[PaulB]

I did an AnT test this weekend and got some unexpected results. The attachment shows my HR and pace graph. My pace was relatively constant averaging 7:30/mi but my HR climbed for most of the test. In the picture, the red box is about where I would expect my AnT HR to be, that part averages 174, but the green box shows my HR climbing for the remainder of the test, peaking at 194. I did the test at a track near my house so completely flat surface.

For some reference, probably 10 years ago I did a max HR test and got 208 so 194 is not a surprising number to see if I was doing a max HR test but it is surprising during an AnT test.
In previous tests my AnT has consistently been 175-180 and the graph usually gets to about that level and more or less flattens out (some variation but usually around that level).

If I take this test as accurate then my AnT would be 185, but that is higher than it’s ever been after months of not going above AeT during training.

My only thought is that maybe I wasn’t recovered enough before the test? But I didn’t think I needed to be fully recovered for an AnT test.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,
Paul

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous on January 22, 2020 at 11:07 am #36716

Can you post the public link to the workout?

[PaulB]

PaulB on January 22, 2020 at 11:34 am #36719

Hopefully this link works: http://tpks.ws/A56NSJYSKHMFL5MIUAZEV7ISAM

Paul

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on January 22, 2020 at 12:44 pm #36731

Thanks, Paul. That worked.

It looks like the test was from Minute 21 to Minute 51. The average is 186. For the latter twenty minutes of the test, 190. If you’ve seen 208 as a max heart rate before, then the high-180s is not uncommon.

If I take this test as accurate then my AnT would be 185, but that is higher than it’s ever been after months of not going above AeT during training.

Welcome to proper aerobic training…

@reedshea, a regular poster on this forum, has had a similar experience. Read his comment in this thread.

[PaulB]

PaulB on January 22, 2020 at 4:51 pm #36744

Thanks for the reply and insight Scott. At least now I know that what I’m doing is working!

[PaulB]

PaulB on January 23, 2020 at 5:18 pm #36800

Hi Scott,

One more question on this. In the past I heard that for an AnT test to take average HR over the final 20 minutes of the 30 minute effort and based my AnT on that. You referenced the latter 20 minutes, too. But the DIY Anaerobic page (https://uphillathlete.com/diy-anaerobic-test/) says to take the average of the full 30 minutes. Is it best to take the whole 30 minutes or just the final 20? Or is that splitting hairs since in my case it’s a 4 bpm difference?

Thanks,
Paul

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on January 23, 2020 at 7:54 pm #36808

Or is that splitting hairs since in my case it’s a 4 bpm difference?

Correct.

It really comes down to pacing. Joe Friel talks about using the last 20 minutes. I assume that’s because most people will go too hard in the first ten.

More importantly, a slightly lower number isn’t a bad thing. It’s best to be conservative.

To quote Warren Buffett, “It’s better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.” (Becuase there’s more to lose by being wrong.)