What's your Z2 running pace?

I'll admit that I initially used the 220-age method when setting my HRM last year.  I just used a slightly different calculation recently, and don't remember it right off the bat (got it at home) - but it's close to the same MaxHR for me.

Last fall, I'd average about 9:45m/m at ~140 bpm.  Right now, I'm closer to 10:30s (missing two months sucks!)  However, I've found that it's coming back quicker than I thought. 

I also find it rather difficult to stay in the lower zones.  As I'm running, I end up rationalizing: "Train as you race, race as you train", and start pushing it.

My z2 for running is 141-146 and my pace at this HR depends on when during the run I'm in it (which means I definately need to stay in a solid base phase now) but typically averages between 9:00-9:15min/mile right now over a 40 min period.  I start out at 8:50min/mile and usually have to drop to 9:00-9:15min/mile by the end of 40 min.

This HR training zone was determined by my coach through a run LT test I took last week.  My running LT occurs at 176bpm.

I haven't been counting footfalls, but I've definitely been working on faster turnover.  Last night, while running on the indoor track, I could really 'feel' what that faster turnover has been doing for me when I picked it up a little at the end.  That's really getting me fired up for some running races!

I determined my HR zones based on a 30 minute running time trial.  The avg HR for the last 20 minutes divided by 1.01 equals the Lactate Threshold.  For me, my avg HR was 170; this yeilds a LT of 168.  Based on the charts in the TTTB, my zone 2 is 143 - 153 bpm.  The pace to stay in zone 2 depends on how long the run is.  Usually, my zone 2 pace is between 10 m/mile and 10:30 m/mile.

TJ

John,

I tried the treadmill test, but wasn't really happy with the results.  I plotted the data, like in TTTB, but I really didn't see an inflection in the graph.  And picking my LT based on ventilory threshold didn't work very well either.  I thinks the 1 minute steps recommended in TTTB are too short.  So, I did the 30 minute time trial method.  This method seems to have worked very well.  My percieved exertion in the zone 2, based on this method, feels like what I would expect zone 2 to feel like.

TJ

Here's what my most recent run LT test looked like (test taken on 2-4-05 first thing in the morning).

You can see that my lactic acid concentration really shoots up fast once I get past 2.4m/mol.  This is because I haven't done hardly any running since the Chicago Marathon last October 04.  When "trained" I typically hold in the 2-2.5m/mol range for a longer time period.

(hr.gif)

LOL.

My heart rate was taken at various intervals when my lactate blood sample was taken.  The concentration of lactic acid, measured in m/mol and my heart rate at each concentration is illustrated on the graph.

As a general rule of thumb, once you reach 4.0m/mol, that is your LT.  However, with me, my coach has been working with me enough and we've done enough of these tests that he's able to extrapolate pretty accurately where my LTHR is based on the time of the year (if I'm fit or not) and the time of day (earlier my results show a lower HR and later my results show a higher HR).

He told me that  based on this data and the other factors I've mentioned, my run LTHR is 176, until we take another test in about 6-8 weeks.