This past Saturday, while on vacation, I ran up Mt. Rose in the Lake Tahoe area. It was 7 miles from my door to the summit. The elevation where I started was @6200’ and it was 8900’ at the summit.
My average HR on the run up was 161 for 69 minutes (two days prior when I failed to reach the summit because of time constraints it was 168 for 40’). My average HR for an IM run is 135 - so I’ve always used this as my benchmark.
My question is this – why can I sustain a higher HR for longer in this situation than when I’m running on flat ground? I’ve always fatigued quickly when trying to run at this effort around my home where the roads are not nearly as steep.
I’m sitting here thinking that when you boil it down, I’m really just a wimp who can’t push myself hard on flat/easy terrain…but when faced with a situation where there is no bailing out, then I adjust to what usually feels like a red-zone effort.
If I can truly manage a similar HR effort on flat ground…then I’ve been short changing myself for a long time.
What role does altitude and gradient play in this scenario?
Hope this makes sense…