[Jan]

Jan on February 15, 2020 at 1:29 am · in reply to: Making Alterations to the Plan #38210

@Scott Semple: But would you say that it’s better for long goal events to have, say, 2 weekly 10 mile aerobic runs than 4 weekly 5 mile aerobic runs? Plus long runs, ME, hill sprints of course.

[Jan]

Jan on February 12, 2020 at 2:55 am · in reply to: Help heart rate drift test part 2 #38006

First, don’t do this test after a weightlifting session. Be rested.
You need to warm up running. Then you need the average HR of the first 30 minutes (the warm-up doesn’t count) and the average HR of the second 30 minutes.
I wouldn’t call it a stable HR when it suddenly is 17 beats higher, but I can’t tell you why this happens. Maybe just not lifting weights before helps.

[Jan]

Jan on January 20, 2020 at 12:08 am · in reply to: Distributing ME, Z3 and Strength #36545

Good answer!
I probably should drop the Z3 workout until after the march trip, maybe I’ll try a short Z3 workout anyway and see how much it fatigues me.

[Jan]

Jan on January 19, 2020 at 9:20 am · in reply to: Distributing ME, Z3 and Strength #36526

Hi Scott,

thanks for the answer!

About dropping the volume of strength training: My strength (especially for pull-ups) already decreased dramatically since I focused more on endurance training, so I’m not so sure about dropping it even further. But I will think about it.

About doing strength on friday: My plan was to do the friday long Z1 on roller skis and do a long run on saturday. So I would have a long aerobic work-out, which are the most specific for my events, for each modality.

If I keep the long Z1 on friday, would you still do ME on thursday? Is it a good idea to do back-to-back long aerobic workouts (both around 3-4 hours) already fatigued?

Strength and Z3 are the least specific for my goals. Maybe I do strength on sunday (and cut it back to 2 sets when I feel fatigued) and keep the monday Z3 intervals short (like 3×6 minutes). What do you think?

[Jan]

Jan on December 21, 2019 at 9:21 am · in reply to: Advice on best plan for 12 week, hut-hut plan #34764

And now for something completely different, @Swenglish:

I already booked and will be in the train from Stockholm-Arlanda heading north during the night from 12th march to 13th march. Heading back from Ritsem (near Vakkotavare) on 23rd march, taking the train from Gällivare to Stockholm that night. Let me know if you will be in one of these trains!

[Jan]

Jan on December 21, 2019 at 7:31 am · in reply to: Advice on best plan for 12 week, hut-hut plan #34763

Yes, there’s a bus to Gällivare every day at about 14:30.

I will have a 15 kg pack this year, including food and gas for 9 days and complete camping gear …

I like the food choices at the huts, so I wouldn’t bring anything except maybe some spices and garlic.

Carrying bivy gear up there even for hut trips is the standard, but I wouldn’t bring any: You are never further away from a hut than 4 hours and the trail is always marked (and you should have a GPS), spending a night with emergency gear seems more dangerous than just pushing to the next hut. Being fast and light seems like the safer option to me.

Having 10 kilos less in your pack will be the easiest way to keep up with the pace of fitter people.

[Jan]

Jan on December 17, 2019 at 4:29 am · in reply to: Advice on best plan for 12 week, hut-hut plan #34517

Of course you should train, that’s why we are all here, just don’t overdo it with the running. I would definitely not run 6 hours in one go after 2 months of structured training!

I’ve been on your route in march 3 years ago. I didn’t find it too crowded, but Abisko-Nikkaluokta is still by far the most popular route up there. That also means good firm snow and tracks from snow mobiles and skiers, so you can be quite fast.
If you want to avoid the crowds:
– Go from Abiskojaure to Unna Allakas and from there to Alesjaure. That way also all the uphill training makes sense 😉
– If you arrive at Sälka early, think about going northeast to Nallostugan. Off-trail, but easy to navigate and much less crowded. And the mountain Nallo is beautiful
– Why aren’t you going from Kaitumjaure south to Teusajaure and then to Vakkotavare and catch the bus there? You wouldn’t have to go back to Singi, have less people and a nice route. The route between Teusajaure and Vakkotavare is marked with sticks, even though the map says it’s unmarked in winter.

Generally south of Singi it gets less crowded, as everyone is going to Nikkaluokta. At Kaitumjaure for example I was the only guest (enjoy the sauna there!)

As you already know the huts there it may be needless to say, but keep your pack light! No need for more than 5 kg/25 liters of gear and food in my opinion!

