[Richie]

Richie on July 4, 2018 at 5:59 am · in reply to: Questions after first Trail Ultra #10695

I had similar problems with my HR strap, what I found was that my strap wasn’t moist enough on the contacts. As you sweat the contact improves and your readings become more accurate. Hence the spiking only occurring the beginning of the workout.

DC Rainmaker has a great article on trouble shooting here: Trouble Shooting HR Spikes

[Richie]

Richie on April 30, 2018 at 7:02 pm · in reply to: Testing VT1 and VT2 Using HRV! Find AeT and AnT on a budget? #9602

That’s what interested me too, the correlation with your MEP. As my AeT was a little high for my age in my lactate test I was interested to see what kind of correlation I would have, if any.

I really enjoyed the research, I have learned so much from this site and finally today I have received a copy of TFNA (took 2 months to get to here).

[Richie]

Richie on April 23, 2018 at 12:24 am · in reply to: Testing VT1 and VT2 Using HRV! Find AeT and AnT on a budget? #9485

@mountain_stoke

I recorded the test on a Suunto Ambit2, so I could download the .fit file from Movescount.
This I processed through Kubios. I first filtered out any artifacts, then selected the last 1min 30secs of each stage. I used the Mean Heart Rate and SDNN data to plot the graph.

lactate levels for the test:
154 bpm 1.89 mmol/L
169 bpm 4.20 mmol/L

A copy of the test results was posted here previously.

I was hesitant to post the result because the first part of the graph is effected by an elevated HR in the second stage.
The second part however, after passing 2 mmol/L mark the SDNN values level off at 2.4ms for the last 3 stages.

The tester said at the time that my HR looked raised and offered a retest next month. On the day I just thought I might have needed a longer warm up and I have also read that some people experience a higher than usual HR if they are not used to running on treadmills. However, on the next day I wasn’t feeling too great and my son had had a high fever for few days, so that could have really effected things.

Anyway, I will post the HRV results of the retest here and a hopefully clearer picture.

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[Richie]

Richie on April 20, 2018 at 5:50 pm · in reply to: Testing VT1 and VT2 Using HRV! Find AeT and AnT on a budget? #9453

@mountain_stoke Thanks very much for this, I learned a lot.

By the way you can make your processing a lot more easier by using Kubios It is free for an individual license and doesn’t take long to learn (read: this is what I did last night).

You can then record your complete workout or test with your Ambit and download the .fit file from Movescount (the .fit file can also be used from Garmin too). Just load this into Kubios.

You can use Kubios to clean out the Artifacts (you really do need to do this).

The cursor can be set to the interval length you want to look at. (1 min 30 secs was used in the paper). You can then just select the part of the R-R data you want to look at (example the last 90 secs of the stage of the test) and it will out put the averages for you (including Time Domain and Frequency Domain).

Sorry the explanation is a bit long winded but it will make sense once you use it and I think it will save you a lot of time too.

I had a lactate test the other week and I recorded the whole workout I will post my findings later.

[Richie]

Richie on April 17, 2018 at 4:02 pm · in reply to: Training Watch Recomendation #9413

I can recommend the Suunto Ambit series. The Suunto Ambit 3 peak is still available and as an older model it’s quite cheap and real bargain for the price. It will sync with your phone to upload your workouts. The built quality is excellent and made in Finland, not mass produced in China.

Whichever watch you do decide to buy forget about the built in Optical Heart Rate monitor. They can be unreliable and are not really accurate enough yet (or ever will be IMO). You will need a watch AND a chest heart rate belt. Most (if not all) record R-R data which is very accurate and a more usable data type.

If your budjet is really pushed you could always by a Polar H7 or H10 chest belt (Just as an example) and use it via bluetooth with your phone

[Richie]

Richie on April 17, 2018 at 4:02 pm · in reply to: Training Watch Recomendation #9412

EDIT: phone disconnected and double posted sorry

[Richie]

Richie on April 11, 2018 at 10:38 pm · in reply to: Lactate test results #9309

Scott:

Thanks for the reply and advice, it’s much appreciated.

I intend to start the plan next week, I will be extending it to 30 weeks+ as the first marathon won’t be until November. So plenty of time to build up the legs (in the manner you advised).

Just called to cancel the retest but they were pretty insistent on doing it again, Japanese customer service at its best.

Richie

[Richie]

Richie on April 11, 2018 at 8:37 am · in reply to: Lactate test results #9256

I’m sorry but since posting I’ve looked more closely at the data (I work in miles not kilometers for pace). I’ve realised that my heart rate is quite elevated in the first 3 or 4 stages. My MAF pace runs are usually around the same pace as stage 3 (10:04 per mile) with a 128 bpm heart rate.

I’m not really sure what caused it, they let me have a 10 minute warm up.
I usually run in the morning fasted but the tests can only be done in the afternoons. Would you recommend fasting until then if I can?

As a bonus I called the lab after I realised and are happy to carry out a free retest.

[Richie]

Richie on April 4, 2018 at 9:15 pm · in reply to: Looking for a lab #9111

I have run into the same problem here in Japan.

Thanks to Scott’s advice I have saved a lot of money and potential heart-ache.

All places that I have checked are using a short VO2Max protocol. The most common being to increase the speed by .5km per minute (Even the Asics Flagship shop in Tokyo uses this model). One owner I asked said he wouldn’t use the 3 minute protocol as the test would take far too long. The tests usually take between 9 to 19 minutes. Big business and very easy money.

I also found that if they use a machine made by Korr (CardiacCoach, as mention by Scott) it is a potential bad sign.

An alternative that you might want to seriously consider is to take a lactate test. Thanks to this article Blood Lactate Testing: The Silver Standard I will be taking a lactate test myself next week.

In my situation, it will be a far more accurate test than what I can currently find on offer here at the moment and it is a lot cheaper too.

Good luck in your search.