Ok to spike into Z3?

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September 10, 2021 at 3:42 pm #56936

goingup
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My local hills where I do 90% of my training have some climbs that are just into my Z3 levels no matter how slow I run. When I walk these sections, I have a tough time staying in low Z2 and frequently am in Z1 (I seem to have a big hr gap between fast hike and slow run).

I’m entering my off-season and want to utilize the time to do some big aerobic base building and attack my ADS. Is spending short periods of time in Z3 detrimental or is the major concern that you might be too wiped to spend extra time in Z2? Trying to be exact with my cutoffs leads to some comical extended run 10 steps walk 10 steps sections. I’m not too proud to walk sections (walking is great) but I’d prefer to limit the transitions if I can.

In the past, I haven’t had an issue with recovery when I decided to run slowly during these sections but I want to be the most effective with my training time and if short periods of time in low Z3 cause a negative impact to improving my AeT, I’ll stop immediately.

Upcoming races: 50k, 50m, contemplating 100k
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Posted In: Mountain Running

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Shashi on September 11, 2021 at 6:51 pm #56954

For most people with ADS, it is common to jog-walk on their aerobic workouts even on flat terrain. Since your goal is to fix ADS, I would recommend staying below AeT. An occasional spike in HR above AeT won’t hurt but based on what you said if you do 10 steps walk/run then it is likely you will spend a lot more time in Z3.

Here are some resources for further reading –

Forum Discussion – ADS Slow Walking

UA Article – Slow Best for Fitness

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goingup on September 18, 2021 at 6:12 pm #57158

My core question is if going into Z3 for short periods of time has a negative impact on one’s aerobic improvement. Is the primary concern that you might be too tired to continue further Z2 training / risk injury or is it similar to someone who is avoiding sugar in their diet where one candy bar can send their system out of wack for a while?

The good news is that a recent AeT retest shows that I’m now fine to run the uphill sections of my local hills but I’m still curious if <5 minutes of low Z3 during a 60-90 minute workout will end up hurting me.

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Shashi on September 19, 2021 at 9:13 am #57165

I’m still curious if <5 minutes of low Z3 during a 60-90 minute workout will end up hurting me.

No, it won’t. As I said earlier an occasional spike into Z3 is okay.

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goingup on September 22, 2021 at 2:28 pm #57256

A recent AeT test shows that I am close to the magical 10% gap between thresholds. In the book, it mentions that as the gap narrows, you might need to spend more time in Z1 vs Z2 as a percentage of total training time. Is there any best practice formula to go along with this (related to the size of the gap) or is it a matter of recovery time / perceived effort?

I did 80 minutes at the top of my new Z2 and it definitely felt tougher than my prior runs.

Participant

Shashi on September 22, 2021 at 3:09 pm #57257

As your AeT increases and is within 10% of your AnT, it will be tough to do long workouts at top of your Z2. I am not aware of any formula, but as you said see how you feel/recover after workouts with a lower heart rate (Zone 1) and make adjustments. In general, do the majority of your workouts in Zone 1.

For high-intensity training, you might want to read this article.

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