Threshold Test from Race data?

Triathlon Forum
1

I am training for an April Marathon. I did a first half flat; second half hilly 4.8 mile race today. About a 30sec pace difference between the first 2 miles and the last. Total time was about 0:34:28. I think I ran pretty evenly hard for a 10k’ish race, the last two mile of hills really made me work. the HR curve is amazingly flat and even and got within 3-5 bpm of my recorded max.

I am using Joel Friels Triathlon Training Bible as a training guideline, can I use the last 20minutes of my race data as my average Anerobic Threshold, the difference between the last 20 minutes and the total average is 168bpm vs 172bpm. I have just read different things about finding this threshold and not sure the hilly nature of the last 2-3 miles messes uo the data.

Looking up the anerobic HR of 172bpm in the Friel running tables put me at a HRmax of 183-191, doubt I have ever seen my HRmax over 185.

Would that put my aerobic theshold at about 152bpm? That number seems high, a avg hr of 142bpm has felt great on my long runs.

I know it’s only numbers, just trying to get a feel for my training zones. The HR stuff has been working well so far and want to get a better feel for things.

2

It sounds like you really pushed yourself during the race, especially if you saw your HR within a few beats of your max recorded HR. Given the time of year, you may not be at peak fitness either, which could artificially raise your HR a little too. I would usually subtract 2-3 beats from your 10k race HR to find anaerobic threshold, so you might want to base your zones on a 169 or 170 AT HR. Regardless, don’t get too caught up about the Aerobic Threshold HR seeming a little high - if the top of Zone 2 is 155 (assuming 170HR), that does NOT mean that every easy run needs to be done at exactly 154 bpm. That’s why there’s a range. I’m sure others will have different opinions, max HR doesn’t really have as much relevance as AT for the endurance athlete. It’s just not a range you train very much, even for the shorter distance races.

Good luck!

Paul