Hi,
Sorry for the somewhat lengthy post mostly for context, my actual questions at the end :).
I’m 31 and have been consistently training in trail running for almost 2 years now. I started using a Garmin Forerunner watch a 15 months ago (and read Uphill Athlete around the same time), and have been training aerobically ever since.
I have been training 15 months using the same Garmin zones which now feel intuitive (although that doesn’t mean they are right). But I definitely feel “something different” when I reach over 150 BPM, which happens to be the top of my Zone 2.
I recently recently switched to a Coros Apex 2 and did the Coros Fitness test and it estimated my Threshold HR to be 181, which is almost exactly what I would have intuitively guessed based on feeling (~182 was my guess). But based on my HR reserve (which is pretty wide at 160 BPM: 44 BPM min, 204 BPM max), the zones it recommends don’t look familiar at all. Is that just Coros’ own calculation method?
The current zones I have had for 15 months and which feel intuitive are :
Zone 1= 120-135 (easy)
Zone 2 = 125-150 (aerobic)
Zone 3 = 150-165 (endurance)
Zone 4 = 165-181 (anaerobic endurance)
Zone 5 >181
The Karvonen method gives me a slightly more elevated version of this (which is fine by me, I don’t want to overtrain…). I obviously should do an drift test ASAP do figure out my Aet and compare to the Uphill calculator https://uphillathlete.com/aerobic-training/uphill-athlete-training-zones-heart-rate-calculator/.
I have no plans on doing a Metabolic Efficiency Test as 1) I don’t know of any lab here (in France) that would do it and I don’t care about my VO2max, 2) I couldn’t justify the expense. I just enjoy trail running 6 days/week as the most fun way to move through the mountains, no plans on running races or anything like that. I just want to train right because I like to optimize my potential for my own sake and run over long distances solo, hence the desire to set my zones correctly.
The questions I can’t seem to find an answer to is:
– If these zones are incorrect, why do they feel natural? Is it just conditioning after running in them?
– Since my threshold is 181 BPM according to Coros, is it normal than I can maintain an average of 192 BPM over a 10k or even over a semi-marathon? According Uphill Athlete, that would make 192 my AnT.And trust me, it isn’t the wrist watch acting out, one can feel the difference between running at 90% of your max HR, and 95% (whether it is in the heart pounding, or the sheer amount of will you need to continue moving forward). I have a background of 15 years of competitive judo, so lengthy anaerobic work feels like home and extremely enjoyable, long-distance/aerobic training is a new world to me in that regard and why I am trying to get the aerobic zones right. Still, it feels “abnormal” that I can average that high an HR, am I THAT aerobically deficient then (despite years of hiking), or maybe I’m just anaerobically trained/gifted (and please, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fast runner, 192 BPM gives me a 45′ 10K and a 1h40 semi-marathon…)?
