HR Zones: 220-Age - the TRUTH! (Page 10)

You really MEANT to write LTHR testing right???

Oops- I meant LT/HR testing.  I know that the MAX HR isn't important- I did read that part of the thread

Thanks for the advice.  I'll plan to do this test outside.  I think for mental reasons I'll avoid doing it on the track.

Another question- it's really hot and humid here right now.  Should I wait and go ahead for a cooler day or just go ahead and do it now?

Again, best to do it in conditions similar to those you train in.  But if it's like here, it's MUCH hotter than usual (just as damn humid) so you may want to go early in the morning or wait for at least "normal" heat if you can.

I've learned to train with lower than higher numbers, IOW I think it pays a lot more to be conservative to a certain extent. I think this way because this season (began training back on Nov 05) I’ve been working A LOT on my swimming/biking and running base and more than ever I’ve been able to remain consistent. The main reason for that I believe it is because anytime I workout I leave *a bit* in the tank for the next day, hence I am ready to tackle my following session(s).

What I do all the time is to train primarily by HR when going easy or steady and by pace/watts when going moderate or hard. Why? Well using HR keeps me from pushing more than I should and by pace keeps me from holding back too much when my HR goes crazy due to different reasons. BUT I’ve been working a LOT in develop that “feel” and pretty much use all  (HR, pace, feel, watts) to gauge my effort and determine when something is “off” 

Train with your LTHR zones and experiment with them a bit. Your zones 1 and 2 might feel TOO easy but that’s ok. If your zone 3 and 4 feel not so hard maybe you can adjust it by a few bpm and you should re-test in a month or so...

First, don't be "disappointed" with your HR.  It's just a number.  Higher (or lower) doesn't make it better or worse.  Do you know how far you ran?  Did your pace change materially over the 30min?  You will always end at a higher HR and it's better to be able to push up the pace towards the end than to fade. 

I'd probably go with an LT of 171 for now (how do the resulting zones match up to where you do your normal runs?).  But you can always try the test again.  You'll get better at knowing how to push yourself steadily over the 30min. 

And hopefully it won't be so hot next time!

Thanks!

When I started the test, I ran the first 10 mins at a 9:02 pace, (HR wwas int he high 160's-170) and then I slowed down but my HR was pretty steady around 172.  My overall pace for the test was a 9:22, which seems slow to me.  I ran just over 3 miles- I don't have my Garmin with me to check the distance. 

My AVG. HR for most of my tempo workouts have had an AVG HR in the 160's.  That's when I'm pushing it but not to the point that I feel like I'm dying.  A HR in the 150's seems VERY comfrotable for me that I can maintain forever.  A HR in the 140's is really easy and feels like I'm not even working.  I know that when I'm really pushing my HR will be in the low 170's and then I usually back off since I can't maintain that for a long time.  My HR has spiked up close to 180 when I'm really pushing it up hills on the bike.  It'll hit the low 170's when I'm running up hills. 

1) When doing a z2 run I've been told to keep to the upper threshold. That seems to give the best results. However, sometimes I've run at a lower threshold if not feeling well, coming off a tough workout the day before (recovery run/bike), high humidity, heat, etc. But generally I understand it's best to shoot for the top of z2. That's where I understand you get the most bang for your HR buck.

2) I think the answer here is . . . it depends. how is the rest of your workout week divided up? what other training are you doing during the week? the general idea of the HR monitor is to help your days be hard/easy/hard/easy and get the most out the time put in.

glancing at your logs i would say go z4 on the bike just once a week - though coach mike might say not even that much. just keep a hard workout sandwiched between two easy z2 days. that is a very general suggestion though. there are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

have you looked at the BT HR based training plans? in my experience, going through one of Coach Mikes plans was a great introduction to HR based training.

Go back and read this thread from the beginning.  Then re-ask any questions you have.

Hi Tommo,

the 220-Age formula has been pretty much discredited, which is what the point of this thread was originally.  It's too general and was based on some very flimsy science to begin with. What's now generally considered the most reliable method for determining your HR training zones is the Lactate Threshold or LT method.

Details about this method, including a testing protocol you can do on your own to find it, can be found in an article here.
 

Tough to say, we're all different. I'm a 42 year old man who smoked for 27 years and has a family history of heart disease. I can't imagine that my training zones should be applied to someone without that background.

What you can use for now is RPE or Rate of Perceived Exertion. Basically it's "how hard do you feel you're working" on a scale of 1-10. At the bottom of this page is a chart matches this scale with specific HR zones. I've found it to be pretty accurate.

As to what heart rate to target, it depends on the specific purpose of the workout. For endurance workouts, keep the effort on the low side. Yes, you'll feel like you're going too slow but the benefits will definitely accrue. You're not supposed to do every run like it's race day.

On the flip side, if you're doing a speed or strength workout, work hard.

Traininng & racing are different things.  Most of your running will be done in training and at a pace slower than your race pace.  If you go out and run hard every time, you will get faster for a short period of time but you will quickly plateau (in addition to runnning a much higher risk of injury).  If you train smart and do more running at an easy pace, you will make steady gains for a long time.

 So, yes, you should run slow & easy as your plan calls for.  Trust that you will still be improving your conditioning.

Mike has links to sprint and Olympic race strategies in this thread:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=46175&posts=12&highlight=race&highlightmode=1#M458272

If you want to keep it simpler you can use the following: