VDOT calculator.
One number, your current race shape.

Jack Daniels’ VDOT: the VO2max value that matches your recent race. Enter a result, read your number.

Free tool · Updated April 19, 2026

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Your VDOT

Recent race distance

Finish time

Your VDOT

45

Developing. Intermediate range. Training-consistent and making gains.

VDOT is the score. Reshape is the plan that moves it upward.

What VDOT actually measures

Daniels started with the physiology: runners performing at given paces run at predictable percentages of their VO2max, and those percentages fall as race distance grows. That relationship is consistent enough to work backward — a race time implies a VO2 value. Call that value VDOT.

VDOT isn’t your true VO2max — two runners with the same VO2max can have different running economy, which shows up in different race times. VDOT bundles them together. It’s the number that matters for racing and training.

Use your VDOT to pull consistent training paces (easy, marathon, threshold, interval, repetition) and to sanity-check race goals. Track it every few months. Training works when it moves up.

Common questions

For amateurs, anywhere from 35 to 55 is a strong training range. Elite men race in the 70s; elite women in the low 70s to high 60s. Your number matters less than whether it’s trending up.

Your actual VO2max depends on physiology you can’t measure with a stopwatch. VDOT is the VO2max value that explains your current race performance. Two runners with identical VDOTs race the same times, even if one has a higher actual VO2max.

After any meaningful race — every 6 to 12 weeks in a training block. Use a real race or a hard time trial, not a training run.

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