I'm just getting back into endurance after an extended vacation (been on a downward slide since 2007). I was never an "endurance athlete". I played soccer competitively until 27, rode a bike everywhere because I had to/preferred to, and did long runs because the army made me do it. I'm not a swimmer (at the moment I can swim about 50m at a time), haven't owned a big bike since 2005 (been riding freestyle BMX) and I haven't ran consistently since 2006. I'm currently 36. I plan on focusing on olympic distance for the time being.
As I gear back up I've been doing a lot of reading the last few weeks and realize that in the past I've done most things wrong. I'm currently following a beginner olympic distance tri program that focuses on building up both distance and an aerobic foundation. 6 days/week with a couple two-a-days. Lots of Z2 with no speed work. Anyway... I have a few questions:
1) Z2 training. I get the concept, not sure exactly which "Z2" we're talking about. Is this the generic 60-70% MaxHR zone 2? Or is it the Joe Friel Zone 2 which is based on LT that TrainingPeaks has currently calculated to be about 71-77% of my MaxHR?
2) I live about 2km from work and it works out to 4 trips/day since I go home for lunch. Now that the snow is mostly gone I've been thinking about running it but I'm not really sure how to program it? I'm inclined to just haul ass for 2k and call it speed work, but then all this Z2 training stuff gets in there and I start to question the idea. Plus I'm older now and I'm not sure how smart it is to just max effort run with no real warmup...
3) How persistent are aerobic adaptations? I still have the low heart rate but I haven't been able to push myself hard enough to actually get any lactic burn, nor am I confident that I've managed hit my actual max HR. I've tried testing myself a couple times to establish baseline values but I just sort of hit a wall where the muscles turn sluggish and I start slowing down. If anyone has any insight I'd be happy to learn. I've tried researching but the stuff I've found mostly focuses on athletes that miss weeks/months of training and not years.
Cheers!
As I gear back up I've been doing a lot of reading the last few weeks and realize that in the past I've done most things wrong. I'm currently following a beginner olympic distance tri program that focuses on building up both distance and an aerobic foundation. 6 days/week with a couple two-a-days. Lots of Z2 with no speed work. Anyway... I have a few questions:
1) Z2 training. I get the concept, not sure exactly which "Z2" we're talking about. Is this the generic 60-70% MaxHR zone 2? Or is it the Joe Friel Zone 2 which is based on LT that TrainingPeaks has currently calculated to be about 71-77% of my MaxHR?
2) I live about 2km from work and it works out to 4 trips/day since I go home for lunch. Now that the snow is mostly gone I've been thinking about running it but I'm not really sure how to program it? I'm inclined to just haul ass for 2k and call it speed work, but then all this Z2 training stuff gets in there and I start to question the idea. Plus I'm older now and I'm not sure how smart it is to just max effort run with no real warmup...
3) How persistent are aerobic adaptations? I still have the low heart rate but I haven't been able to push myself hard enough to actually get any lactic burn, nor am I confident that I've managed hit my actual max HR. I've tried testing myself a couple times to establish baseline values but I just sort of hit a wall where the muscles turn sluggish and I start slowing down. If anyone has any insight I'd be happy to learn. I've tried researching but the stuff I've found mostly focuses on athletes that miss weeks/months of training and not years.
Cheers!