[mgoat4]

I started last year with an aerobic deficiency (ADS) of 27% (confirmed by multiple rounds of tests). Since it was so high, I opted to not develop a Transition Period plan, but to simply do regular, increasing Zone 2 until it came down to that desired 10% level for harder training. I brought it to 12% in 4 months, then in Sept. I got an injury and have been in rehab. I’m ready to start again, and I’m re-reading the book. My question: With ADS, do I actually need to JUST do regular, long Z2 sessions until I hit that sub-10% zone, and THEN start the Transition Period, or can I actually just start with the Transition Period in the book? (It contains mostly Zone 1, which is contraindicated for ADS.)

Thanks!

Topic

[mgoat4]

mgoat4 on January 21, 2023 at 12:27 pm #74909

p.s. I meant to add: “…start with the Transition Period in the book — and make those Zone 1 sessions Zone 2 until I’m free of ADS and ready for more Zone 1. (It contains mostly Zone 1, which is contraindicated for ADS).”

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 22, 2023 at 4:38 am #74927

Hi mgoat4,
Yes, you can start the transision period. In fact, I would say that at 12% (if you find you’re still there or when you get back to that point) that you’d be close enough not to need to replace all the Zone 1 with Zone 2. This is a situation in which you can tune into your body to see what feels right on that day. It’s good to remember that even though we have all this scientific data, this is still more of an art than a science, since our bodies are highly individual and changing all the time — which female hormones play a large part in!

The good news is that the metabolic changes you made with all that prior training don’t go away quickly, so you might find you haven’t lost much. I’ve been rehabbing an injury for a year, after 2ish years of regular training, and even though I’m not yet back to running again, I can sense that my aerobic base is still pretty good.

[mgoat4]

mgoat4 on January 22, 2023 at 4:15 pm #74959

Hi Jane, thanks for your reply. I’m glad to hear it’s okay to start the Transition period (noted re: not subbing all the Z1 with Z2 if I’m still at a good place with the ADS).

Regarding prior metabolic changes not going away quickly: I think I’ve seen that in myself already, it’s encouraging! When I was injured in July, I was able to do some minor training for the following 6 weeks, and after 2 months my AeT had barely changed. I was quite surprised, as my frequency and mileage was dramatically reduced. Then in September I partially tore my Achilles (or soleus… we aren’t sure). I took about 2 months off, did PT, and recently my AeT had barely gone down. That really surprised me. Not sure on AnT but I suspect my ADS % has climbed. This week I plan to retest AeT and AnT and come up with an organized plan. Thanks again!

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 23, 2023 at 3:46 am #74981

Glad you’ve experienced the durability of the metabolic changes, too!

One more thing you might want to consider since you’re coming back from injury is to extend the transition period. You can extend a 6-week transition period to 8 weeks by repeating weeks 2 and 5, or to 10 weeks by repeating weeks 2, 3, 5, 6.

[mgoat4]

mgoat4 on January 24, 2023 at 11:52 am #75040

Yeah, definitely 8 weeks!

One more question… in the book’s Transition Period planning section on page 190, for the long Zone 1 and Zone 2 sessions it mentions “… should be #% /should not be more than #% … of total aerobic training volume”. Then it mentions “Make up the rest of the volume with easy aerobic at Zone 1, or recovery pace. To confirm, do recovery pace sessions count into the math for aerobic weekly volume, or just Zone 1 and 2? The associated chart has 2 “Recovery” spots, so I want to do the math right (see attached screenshot).

Thanks so much for the help!

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 25, 2023 at 1:15 am #75055

Yes, planned recovery sessions count towards total aerobic volume.