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Strange Lactate #’s

  • Creator
    Topic
  • June 28, 2022 at 2:58 pm #68651
    adamkurland
    Participant

    My first lactate test. Lifelong exerciser, with last 6 months all zone 2 per MAF. Wanted to see if anyone can make sense of this:
    Resting lactate 1.4.
    20 minutes in, HR 123, lactate 1.7.
    Then I sort of crossed over to a strange walk/run, and lactate spiked to 4.3 at 128 bpm, 30 minutes.
    At 40 minutes I was at a comfortable run pace, 140 bpm, and lactate dropped to 2.7.
    45 minutes, 145 bpm and lactate to 1.4.
    Lactate went back up in the next 20 minutes. BPMs of 160 and 170 saw concurrent lactate measurements of 5.7 and 6.6.
    We missed some steps due to faulty readings.

    Testing done by an experienced coach. I was nasal breathing the entire time, and fasted. He (coach) have me a reasonable narrative around the spike and drop, but I wanted to hear your thoughts and implications for training zones. I’m entirely focused on longevity and metabolic health, so care mostly about being correct in the lower zones.

  • Creator
    Topic

Posted In: General Training Discussion

  • Participant
    adamkurland on June 30, 2022 at 11:54 am #68767

    To add context: we did our steps based on target heart rate, not pace. The above tabular:
    Time(mm)/HR/Lactate
    0/60/1.4
    20/123/1.7
    30/128/4.3
    40/140/2.7
    45/145/1.4
    55/160/5.7
    65/170/6.6

    Participant
    Al B on June 30, 2022 at 3:02 pm #68770

    It would be hard to second guess your coach so I’d recommend going with what he told you. But if I got those readings on my own I would:

    1. Wonder if the reading at 30/128 was incorrect (and think about rerunning the test).
    2. Wonder if there was something wrong with the warm up (and think about warming up for 40-45 minutes before I started the next step test).
    3. Wonder if I was getting different lactate responses from walking and running in the walk/run portion of the test (and think about ways to even it out).
    4. Wonder if there are reasons I would be more efficient at HR145 than below. (FWIW – I’ve spent a lot of training around HR145 in the last few years and become much more efficient there. So much so that my lactate is consistently lower at 145 than 140 in a step test like this).
    5. Wonder what readings at 25 and 35 could have told me.

    Hope that helps.

    Participant
    adamkurland on June 30, 2022 at 3:17 pm #68772

    Thanks- he did say a first lactate test is often strange because we don’t know where to focus or how my body will react. Assuming #’s are correct, would it be fair to treat 145 at the absolute top of zone 2?

    Participant
    Reed on July 21, 2022 at 7:51 pm #69356

    “would it be fair to treat 145 at the absolute top of zone 2?”

    This seems reasonable and conservative (a good thing!), yes. How does that correspond with the MAF zone you’ve been working in?

    The next time you do a lactate test, consider also tracking the pace. (And gradient, if you’re on a treadmill.) Speed at aerobic threshold is something that can improve for many years…

    Participant
    adamkurland on July 22, 2022 at 6:46 am #69376

    Reed- thanks for the help. I’m training for longevity, rather than a specific race/time, and had been sticking to the non-adjusted MAF (180-Age), which was 138. Like you said, I’d rather be conservative. So even 140 feels a bit liberating, especially on hot days.

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