believe the book provides adequate plans for these slower times as only the novice plan include a run/walk approach.
• The Easy pace is now a range of paces roughly centered on the second edition's single Easy pace. The range is 76 seconds/mile wide for VDOT of 30 down to 42 seconds for a VDOT of 85. The second edition used about 74% of V̇O₂max, and the third edition uses 70% to 79%.
• Paces for T, I, and R have not changed, nor obviously has the M pace.
• There is now the idea of Hard running which is based on subjective feel rather than a specified pace.
• There is no longer a table for longer Tempo runs and the T pace is now only used for interval training.
• An approach to measuring overall training stress has been added, assigning points to various paces. This approach is similar to TRIMP, but would require far more effort to track and calculate without some type of software.
• Where the second edition directed half marathon runners to use either a marathon plan (if they were slow or fast), or a 10K plan (if they were faster), the third edition actually includes a half marathon specific training plan. This plan is 24 weeks long and includes easy, tempo, hard, marathon, long, and repetition training.
• The marathon training plans have been expanded; see above for details.
  • The novice plan is somewhat similar to the second edition but the specific workouts have changed.
  • The 2Q plan resembles Plan A from the second edition, but there are now different plans depending on your weekly mileage.
  • The 12 week plan is actually the last 12 weeks of the elite plan in the second edition.
  • There is a new plan called the 4-week cycle that is a 26 week plan and is somewhat similar to the old Plan A but every fourth week has no quality workouts.
  • There are two sets of plans that are more rough outlines than fully specified plans. The five weeks plan gives five weeks that can be repeated and there are three 18 week programs; two by distance and one by time.