[Mike]

Hi,

I’m 61yo with ADS. I’ve been training the past 6 weeks running at a slow pace with my HR in the 125-130 range to stay in approximated Zone 2. I performed a AeT test with the treadmill set to 3mph and a 10% incline. After a 15 min warm up, my HR for the first 30 min was 130 and for the next 30 min was 132 for a 1.5% increase and well below the 5%.

Based on these results, it seems that 132 would be too low to set at the top of my Z2 since there wasn’t much HR drift. Should I redo the test by increasing the treadmill speed to a point where I am closer to a 5% change or could I estiamte the top of Z2 as 137 (5% of 130)?

Thanks,
Mike

Topic

[Rachel]

Rachel on October 5, 2019 at 12:28 pm #29477

What was the average HR for the first 2-3 minutes of the test? Personally I would either retest soon or just add 3 bpm or so (to the starting HR) until the next test.

[Mike]

Mike on October 5, 2019 at 2:41 pm #29492

My ave HR for the 1st 3 min was 125.

[derekosborne22]

derekosborne22 on October 6, 2019 at 4:34 am #29518

Hi Mike,

I’m fairly new to all this so bare that in mind re below.

We’re of similar age – I’m 64 – and sounds like we’ve been “AeT” training for about the same time. I did an AeT test before starting (was bike fit, but mostly Z3/Z4 based training) and definitely had/have ADS – my starting point AeT was 110. Now everyone’s different but from your note it doesn’t sound as though you have ADS. I think your proposed 137 sounds like a good point to start another 4-6 week block and then retest.

I would suggest you do an AnT (Lactic Threshold) test as your AeT may be getting to within 10% of your AnT, in which case you may need to rebalance Z1 and Z2 sessions so you don’t overtrain, but I’m sure there are others on the site who can comment better on that – I’m still some way off my AnT. As a reference point, my AnT is pretty solidly around 148, at least before I started this base training regime.

Hope this helps,
Derek

[Mike]

Mike on October 6, 2019 at 7:13 am #29520

Derek,

Thanks for your feedback and information. My training goal is Mt. Rainier in Aug 2020. My goal is to build as big a base as possible between now and Feb with slow runs varying in distance and time with a recovery week every 4 weeks. In Feb, I am starting the 24 week mountaineering training plan by Scott & Steve. I’ve not done the AnT test and it would be interesting to see what the results might reveal.

I read your other posts and it seems like we have similar questions on how to adjust our AeT as we get fitter?

Thanks,
Mike

[derekosborne22]

derekosborne22 on October 6, 2019 at 8:12 am #29521

Thank Mike ….. sounds like we both have volcano objectives in 2020 – mine is to Japan in April 2020 for a 10 day ski tour culminating in Mt Fuji.

Sounds like our plans are similar as well, except I’m not running (old achilles injury) and sticking to inclined walking, stair master or out on a real hill/mountain – 4 week cycle, 3 weeks increasing duration then cut back for one easier week. Will adapt come the winter comes depending on snow – if and when it comes, I’ll be at least one day in the mountains on skis most weeks.

All the best with your training – if you want to share more privately you’ll find me on Facebook messenger.

Derek

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on October 6, 2019 at 9:19 pm #29569

Mike:

Thanks for writing in and good luck in your training. With such a small amount of HR drift I would say you are probably safe using 135 for the top of Z2. You can always retest using that for your starting HR and see what happens to drift but I’d feel pretty comfortable using 135.

Scott

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on October 8, 2019 at 8:42 am #29650

One more thought: Don’t get too hung up on exact “measurements” using bpm. Just round down to the nearest 5 bpm. Saying a threshold is “132” or “133” is false precision. In those cases, just use 130.

As Scott J. said, I think you’re safe to go with 135.

[Mike]

Mike on October 13, 2019 at 6:07 pm #30207

Many thanks to everybody for your feedback and advice. I’ve increased my AeT to 135 and plan to retest in another couple of weeks. I am definitely starting to feel aerobically stronger and have to walk less to keep my HR <135. After almsot 9 weeks since starting my training, I ran a unplanned 5K for time on my Friday night run. While it wasn’t my goal when I first started out to test my 5K ability, I increased my tempo and it felt great to open up and I didn’t haven to stop due to muscle fatigue or inability to keep going. When I finished, I took almsot 5 min off my previous best 5K time and today I was almsot 4 min better on my 5mi time while staying in Z2 and below. It appears training is paying off and maybe I am starting to minimize my AED.

Thanks again,
Mike