[Al B]

So – I’m getting to the point where my threshold paces are within 10% of each other. (9:30ish @HR145, 8:30 @ HR166) and I’m looking for pointers/recommendations on how my training should/could change once the 9:30 training pace becomes more consistent.

I’ve read this article: https://uphillathlete.com/when-to-add-intensity-training/ and I’m wondering two things:

1. Do you recommend that I make a hard transition to a Z1 training paces for the easy aerobic runs once I start adding intensity or should it be more gradual. Practically speaking, a hard transition would get me walk/running again for, I’m guessing, a few weeks because I seem to only have an effective training range of 5 bpm (140-145). Current fatigue levels in Z2 is manageable.

2. I suspect that when I add even a little intensity that 8:30 LT2 pace is going to drop. (I was a 2:42 marathon runner 25 years ago . . . and haven’t been in race shape since then). If/when it does, should I pump up the aerobic volume/ down regulate intensity to keep the thresholds within 10%?

My goals for the fall is just to get outside as much as possible but I do want to see if I can run myself into shape and hit some of the longer New England trail races after I turn 50 next spring.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on August 28, 2019 at 9:00 pm #27515

Al B:

Thanks for writing in with your questions. Nice work on getting your aerobic base back in the game. My thoughts on your questions:

1) I can’t see why your Z1 runs would require walking. If the top of Z2 is currently 9:30/mile and 145 you could use 130 for the top of Z1 and I would think this would still put you in the 11min/mile pace range. That’s certainly faster than a walking pace. You could keep one Z2 run/week but I’d limit the time in Z2 to around 45min. Especially once you start adding some Z3 and Z4 runs to the week. Start with some Z3 to build the muscular endurance. Something like 2x15min at 160bpm 1x/week. Build to 2x20min. After 4 weeks of this replace the Z3 with Z4. I like to start with 30-30s for the intro to Z4 work Read the article on 30-30s if you are not familiar with them.

2) I suspect you will see a nice drop in the Z3/LT pace in a few weeks. You MUST keep the aerobic base miles high or these gains will be short lived. Up the Z1 and even recovery paced run volume during the week to keep this critical aerobic support in tact.

Scott

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on August 29, 2019 at 1:40 pm #27569

@arbrust: Here’s the 30-30 article.

[Al B]

Al B on August 30, 2019 at 1:40 pm #27583

Guys – I wanted to thank you for the quick response but it looks like I should have held onto that question for a couple more weeks.

I did my numbers last night and -surprisingly – Ive only been running for 8 weeks. I’ve made much better than expected progress (down from 14 min at AET) but the adaptions are pretty thin and I think my thresholds are still a bit of a moving target.

But I am excited to have a couple of tools in the toolbox for adding intensity (not subtracting aerobic work) to the mix. I’ve used MAF training before. I never got hurt using it – which I cant say of every training system – but I always got caught out when it came time to add intensity. So again thank you for the input.

And for what its worth – I do have problems at my current z1 running pace for mechanical reasons.I have to change my stride a lot at shuffle speed. So much so that its not always a good idea for me to run with that stride.