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Reed on October 13, 2021 at 6:19 pm · in reply to: HR Zones and Medication #58033

I’m also curious to hear about what you learn! And on a tangential note, I found John Ratey’s book Spark to be really interesting and useful. He’s a professor at Harvard Medical School focused on ADHD, and also the author of Driven to Distraction.

http://www.johnratey.com/Books.php

The short version of Spark: exercise, particularly low-intensity aerobic exercise, is at least as powerful as if not more powerful than modern pharmaceuticals at helping alleviate ADD / ADHD, anxiety, certain addictions, depression, and a few other maladies. Appropriate combinations of interventions are up to you and your doctor, of course. Just another reason besides peak-bagging to spend time in aerobic zones…

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Reed on October 13, 2021 at 6:08 pm · in reply to: ADS AeT testing – HR plateauing but Pace improving #58032

You’ve improved your AeT pace from 9:10 min/mi to 7:33 min/mi over six months? That seems pretty great! Seems like you’re definitely on the right track. I’m curious what your average weekly volume is, and what that’s looked like over the past couple of years. You might also find that there are now other opportunities for improvement that weren’t as visible before, such as strength training, stability, mobility…

I’d suggest that the “prescription for ADS” is more along the lines of “spend plenty of time below (and well below) your aerobic threshold.” If you’re trying to keep your mileage steady or increasing, but now you’re running all of it at a 7:30/mi pace, that might be hard. You’ll still get plenty of benefit both as a stimulus to improve your aerobic capacity as well as an aid to your day-to-day recovery by doing a bunch of easy 9:00/mi miles (or slower!).

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Reed on September 21, 2021 at 8:33 am · in reply to: Cardio Base Volume for the time constrained #57215

For a relatively low intensity (Z1 or Z2) and shorter duration run, like the 30-50 minute range you mentioned, you will probably be able to recover pretty quickly. The “supercompensation” from the training stimulus might be closer to 24 hours after your workout. Your weekday runs might get easier and easier if you aim for 30-40 minutes per day, maybe with a day off here and there. In addition to consistency, though, variance / modulation is important. You could also try to increase the length of your weekend run so that it makes up ~25% of your weekly volume.

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Reed on September 21, 2021 at 8:20 am · in reply to: TSS for non cardio sessions #57214

Hi Derek – you’re not the only one with this question. Check out this earlier discussion, it might be helpful for you: https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/chamonix-mountain-fit-suggested-tss/#post-53176

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Reed on August 19, 2021 at 9:30 am · in reply to: Very High HR, Low RPE, No Drift #56470

Seconding Lindsay’s comments – lots of variation from person to person, which is why this type of test is so important!

Some additional reading in the forums:

My understanding is that heart rate is highly variable from person to person. Formulas and averages work across populations, but the range is quite large.

I haven’t studied this in depth. A quick search brought me to a 2001 paper that suggested a linear equation for max heart rate of 208 – (age * 0.7).[1] Strong correlation of 0.9, but standard deviation of up to 11 beats per minute. I.e., 95% of 30-year-olds likely have a max heart rate between 165bpm and 209bpm. Not very helpful for an individualized training plan.

[1]http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/accj/37/1/153.full.pdf

Interpreting blood lactate test. Also, zone definitions.

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Reed on July 23, 2021 at 8:14 am · in reply to: UC Davis Metabolic Test #55928

Does that mean that I don’t have ADS, but I’m in bad shape?. In that case, should training have a different physiological effect on me than on that man?

It’s more likely that focusing your training as you’ve laid out, with plenty of below-AeT work and some encouragement to prioritize fat-burning, will work great!

One difference that I see between your charts and the ones in that “Getting Tested Part 2” article is the relatively flat fat utilization percentage for that other athlete up to a 20% grade. In his case, he was still getting ~40% of fuel from fat at a 20% grade. Your fat utilization drops off more rapidly. That makes me think of two somewhat contradictory things: you might have more low-hanging fruit and might see some rapid improvements. (This might mean looking to other areas like strength & mobility.) And you might also have reached less of your potential than that “professional mountaineer,” and therefore see continued progress for many years to come.

On your question #2 – efficiency is a big variable. Faster speed at the same heart rate could be from better / faster energy production, and it could also be a result of improved movement economy. I’m curious how this might be quantified…

Pay attention to what you feel. If working at the top of Zone 1 is difficult to recover from day-to-day / week-to-week, drop your target heart rate by 5bpm or 10bpm and see how that goes. For the bottom of Zone 1, I chose to set that at ~100bpm – I like getting “credit” for super easy Z1 work in my tracking. 🙂

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Reed on July 19, 2021 at 11:17 am · in reply to: My result after 2 months #55836

and at the end of the course I still wanted to live !!!

