Interesting take on the average of the first five minutes theory; I have never heard that before, even on here. That’s probably been my most “self-critical” aspect of these tests is trying to nail one specific heart rate and stabilizing around it, which I haven’t found much success with.
I appreciate you taking the time out to look at my data and read my lamenting. I have to be honest, I had forgotten I made this post on here as this was the third test in about a week and a half, which was mostly made out of frustration.
I’d also have to agree with your last statement. My previous HR drift was 131 and I had slacked off for a couple of weeks due to forces outside of my ‘leisure’ activities and had concluded that I wouldn’t have made much headway since my last good test. I think that spike is generally what made me think I had failed – I just don’t know why it would take nearly thirty minutes to experience the warmup.
Either way, again, thank you very much for the feedback and your opinion on the matter. I was rolling forward anyway with my new base for the upcoming season and was settling around the high 130s since it felt easier than I had remembered. Happy New Year!