Meh.
You'll be happy to hear (because your happiness hinges on my training; that's why you're here, right?) that I've been banging out some very consistent, good weeks. They're just not very exciting. In fact one of the more exciting things that happened this week was that I left late for the pool this morning and didn't get in as long as a swim as I wanted, had to skip weights entirely, but taught myself how to (awkwardly. No, really) flip-turn. See, I've got this deal with my husband where I take the car to the gym but have it back in front of our building at 7 so he can leave for work. Hence, the blogging now despite said time crunch. Exciting, I know. Isn't that what I said?
What is (okay, only moderately) more interesting is that I've been doing lactate threshold heart rate tests on myself for the bike and run, and my lactate threshold for those 2 sports is evidently wildly divergent. My LTHR is allegedly 151 on the bike but 179 on the run. I probably could have pushed a bit harder on the bike test, but it would still be way low comparatively. Why is that? I know you use less muscle on the bike, and personally my bike fitness is far less developed than my run fitness, after years spent just running, but it seems like 30 beats per minute is a pretty big gap. Still, when I tried to do a zone 2 ride the other day, I could barely get my heart rate to climb up to zone 2 level - which for me, based on that 151 I got from the test, is above 121, or like a brisk walk. Maybe I'm just lazy.
Anyway, this is how you test it, per Joe Friel:
Warm up. Then run or bike as hard as you can for 30 minutes. Hit the lap button at 10 minutes. Your average heart rate for the last 20 minutes is your LTHR in either sport.
To me the excellent part about this is I get to go slow all the time, legitimately. As in, I'm supposed to be just as slow as I am, even slower.
The bad part is the crushing guilt over the lack of hard work.
Oh, the guilt.
I know there are a few other bloggers out there doing coach - mandated heart rate training right now. Have you trained with heart rate? Has it been worth it? I feel that I have often had so little structure in my training that this is one of the first intelligent, scientific approaches I've taken - not just following a plan verbatim out of a book, but making sure that my personal aerobic capacity is fully developed. This is the only way I'm going to get through 70.3 miles. What have your experiences been?
Heart rate training is tough and boring, I am doing it now, first season ever, I see the gains, though they are small to come
ReplyDeleteIn re: lactact threshold: it's perfectly normal for your LT on the bike to be significantly lower than that on the run. I wouldn't get at all concerned about it and just train where your test results tell you to. You might see them come a bit closer together, but the bike number will always be 10-20 bpm lower (non-weight bearing, lower impact, etc).
ReplyDeleteI've done HR training before. It's a pain in the ass and super boring, especially in the early-season base phase (when I first started it, my long runs involved LOTS of walking to keep my HR down), but it really does pay off. Suck it up, stick to it and you'll see some amazing results in your races, even if you don't feel like you've made any progress.
I know the HR tracking makes a big difference but I just can't handle adding another number to my training. Not this year, maybe next year!
ReplyDeleteI know people who have done low heartrate training, and I'm interested in learning about it... but from a journalistic perspective. So if you're willing to share your experiences, I'd love to hear them and maybe write about it someday. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm even more interested in hearing about the flipturn! Haha.
I've done heart rate training, and I've found it too complicated and generalised to make it useful. I figure when I stop making gains on the techniques I'm using just now then I might consider it again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insights! I'm hoping it will be good. And Theia, I think the people on the pool deck will have better stories about my flipturn adventures than I will, because they were the ones who were treated to my feet flapping in the air, ass floating above water, and me popping up on my back instead of my stomach (this happened more than once, FYI.) I am awesome at flip turns now! No I'm not. But I will be serviceable at them!
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