[Jan]

Jan on December 15, 2019 at 11:39 pm · in reply to: Advice on best plan for 12 week, hut-hut plan #34422

Hi Swenglish,

where exactly are you going? I will be in Sarek National Park in march …
Right now I’m exclusively training for running, but I will add some weighted hill climbs, some roller skiing (Decathlon has rather cheap roller skis) and maybe some longer hikes on hilly terrain with weight soon.
That being said, to me it seems that your fitness level is quite good and 20 km with a rather light pack for hut trips probably won’t be too much for you. You seem so motivated that I would rather worry about overtraining/injuring myself before the trip. Getting some roller skis and not overdoing it with the running might be a good idea.

[Jan]

Jan on December 9, 2019 at 8:16 am · in reply to: AeT #33995

Divide HR of 2nd half by HR of 1st half, substract 1 and multiply by 100:

119/114 = 1.043859649122807
-1 = 0.043859649122807
*100 = 4.3859649122807

So your HR drift is 4.4 %, which is close enough to 5 %. So 114 is a good estimation, let`s take 115 though. You can set that as your AeT HR and the upper limit of Zone 2. Zone 1 is between AeT-10% and AeT-20%.

Zone 1: HR 92-104
Zone 2: HR 105-115

For the zones above Zone 2, you need the AnT-Test.

[Jan]

Jan on November 21, 2019 at 2:53 am · in reply to: Why is the perceived effort of different disciplines so different? #32402

My guess would be that ski mountaineering feels easier because you use your upper body and arms more. This leads to a higher heart rate for the same “leg effort”.
The slightly harder feeling for uphill running might just be there because you are rather new to this. The difference between a 4/5 and a 5 could also just be normal day-to-day variation.

[Jan]

Jan on November 8, 2019 at 12:00 am · in reply to: Downhill – High HR but low RR? #31484

I would guess that a high HR going downhill has something to do with the risk of falling at a rather fast pace and the stress that this implies. You also have to concentrate more on foot placement. Scott Semple just recently posted that HR is not a measure of training intensity, but a measure of stress.
So rather psychological reasons. But I could be wrong here.

[Jan]

Jan on October 28, 2019 at 9:46 am · in reply to: HR drift test without TP #30875

As far as I understood it:

If you have a treadmill (to keep pace constant), you don’t need Training Peaks and you can use the method mentioned above.

If you don’t have a treadmill, you can use a flat course like a running track and the free 14-day premium trial of Training Peaks.

[Jan]

Jan on October 17, 2019 at 11:30 am · in reply to: Alternative to “Nose Breathing” for AeT #30475

Aerobic Threshold would be the average HR of the first half.

For example:

You try to stay at 145 and manage to get that as average HR on the first 30 minutes of the test. On the second half you have a average HR of 152.

Divide the average heart rate of the second half by the average heart rate of the first, substract 1 and multiply by 100. You have a drift of 4,8 %, which is close enough to 5 %. So your AeT is 145.

[Jan]

Jan on October 17, 2019 at 7:10 am · in reply to: Transition back after Trek trip and couple weeks off #30466

After a demanding multi-day hiking trip, I normally try to take as many days off as the trip was long. So that would be 10 days off in your example.

If you felt sick the first week, I wouldn’t count that as recovering from your trip. And it is probably a sign that your trip was pretty demanding for your body.

When I get back to training, I normally do rather short Zone 1-2 sessions for 3-4 days without really having a structure, just to see how it feels. If it feels good, I start regular training with about 50 % of what I did before the trip for a week, if this works fine I might jump back to 100 % the next week.

I was surprised how long it takes to get back to my normal training after a demanding multi-day trip, but this seems like the only way it works for me.

[Jan]

Jan on October 17, 2019 at 12:48 am · in reply to: What are your energy bar choices for the hill? #30447

As this thread seems to deviate from the original “bar topic” anyway, I may add my food choices for multi-day outings:

during the day:
– 150 grams “granola cookies”
– 150 g Cashew nuts
These two choices add up to a 50:50 mix of carbs/fats, which I find to work well during low intensitiy. The Cashews also have a lot of magnesium which should help. Easy to grab a handful of it every now and then.

for dinner:
175 g potato chips, crushed for less volume, with 25 g of whey protein mixed in.
Also a good mix of fat (for sleeping warm in the tent) and carbs (for filling up the glycogen stores). The extra protein really seems to help, it seems I have less muscle pain in the morning. No stove needed.

I use the same during winter, works fine at least to -25 °C/-13 °F.

I like the halva idea, will probably try that during some multi-day running trips I have planned.