back home from my Lactate Threshold test done at The Endurance Lab. I've told you before that I don't typically "fit the mold" in pretty much everything, today was no different. LOL
Yesterday I took a complete rest day, which is sort of a shame because Saturday was pretty chilly for my 18k run, while yesterday was a sunny, gorgeous day with above zero freezing temperatures.
As advised, I had my normal breakfast of a coffee and a bagel. Fought rush-hour traffic which increased my appreciation for no longer having to commute to work.
Bit of a discussion to start, going over running history, etc. His comment... hmmm, you've gone through just about everything. Yep. lol
Started with a 10 min warm up, TM at 4.0 mph, then the test started with a very easy jog of 4.2 mph. Every 3 minutes, i'd hop off, have my finger pricked, blood drop taken, and back on.
This continued on for about 45 minutes -- TM eventually reached 6.6 mph, which for me, is pretty fast. At that speed, my legs felt good, my lungs were screaming, breathing heavy, and my mind was on the fence. Part of my mind was surprised that I was moving that fast, which felt good and built a bit of confidence; the other part of my mind was wondering how long my legs thought they might be able to keep this going. A few minutes before stopping the test, he says, hmmm, the numbers are interesting; I giggled.
So where does my record set in? Well, I was pricked 12 times... apparently the most during a test. LOL That is when he got the data he was looking for, so I cooled down for a few minutes, took a quick shower, then dissected the numbers.
Looking back at the calculations I had done about a month ago, the average (I used 4 different formulas out there) maximum bpm for my aerobic zone was about 158 bpm. Based on the results from the LT test, my aerobic zone is 153 to 163 bpm, so not too far off! Yay!
This is where it gets interesting. Zones were broken down by heart rates, but also by speed, which I find extremely helpful. I'm not going to turn this into much more of a numbers post even though Mr. G still seems to be on a routine maintenance break, but I don't want to bore anyone else out there.
You know when you have something that doesn't work -- let's say your car. Makes a terrible noise, you make an appointment for service. You get to the dealership, your car is no longer making that noise, all seems to be good. That's sort of how I felt today, my heart rate barely went into the low 180's at a much faster rate than I normally run, and never in the 190's, which it did with my HRM. So maybe it was a bad strap, maybe interference... who knows.
He recommended to me that while indoors, I use speed as reference, and outdoors my RPE; let my HR do what it wants, and as I become more fit, then they align a little better. He also said that my form is good! Arms are carried well, foot turn over is good, no recommendations :) I was very happy to hear this with all the work I've done on my gait since my stress fractures.
So that it! I'm very happy to have gotten it done. The facility was great, very helpful, so well worth it! I'd be curious to repeat the test in a few months time to see what how I've done, and if there's been any improvement.
Hope you're all having a great start to the week, and thanks again for following me through changing my blog's site.
24 comments:
That's so cool about the test and your gait! Sounds like it was very helpful, even if mainly to reassure you that you're on the right path. But the whole hop off/finger prick thing sounds a little wacky!
Yay for a good gait! Pretty cool about the test overall - it is interesting stuff.
BTW -- I'm just catching up and just read what happened w/wellsphere. That is AWFUL! I'm so sorry! What cruddy crud.
Sounds like it went well (as in you got all the answers you wanted. But really? Who likes to run to max and get their blood taken HAHA) Great job Mel!!
That test def wont hurt your training, only enhances it, and it looked like you rocked it!
wow that is a cool test to have done... although i dont think i would like to be pricked 12 times :)
I have no idea what all that testing was that you had done... lactate something-or-another... reminds me of breast feeding for some reason. LOL
Anyway, I DID understand the whole gait thing and good form... good for you!
I have lots to learn about this world of running. :D
You mean I had a choice about following you here??
Those are some great results.
If you want to get a good measure of your training after this wait for about 4 months until the next one.
Congratulations on taking the test and killing it!
Very cool. It sounds like the science agreed with your Garmin. That's a good thing.
Keep us posted. This is very interesting.
sounds like you got some great (and useful) feedback. i'm glad all the rough calculations are pretty much on target 'cause that's what i go by. :) glad it went well and i like the speed-method for indoors. my hr has been funky (higher) when i run on the tm at a lower speed than outdoors.
Very intersting test results. RPE is what I've been going on lately, it's nice that he recommended that for outside.
Great news that your form looks good. :-)
pretty cool. I love all the data crap. I was with ya..
I just read about the blog change. Someone always trying to cash in.
Glad to hear the test went well and you got some answers! Also congrats on your excellent running form. :)
Patricia is bringing the book over tomorrow. I'm hurrying to finish my current book so I can get started! Thanks so much.
Sounds like a really useful experience. Glad you found out your gait is great!
Very interesting Melanie!!!
I am fascinated with numbers so this was an interesting post to read!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!
You said you got pricked and 12 times even, hahahaha:) That's great though, the testing and results part, anyway. Solid validation of what you were alredy working with.
Hmm, so maybe your high heart rates were due to your goopy HRM strap..?? The test sounds really interesting though. I hope you got some useful data out of it!
Sorry you missed the good weather for your long run... :(
Very interesting post Mel. I actually thought about you yesterday when I was running, and was excited to read about this. Did you get LT paces or just HR zones from the test. No more guess work. It would be intersting to see how your LT improves over the training process.
That's great your good form was confirmed! I'd be shocked if someone told me that I had even decent form :)
Ouch on 12 pricks. As if running wasn't hard enough.
Such an interesting test. I'd love to get that done some day.
Very, very cool! i would love to have that data and it absolutely tells you where you stand and what you need to work on. It also sounds like you had a cool tester which probably makes a difference as well.
Best of luck going forward.
I would love to have one of those tests done!
Very cool - I am so envious. Good luck with the training. I am glad you found it worth your while.
Nothing better than getting the report/news that you were hoping for. Very exciting!
Post a Comment