Disclaimer: There is going to be a lot of bragging and puffery in this post. If that is going to put you off your lunch too much, turn away now.
I had my HR zones, VO2 Max, etc. tested back in August, before I started the marathon training in earnest.
During September and October I ran balls to the wall. Interval training, gut-busting long runs, etc. As you know, I had to take a large part of November off to rehab an achy knee, and I had a reduced mileage schedule in December.
I went and got retested (same facility, same equipment, same tech) today. I was very interested to see what my heart had been doing during that time and was a bit nervous to find out - my HR has actually been a bit higher during long runs than it was back in September (you'll see why below).
The results explain a lot about me recently, and also show what training has done (Zones 4 & 5 omitted as they are extrapolated and not actually measured - it's a submax test):
August 18, 2009 figures:
Zone 1: 112 to 122 (48% of calories burned are fat)
Zone 2: 122 to 142 (33% fat)
Zone 3: 142 to 163 (16% fat)
Anaerobic Threshold: 163
V02 at Threshold: 55.3
V02 Max: 57.8
It also doesn't quite tell the story in fat burning % - the line was not smooth but rather jagged, showing several steep drop-offs.
January 8, 2010 figures
Zone 1: 148 to 158 (58% fat)
Zone 2: 158 to 166 (43% fat)
Zone 3: 166 to 175 (25% fat)
Anaerobic Threshold: 175
V02 at Threshold: 58.9
V02 Max: 60.6
And the fat burning line is smooth.
Yeah, I'm feeling ready for this race. Apparently that's the highest V02 Max they've ever seen (they want to use my results as an example of what training can do in seminars and such). There is so much good news here that I don't even know where to start.
(Sorry to get all boastful and stuff, but you people are literally the only friends I have that will understand any of this).
I had my HR zones, VO2 Max, etc. tested back in August, before I started the marathon training in earnest.
During September and October I ran balls to the wall. Interval training, gut-busting long runs, etc. As you know, I had to take a large part of November off to rehab an achy knee, and I had a reduced mileage schedule in December.
I went and got retested (same facility, same equipment, same tech) today. I was very interested to see what my heart had been doing during that time and was a bit nervous to find out - my HR has actually been a bit higher during long runs than it was back in September (you'll see why below).
The results explain a lot about me recently, and also show what training has done (Zones 4 & 5 omitted as they are extrapolated and not actually measured - it's a submax test):
August 18, 2009 figures:
Zone 1: 112 to 122 (48% of calories burned are fat)
Zone 2: 122 to 142 (33% fat)
Zone 3: 142 to 163 (16% fat)
Anaerobic Threshold: 163
V02 at Threshold: 55.3
V02 Max: 57.8
It also doesn't quite tell the story in fat burning % - the line was not smooth but rather jagged, showing several steep drop-offs.
January 8, 2010 figures
Zone 1: 148 to 158 (58% fat)
Zone 2: 158 to 166 (43% fat)
Zone 3: 166 to 175 (25% fat)
Anaerobic Threshold: 175
V02 at Threshold: 58.9
V02 Max: 60.6
And the fat burning line is smooth.
Yeah, I'm feeling ready for this race. Apparently that's the highest V02 Max they've ever seen (they want to use my results as an example of what training can do in seminars and such). There is so much good news here that I don't even know where to start.
(Sorry to get all boastful and stuff, but you people are literally the only friends I have that will understand any of this).
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