[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 10, 2020 at 2:39 am · in reply to: So which HR zone should I train in now? #37838

Hello again!

Just giving a little, say, update/insight on what feels easy for me when training and how it looks like from an HR standpoint. Since it’s winter, my long days are spent skitouring because it’s obviously the most fun (for me at least).

Yesterday was a good day, 20km loop with 1500m of vertical ascent, two summits, some good snow, some windpressed ice, sunshine, and feeling strong. I took my skinny light skis out to have less weight on the legs and move a bit faster.

Here’s the workout on Training Peaks: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/athlete/workout/KEEMNW3DQRNT2RS3XIQWSVEKZQ

I don’t think that one can see through this link the percentage/time spent in each HR zone (I currently have them set so that my AeT/top of Z2 sits at my MAF, 154bpm). I pause the watch during transitions/at the top of the mountain.

I spent about 55min in Z3 (not on purpose but it kinda just happened, must have been from wanting to pass all the other people on the skin track early on…), 1h45min in Z1 and below, and the vast majority, 2h30min in Z2 (136-154bpm).

To me this clearly means that an HR above what the doctor recommended to me is sustainable and feels easy for many hours. I have to add that I also only ate a single clif bar the entire tour and a part from really being hungry at the end, I didn’t experience anything close to “hitting the wall” from the combo of low glycogen/glucose availability + increased glucose utilization that comes at intensities above AeT.

This seems to be one more pointer in the direction that my AeT is indeed sitting somewhere around the 145-150bpm range and not 132 like my lactate test stubbornly suggested. Looking at the graph of the test this would mean that my AeT is around 3mmol/l blood lactate concentration. Is this possible? It does fit with the “baseline concentration +1mmol/l” formula…

Other than that, I have been trying to do my easy runs at an HR of less than 145bpm, most often I sit around 135-140 when it’s flat and it does feel good and my little gluteal/hamstring issues (am working on it with PT) seem to prefer this intensity much more than if I try to run at my suggested “MAF AeT” – I actually think that me suddenly running at this HR (between 150-154) too much and too often, even if aerobically totally doable, was too much for my connective tissues, tendons, etc because they are NOT used to that intensity. Heterochronism!

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 3, 2020 at 11:23 am · in reply to: Baseline lactate in women #37311

Awesome Scott, thank you!

Yes of course there are already individual differences regardless of gender. I would say that I have a really big heart (I only mean that literally, though……..) since my resting HR as measured by EKG was 39… But I don’t think I have the biggest lungs, though!

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 3, 2020 at 11:20 am · in reply to: So which HR zone should I train in now? #37310

Hi Scott!

So WSA stands for “Wettkampfspezifische Ausdauer” so “Race Specific Endurance” – that would be like Z3 (if the races one trains for are short enough to be completed staying in Z3, that is). In this case it’s just training vocabulary/methodology, the other training zones in that lower chart are Grundlagenausdauer 1 – Base endurance 1 (GA1), Grundlagenausdauer 1-2 – Base endurance 1-2 (GA1-2) and REKOM would be equivalent to the Recovery zone.

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 3, 2020 at 5:32 am · in reply to: Article with cautions on female fasted training #37285

It seems as though us females are overall at a higher risk of seeing adverse effects as results of fasted training and that maybe our hormones tend to, overall, have a higher risk of reacting negatively. Especially as far as cortisol is concerned.

I cannot remember in full, but Dr. Stacy Sims in her book “ROAR” makes a strong case AGAINST fasted training for women. I read the book a year ago so it is not too fresh in my mind but it had to do with how it can easily lead to elevated cortisol levels (as in, too high for too long) in women which could even result in weight gain and belly fat (especially if you do not fuel enough). Basically, a negative effect on our hormones.

She also states that women are overall more carbohydrate-dependent than men (+ that at different times in our cycle our carbohydrate needs increase/decrease. I cannot exactly remember when, though).

Rachel I find the points you highlighted interesting:

“Then he claims women oxidize fat well naturally like we don’t need to try to improve it. And that fasting is bad for everyone’s mental health.

There was one claim I found interesting: “For example, a 2010 study in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport found markers for muscle adaptations responded better in non-fasted female athletes, with male athletes responding more to fasting.”

This first point kinda runs opposite to the “women have higher carb needs” that Dr. Sims makes. But again I am only vaguely referencing her so don’t take 100% my word for it.

This second quote/finding would only suggest that women are better off not doing strength training and/or anaerobic work in a fasted state, right? That said, I used to go to Crossfit at 6am for a while having only had a coffee and I never felt like I bonked… But eating lots of carbs (vegan here, haha) I am sure I always had sufficient glycogen stores from the night before to fuel an hour of Crossfit. I’m not doing it anymore though.

