[Davide]

Hi, it’s my first post on this forum. I am passionately reading “Training for the Uphill Athlete” and I thank the authors because it is truly a text to always have at hand.
I come to my question, which perhaps already has some answers, in any case here it is.
I am definitely affected by ADS, I have done some tests to measure my AeT and AnT thresholds and the deviation is greater than 10%.
In this case, the volume of my trainings must be done necessarily including elevation gain or is it better to work mainly on the flat and leave the elevation gain for quality works? On the uphill, if I want to stay in zone 2, under the AeT threshold, I can currently only walk or run for a very short time. So is it better to continue with volumes that include vert or not and wait to include them, only when the aerobic deficit has reduced under 10%?
In my trainings, the watch+HR chest strap, is always set to notify me if I go beyond zone 2 and just to give an example, yesterday I did a 1h30′ workout with 400 meters of elevation gain, where I spent 69% in z2 and 26% in z3. In this workout, however, there were also 6 reps of 15 seconds with 2 minutes of active rest. So too much times in z3?

Thanks a lot and greetings from Italy,
Davide

Topic

[MarkPostle]

MarkPostle on April 14, 2022 at 8:43 pm #65587

Davide, If you want to move the needle on your AeT then you certainly need to prioritize the percentage of your training that’s is in Z1/2. Whether that is done in flat or hilly terrain is a different question. What kind of terrain do your goals have? Are those goals going to require a running gait exclusively? How much time do you have to prepare? It is very very common that folks are unable to use a running gait uphill and stay under AeT. This is just part of the deal, walk those sections and run the others. The reality of pretty much all mountaineering/ultra running events is they’re going to involve some or all walking so you might as well train in the way you’ll need to perform.
As to your example of 69% Z2 and 26% Z3 I would say that’s heavy on the Z3 if your exclusively trying to improve your sub AeT pace, assuming thats reflective of the way you train every session. That said if that’s just 1X per week that’s a different story.

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on April 15, 2022 at 10:40 am #65605

Your *overall* aerobic training volume should be ~90% in Z1/Z2. Not every workout has to be 90% Z1/Z2 of course. But if you have ADS then you will gain more from focusing on Z1 and Z2 rather than Z3 and above anyway.

[Davide]

Davide on April 16, 2022 at 6:36 am #65637

Thanks for your answers, my goal is personal, I don’t have any competition in mind, but I would like to run some small 20-30 km trail with 2/3000 meters of altitude difference in our mountains (Apuan Alps). I understand that workouts where I go too far in zone 3 are not very productive, but staying in zone 2 is really a fight! I can do it well when I train on a flat level, but on routes with elevation gain it is much more difficult … But from the answers received I understand that to improve the aerobic base I still have to prefer these routes with elevation gain, since my goal is to do trail in the mountains. In general I try to train 3 to 5 times a week, always staying over an hour.

Thanks again to everyone, happy Easter,
Davide