[IainMckeeman]

Hello everyone,

Sorry this is a bit of an essay

Background
My main sports are mountain/fell running, hiking and less frequently rock climbing and mountain biking (All in Scotland this year). I purchased Training for the Uphill Athlete in Jan as I was looking for some more guidance on creating my own training plans. It is an excellent book by the way.

This year I was coming back from a knee injury from a bike crash and my initial aim was to get some base fitness and remain injury free. Due to Covid all my race were cancelled and and so in the end I’ve concentrated on mostly very steady efforts with some intensity every so often. I think I have come to realise that my main weakness now is strength/muscular endurance based.
I was wondering if someone could sanity check my thresholds. I’m aware that I should have repeated these tests more frequently.

AeT:
First test Jan 2020
Place: Canal towpath
Time: 0:51:57
Distance: 10.9 km
Avg pace: 4:55/km
Avg HR: 158
Drift: +2.5 %

Notes: Felt very comfortable. I realised my AeT would be higher but was happy to initially use this HR because my aim at the beginning of the year was slow and steady.

Second test Nov 2020
Place: Canal towpath
Time: 1:04:06
Distance: 14.3 km
Avg pace: 4:29/km
Avg HR: 166
Drift: +2.0 %

Notes: Legs were not fresh for this test. Felt easy on aerobic system. Had to pay close attention to keep pace up. Quite a lot of localised leg fatigue near the end.

AnT:
Place: Local hill
Time: 59:13:21 (35 min uphill, the rest on rolling very boggy rough terrain easy to get HR high)
Hill grade: 20 %
Distance: 8.9 km
El gain: 520 m
Avg HR: 188

Notes: Location restricted due to Covid. Extremely tough session. Was my HR strap functioning properly? Work rate was definitely correct, if my HR increased a few beats I had to slow again. Max HR is somewhere around 196.

Some thoughts that I would like some advice on:
-From the AeT it seems like I have improved over the year, but I have not reached my AeT yet in testing. The pace required for this seems to be much higher than I am comfortable with on flat ground. I think I would need to first condition my legs for a higher pace before I could reach my aerobic threshold.
-My AeT must be somewhere around 170-175, does anyone agree with this?
– If my AeT is 170 and my AnT is 188 then I actually have a 10% difference and therefore a bit aerobic deficient?
-Based on these results I have been doing a lot of sessions in the recovery zone (approx 40 % of time based on TrainingPeaks). Is there any negative of carrying on in this manner given that I am still seeing fitness improvements?
-My leg muscles tiring are always the thing holding me back. But I was wondering if this is always the case with mountain running? Anyway I will definitely be working on that this winter.

-This summer I did manage to get out and do the Cullin Ridge, a technical scramble with some graded climbing. It was 32 km, 3000m +- and took 19hrs. TrainingPeaks gave a TSS of 600+. This seems extremely high so do you have a very rough idea of what TSS a long mountaineering day like this should give?

Thanks very much if you make it to the end!
Iain

Topic

[Shashi]

Shashi on December 8, 2020 at 8:30 am #47974

This summer I did manage to get out and do the Cullin Ridge, a technical scramble with some graded climbing. It was 32 km, 3000m +- and took 19hrs. TrainingPeaks gave a TSS of 600+. This seems extremely high so do you have a very rough idea of what TSS a long mountaineering day like this should give?

You might find this forum topic helpful to estimate TSS for long days on the mountain.

[John S]

John S on December 8, 2020 at 9:02 am #47975

I think it would be reasonable to set your AeT at 170, based on that information. And from your description of your workouts, it would seem to me that even though there is more than 10% between the two thresholds, the load on your body when operating at AeT is hard enough that doing most of your workouts in easy zones is the way to go/continue.

I am not running at your pace, but similarly find it difficult to maintain an AeT pace on flat ground. For threshold testing I use a treadmill at 10% grade which makes it more achieveable.

[IainMckeeman]

IainMckeeman on December 9, 2020 at 3:22 am #48029

It seems like my previous reply was deleted somehow…

Thanks Shashi and John S for your input

I do wonder whether I would see greater improvements in pace and ability to handle work load if I incorporated a more frequent structured intensity work. Most of my intensity comes from fartlek/ tempo sessions based on feeling on the day.