What counts as Zone 1 | Uphill Athlete

What counts as Zone 1

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  • #44353
    ian_gunn1
    Participant

    Many of my sessions are hikes on local hills, but are done with someone else and/or a dog, so I can’t wholly control the pace and intensity. They are undulating rather than mountains but can include 1000-1500m of ascent.

    So my question is if I do a 4 hour hike for example but 25% is below zone 1 because sections are flat or downhill, is that a 4 hour Z1 session? Should I regard it as a 3 hour session for training volume purposes? Although I am on my feet for 4 hours.

    Similarly in the early periods of the plan I would like to include some bike rides (but phase these out later in the interests of specificity), but living in a hilly area a 7 hour ride will contain a significant portion of downhill when I have to be freewheeling or even breaking if I am going to make the next bend!

    Then there are the short walks of 1 – 2 hours walking dog with the wife, which could be 50/50 low z1 and recovery. Should these count toward the overall volume target for the week?

    I might be over thinking this, but I don’t want to cheat myself by thinking I am doing more training volume than I really am. Anyone got any guidelines they use?

    Thanks in anticipation

  • Inactive
    Anonymous on #44397

    Hiking downhill gives it own special strength training effect so should count as part of these base training sessions.

    Cycling on the other had involves coasting down hill. My normal way of counting hilly riding is to cut the volume in half. So count your 7 hour rides as 3.5 hours.

    Scott

    Participant
    ian_gunn1 on #44451

    Thanks Scott

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