Haha that’s great! Nice work, keep it up!

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Reed on July 19, 2021 at 11:14 am · in reply to: interpreting first lactate test #55835

You might also consider doing another test, and aiming for smaller pace increases so that you get lactate samples at ~145bpm, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175. Just remember that it’s a point-in-time test that might give you false precision – better to err on the side of a conservative interpretation!

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Reed on June 2, 2021 at 12:24 pm · in reply to: Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and Training #54552

This is great – seconding Scott’s thank you for the discussion and notes. Continuous blood glucose monitoring is awesome for managing diabetes. A family member has managed Type 1 diabetes since childhood and Dexcom’s CGM has been really helpful these past few years. I’m interested in using it myself, out of curiousity. But in addition to the system being a bit difficult to obtain without a prescription, the sensors only last a week or two. The costs are on the order of $300/mo., I believe.

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Reed on May 25, 2021 at 10:27 am · in reply to: Decoupling – typo or misunderstanding? #54294

Not a typo – this has been called the “Conconi point” although there are so many definitions, it’s hard to keep them straight.

You might see a fairly linear relationship between intensity and heart rate at lower intensities. From 9:30 min/mi to 9:00 min/mi to 8:30 min/mi pace, your heart rate might go from 140bpm to 150 to 160. But but there’s an upper limit on heart rate, so the increase to 8:00 min/mi and 7:30 min/mi might only raise your heart rate to 166 and 172.

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Reed on May 8, 2021 at 6:15 pm · in reply to: AeT/AnT Result Validity #53804

Hi Harrison,

Nice job getting some data points to help you with your training. The max heart rate formulas are accurate for populations but have huge variability – not helpful for individuals.

If you went for a 45-minute effort and got a 185bpm or so heart rate average, that’s probably pretty good. I would consider that to be a decent anaerobic threshold number.

So – if your aerobic threshold test suggested a ~130bpm heart rate, then focusing on Zone 1 and Zone 2 work is definitely a good idea. You might consider continuing to follow a training plan but not, at least for a while, doing much or any Z3 or Z4 work. Muscular endurance might be good to defer, too. General strength training, mobility, patience, and lots of time in Z1/Z2.

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Reed on May 7, 2021 at 8:48 pm · in reply to: How long before you noticed progress on your aerobic base/AeT? #53777

Hi Lorin and russes011 – those sound like fine sources for general exercise guidance. In reading this thread, I would worry about recommending hill sprints to athletes who are struggling to run aerobically at a 15min/mi pace. I wonder whether there’s enough leg and torso strength, stability, alignment, etc. If you sprint with your knees and ankles out of whack, or insufficient tendon / ligament strength, you run the risk of the classic middle-aged guy tearing his ACL on the basketball court scenario.

If MAF or nose breathing tests suggest walking – then stick with it for a few months and see how it goes. Maybe take some yoga classes or try some lunges. Simple controllable movements. And I highly recommend Scott’s Killer Core routine a couple of times per week for a few months at least.

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Reed on May 1, 2021 at 2:42 pm · in reply to: Wonderland Plan – Duration or Distance #53576

Consider also gauging the rate at which you ramp up your training – whether that’s measured in miles or in hours. The Wonderland trail is 90+ miles with a good deal of vertical gain / loss. Aiming for ~4 miles per hour for that sort of terrain and length is pretty good for a lot of recreational ultradistance athletes. If you’ve been doing 30-mile weeks, an 18-mile long run might not be a great idea right away. Adapt the plan to your needs – and it may also be useful for you to consider connecting with one of the Uphill Athlete coaches for a consultation.

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Reed on May 1, 2021 at 10:26 am · in reply to: Goal race date extended an extra week—how to adjust training plan? #53570

+1 on taking a conservative approach! In the past I have made good progress on a 3-week build, 1-week recovery cycle. There was an element, though, of pushing the envelope and being close to my limits. Scaling back to 2-week build, 1-week recovery was a nice change for me. And even alternating 1-week hard, 1-week easy can be great. If you’re feeling strong a few weeks out from your race, fight against the temptation to get some great workouts in – save it for the race!

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Reed on April 30, 2021 at 11:32 am · in reply to: Training Peaks Odd TSS readings #53541

I believe that TrainingPeaks will prioritize calculating rTSS over hrTSS, if you have pace zones set for running. If 90% of your training is on relatively flat road, you might benefit from using rTSS and running zones. For most people here, though, that’s not the case. You might be better served by deleting all info in the TrainingPeaks zones settings related to running pace. (I once decided to go back through and clean up several months’ worth of workouts because of this.)