Thresholds

Funny, 36 degrees yesterday, and pouring with rain and 14 degrees most of today. Nuts.

Anyway, aside from the weather 2 main highlights for the day. A 9am meeting with our new accountant. He's got some new plans and ideas for how we record, monitor and improve our financial health. All sounded great, next we find out if we can afford it ...

And then at 10.30 I rolled across to the University to address my personal health and have a lactate (anaerobic) threshold test. A what I hear you say. Yep, a test.

Basically, given that I don't have the luxury of training every day for the big event (the 95km around Lake Hawea race) I have been wanting to ensure the training I actually do is on target. This test tells me what my ideal training zones are, so that as you exercise you can ensure your heart rate is in the right training zone that day. Too scientific for me? Maybe, but I basically discovered that my training plan was all wrong.

So, the discoveries. Basically my ideal training zones exist at 135-145 and 155-165, ideally not lower, or too much higher. At 140 this is endurance training. The body is burning fat and some carbohydrate and theoretically you could train at this intensity every day for several hours without any negative effects on your body. Recovery is within 24 hours.

At 160 I am reaching what is called the anaerobic threshold, which means that I have pretty much reached the limit of energy the aerobic system can deliver, so the anaerobic metabolism kicks in and starts chewing up carbohydrate to deliver energy, ideal for short intensive bursts of energy. The problem is that you can't sustain anaerobic activity for that long, as it burns energy so fast and you can store enough, it produces more lactic acid than the body can process, and then end result is the "burn" which leads to longer recovery times.

Interestingly also, if you exercise at or above this threshold too regularly you could end up having a negative fitness impact, as the body is getting worn down with too little recovery time. Interesting.

So, my key takeaways from this whole process.
* I need to train at the anaerobic threshold (155-165) probably only several times per week. Short intense efforts, with plenty of recovery time in between

* I need some good sustained aerobic activity. Think 2 hours or so on the bike at around the 135-145 mark, ideally twice per week. I think what I might do is a long ride in the weekend, and then some shorter exercycles during the week.

* I do need to mix the training up. Only doing a few 160 sessions (thinking climbs up the Port Hills as I was planning) will leave me strong, but not develop the aerobic capability. And it's actually this that will get me thru the event!

* Proper recovery after training is essential. Eat plenty of carbs and proteins

* Plenty of sleep is essential. As Carl described it, it's what happens after the exercise which depends on how effective it wil be. If you don't eat or sleep properly then the body can't recover, and the exercise is less effective.

So there you go, what an interesting session. And then I was buggered for the rest of the day!

PS, also a great excuse to buy a new toy. Purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305 - GPS/ Heart Rate monitor, on a watch sized device. No excuses now for not training in the zone!