[jonathan.elwell]

I did the HR drift test last night, did a slow jog for 15 minutes till my HR was at 156 (what I had been using as AeT based on Max HR tests from Garmin). After warm up (which is in the recording) I tried to keep my HR at 156 for an hour (5 miles and only 85ft of gain, so pretty flat). Selecting the last hour to exclude the warm up I get a Pa:Hr of -2.49% – which according to the instructions means I started too low. I can definitely rerun this and see, but base on all the example numbers it seems like 156 for AeT is already on the higher end, so bumping up even higher makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong. My average for pretty much any given section of the run is right at 156, so it seems like I kept it pretty consistent with my starting/target HR.

My run last night on TrainingPeaks
http://tpks.ws/7HSBZEIXY64TBTI4FEYTRMETSU

I’m 33 years old, male, 6ft/200lbs

Any thoughts?

Topic

[Shashi]

Shashi on January 7, 2021 at 3:04 pm #48972

Jonathan,

Looks like there was quite a bit of variation (e.g. 146-161 around min. 20) during your run. Your run is similar to the third example Scott shares in this video. The HR in the video seems much more stable throughout the run compared to your test.

I am not saying your test is not valid, HR variation is just something for you to consider and compare it to the example that Scott has shared.

Hope this helps.

[jonathan.elwell]

jonathan.elwell on January 7, 2021 at 6:03 pm #48976

Sashi, thank you. I think I’m going to retry the test on a nearby track and see if that helps. I was monitoring my HR the entire run, but felt like I had to somewhat constantly adjust to bring it a bit up or down – I think a lot of those blips up and down are from short up or down hill bits, so perhaps a totally flat track will help me stay more consistent.

Thanks for the input!

[Rachel]

Rachel on January 8, 2021 at 2:22 pm #49025

I was going to suggest going to that track nearby. I recommend double checking the distance your watch records against the number of laps you complete. I did a drift test on a track recently and the distance my watch recorded was a bit inaccurate because I forgot to set it in track mode (on a Coros). And maybe try a higher HR to see what happens!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on January 17, 2021 at 8:15 am #49366

In addition to Rachel and Shashi’s recommendations, don’t worry about your result relative to other people. Averages only describe populations and predictions. They’re almost irrelevant when measuring an individual.

I’ve seen AeT HRs as low as 130 and as high as 190. Even at those extremes, the metabolic cost is the same. Other factors just dictate a unique heart rate.

For your next test, a track is the best bet. With a dead flat course, the Pa:HR metric should be pretty reliable.