CRC:

Thanks for sending in your test results and like Scott S said; Greta job on following the protocols so well. What you are describing is quite typical for someone who has been doing exclusively aerobic base training. You’ve seen good improvement in aerobic base as measured by AeT. But not seen much improvement in performance. Keep in mind that the aerobic base is a support system for the endurance training which has a direct impact on performance. With out this unglamorous base the high intensity training needed to improve endurance will have less benefit. But racing off that base training alone will not yield the best results. But now you are poised to add high intensity endurance training and you WILL see performance gains unless something goes wrong. Some specific comments:
1) Why do you care what you max HR is? It has no bearing on, nor relation to performance. Chances are though that it has been affected but all this slow running. You say you feel like you are plodding (typical comment) and for sure your FT fibers have been de-conditioned during this base period so you can generate the power needed to elicit max HR right now. But why do you care about max HR?

2) Your AeT and AnT are about 10% or a bit less apart and surely you should be including high intensity in your workouts. You have also noted that your felt a plateau in AeT gains which is another clue to add HIT to the mix.

3) Your economy is excellent. That bodes well for the performance gains you will no doubt see as you start more specific endurance gains. While maxVO2 is indeed a factor in performance it is not as strong a predictor of endurance as AnT pace. I am not seeing the above average VO2max that you allude to above. But a lower max aerobic power after all the slow base work is also not surprising. To elicit a high O2 uptake you have to have done a lot of hard training. You’ve done none so I’m not surprised.

You now have an aerobic system that can support a more high intensity endurance work and recover faster. Good luck and thanks for the kind words.

Scott

Besides the factors I mention in the previous post, Max HR will drop due to increased cardiac stroke volume. Increased stroke volume will mean a lower HR is needed for the same cardiac output (often called minute volume liters/minute). MaxHT also drops with age due to changes in the sympathetic nervous system. I often see even elite athletes max HR drop from one season to the next. That’s why am saying not to put too much emphasis on maxHR. It just has no relation to endurance performance which is what you care about.

As for your question about what kinds of HIT to do: Consider the following.

“It is an important but unresolved question: Which type of training is most effective (for building endurance). To maintain an intensity level representing 90% of the maximum oxygen uptake for 40 minutes or to tax 100% of the oxygen uptake capacity for 16 minutes.” Per Aastrand. The Textbook of Work Physiology 1970.

Aastrand is one of the great men in exercise science. This question remains unanswered today. The result is that most coaches include a mix of intensities. The mix will be based on several things: Previous experiences: What seemed to make the athlete feel stronger. The length of the event. The athlete’s training history. Kilian likes to do a ton of Zone 3 (either steady state or intervals) two months out from his event and then when that feels comfortable he adds Z4 and even Z5 intervals on top of the Z3 workouts. Most people will not be able to handle that much intensity. But I can tell you that no one workout is the secret sauce. The various intensities and lengths of intervals seem to interact with one another in a symbiotic way. So you do some Z5 45secs hill repeats and 3 days later you do 2x20min Z3 intervals and you notice you feel much faster than the last time you did a Z3 workout. Is it the accumulation of the Z3 workouts that is making you faster or the addition of the supra max hill repeats. No one really knows but it has been my experience that some mix of Z3, 4 and 5 interval training seems to have a greater effect than a steady diet of anyone of them.

What’s the right mix for you? As with most training questions there is no one right answer. I recommend using Z3 to prepare for Z4. Progress the volume of the intensity so you can gage your ability to handle it and not put yourself under by making too radical of a change to quickly.

Scott