I finished a 5-month training cycle in mid-January with a half marathon race. I had been training at a VDOT of 65 but my race time suggests a VDOT of 67.
After the race, I took two weeks of very easy running.
Do I start training at VDOT 67 right away, since my last race suggested this? Just wondering what's the "correct" way to do it.
Also, if I have 5k and 10k races to do this spring, what training phase do I jump into at this point?
Go ahead and use the vDOT of 67. Even if you considered your two weeks of easy training as "time off," your vDOT won't degrade very fast. Daniels provides a chart for calculating your new vDOT after a layoff, but the changes in the first few weeks are very minor, particularly if you were doing some running.
He also provides a chart for shortening his 24-week cycle, which should help you decide what phase to jump into for your spring races. Figure out how many weeks to have to your most important race, and schedule your phases from there.
Thanks. This makes perfect sense.
Buffalo Orange was very kind. Might I also add "Read the book" to the words of advice?
If you have a coach, is not essential that you understand why you are doing something in training.
If you are designing your own training based on suggestions offered by someone in a book, however, you should read the complete book to have a better grasp of what you are designing.