Thank you for this thread because I am currently debating running in the morning before school. I have class at 8am so me running before means waking up around 5am and I really don’t wanna have to snack first, wait a bit and then run. I’d rather run on an empty stomach. I’ve done it a bit before and while I’d feel almost nauseous on a fasted run when I first started running, nowadays I can handle it really well… But all this “conflicting evidence” is making me unsure. I really don’t wanna get my hormones out of whack. On the other hand I just good my blood results back and thyroid function is totally normal so it would be a good time to start incorporating easy fasted runs… If something starts feeling off afterward I can just get my levels checked again and see if it had a negative impact…

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 3, 2020 at 5:04 am · in reply to: So which HR zone should I train in now? #37283

Hoiiiii Mirko, thanks for believing in my aerobic system 😀

I have no idea how to edit my initial post soooo attaching the document with a new name to this one. I hope it works now!

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[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on February 3, 2020 at 3:12 am · in reply to: Glutes tendonitis #37279

Yes, thank you Brian!

I sure hope my issues do not stem from herniated discs or so. I’m turning 27 in two weeks! I do have slight… scoliosis, is it? Or what is the term when you’ve got a bit of a C-shape in the spine, leaning forward? I got that “bend” roughly at the height of the angulus inferior of my scapulae. That would be too high to neurologically affect down in the hamstrings as those nerves originate from the lumbar spine. ANYWAY.

Piriformis in my case has actually been ruled out, looks like I need a ton of work done (and also need to put in a ton of work) in the abductor area, in the end it’s my gluteus medius that is hard as a rock – quadratus lumborum as well.

I mean really, down the line, I think that overall, in my case, it all comes down to “not the best biomechanics” – I’ve got a wider pelvis obvi, being a woman, so my abductors need to put in extra work to keep my pelvis level because gravity’s having a bigger mechanical advantage on me than on a man with a narrower pelvis. Alright there is that. I’ve also got pretty flat feet and a bit of overpronation going on and I’m sure that this is affecting what is happening upstream a bit as well. I mean, everything is interconnected! Which is why this is all so interesting (and why I am studying it, but I am just at the beginning so I really don’t have much smart input yet).

Anyway, good discussion thread! I am wondering though – as far as I am aware, whenever, say, older women complain of likely nerve-related issues (sciatica), doctors/therapists tend to relate it to a herniated disc issue right off the bat without considering such thing as the piriformis impinging it or something along those lines. Maybe that’s just because it’s a very different demographic from us athletic peeps, but it is quite interesting. My mom had issues with the sciatic nerve and it was indeed not a spinal issue for her.

Alright, enough rambling. Thanks for everyone’s input!

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on January 24, 2020 at 2:37 am · in reply to: Skimo as alternative to trail running #36818

Whoops, file was too big. There we go, it should work now…

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wildmoser.j on January 24, 2020 at 2:36 am · in reply to: Skimo as alternative to trail running #36817

Thanks for your replies, you two! And your tips l.tregan 🙂

I try to still run twice weekly at least.

I did a 90min run with 720m of elevation a few days ago and that vert is all one big climb and one big downhill – I definitely felt that my quads got super tired from the way down. I think that’s definitely something that I need to focus on during the few runs I do – some quality downhill. That is something skimo/skitouring is not good for, the way down is just too quick!

I sure hope that uphill ME is gonna be pretty killer from all the weighted uphill walking.

And I have my dream leightweight touring set up now, had to attach a picture of it. I hope I’ll be able to ski down, haven’t owned something this skinny nor short in a long time. But it’ll be much easier to get motivated for a Piste uphill training without freeride boots and skis. But then again, that means less weighted training…

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on January 22, 2020 at 12:41 pm · in reply to: Glutes tendonitis #36730

Oh my, I think I can add a bit to this as well as I’ve got some similar issues going on in the left gluteal area. Maybe some of what I’m going to say rings similar to what you guys are experiencing!

It’s no real “pain” in the sense that it hurts, it’s always more a discomfort, like something is tugging in that general area of glutes/upper hamstring tendons. It makes it uncomfortable (but again, not painful) to sit for long. I’ve reduced my running volume since as I can feel everything “tightening” post-run and it feels as though I am unable to properly engage the important muscles in my left glute while running (medius and maximus).
Funnily enough, running/power hiking uphill is when everything feels most normal. And I actually went on an unintended longer outing today of 10.6km and 720m of vertical gain and that didn’t make anything become more tight/uncomfortable than a shorter run would. Maybe the mandatory bouts of walking to keep HR down on the uphill helped.
Skitouring is also no problem and I don’t feel anything strange walking uphill and skiing down and there is no increase in “tightness” (that is just what I am going to call this overall feeling for the rest of the post) afterwards.
My hamstrings are also noticeably tighter. I can still easily bend over and have my hands almost flat on the ground (with straight knees) after warming up, but the hamstrings just do feel tighter.
The “tightness” is sometimes slightly radiating further down the leg, specifically lateral of the popliteal area where the biceps femoris tendon has its insertion. A little bit in the gastrocnemius, too.

I find that light stretching of the quadriceps + rolling it and being very friendly with the lacrosse ball (I’m rolling out sore spots – near the origo and insertion of the piriformis – on my glutes at least every other day) seems to help.

I’m suspecting more a case of sciatic impingement due to the piriformis being tight (because of the radiating feeling I sometimes have), but I might be mistaken. But if it is something along those lines, could it be the result of maybe a case of lower-body crossed syndrome?

Oh and one last thing: I started incorporating this hamstring exercise (forgot the name) where you kneel on the floor, upright (so no “sitting” on your feet with your bum) and someone holds your feet firmly against the ground (or you block them underneath a stair or a couch). You keep straight and start bending forward to lower yourself to the ground as slowly as possible. It’s super gnarly for the hamstrings as an eccentric exercise and I end up holding a slight forward bend for a few seconds before my muscle gives out. Anyway, been doing that and I do feel better overall almost “immediately” after doing it and the exercise itself produces no pain or discomfort whatsoever even though it puts stress on both the muscle and tendons of the hamstring.

Alright, long read, thanks for reading! 🙂

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on January 22, 2020 at 3:19 am · in reply to: A “high” baseline lactate concentration? #36695

Sorry I am a little late to reply here – sorry about that!

So first things first: I’m doing a treadmill lactate test next Tuesday – a really professional one this time and not one used as a teaching moment. And treadmill, not bike. I’ll give an update about my results after that 🙂

Thanks for everyone’s input. One question I do have: what about gender differences? Could it be that female athletes (even endurance athletes) may have higher base lactate levels? I am wondering if there has been any serious research done about this.

I certainly do not feel like an FT athlete, either. Throughout my life I have always been super slow at sprints but I’ve always had a bit more endurance. But I have been a “couch potato” until not too long ago – extremely unfit (although not overweight or anything, just not into moving, except downhill skiing, whatsoever) until, say, about 4-5 years ago. But mountain running and seriously getting into ski-touring would have been 2-3 years ago. It certainly can be that I am still “catching up” on the training effects of slow, aerobic base training and that I need a few more years of lots of aerobic activity to really get super efficient in that sense.

I’m still super slow at sprints at this time, too.

I certainly hope that I am not too aerobically deficient as slow and steady is my favourite kind of running – when I can still breathe through the nose and talk. But Scott Semple, you mentioned still having high lactate concentrations “because” of overall training amount (hours per year). I am certainly doing more and more but I think for last year I have hit, overall, 450 hours or so, max 500. So maybe it could also be that with a steady increase in total hours, it should get better, even if I have, to this date, already trained mostly below my AeT.

But again, after next week I’ll have better data available. Pretty excited about that!

Cheers

[wildmoser.j]

wildmoser.j on December 4, 2019 at 1:26 am · in reply to: Cycling as a mean to build AeT #33632

Well, now that I have a home trainer for my bike I’ve been able to get a more controlled look at what my HR and perceived effort does versus running.

What I find is that, to me, biking at my AeT (I’m just using the MAF method for that one so it might not be my actual AeT, but oh well) seems much, much more strenuous than doing a run at that same HR (Between 150-155bpm). I feel like I need to spin with more power (higher wattage) than I would produce when running to get to the same HR. So, endurance-wise, it feels the same but I notice that it tires my legs more.

When I am biking outside and measuring HR, I’m always biking around in Z1 and the lower range of my Z2. Of course there are lots of ups and down involved since I like hills but trying to ride at my AeT outside on a flat road is really, really difficult!

One thing I like is that if I want to do a steady Z3 workout, hopping on a bike and riding up a long hill works great. Not as much strain on the leg muscles. Since I’m lacking a bit of muscular endurance I won’t have this lack impeding the workout and making me slow down before my cardiovascular engine does.

All of this to say that the viewpoint that HR zones for cycling are lower than those for running sounds somewhat logical to me regarding what I’ve experienced.

However what I am now wondering is: when cycling, since we do have mountain running and co. in mind, is it more beneficial for our aerobic system to train in “cycling HR zones” OR to train in our usual “running HR zones” ? (I currently have some slight piriformis-related sciatic nerve issues that I do not want to aggravate so I’ve got a bit more biking in my immediate future so I wanna design that effectively).