I gave my manager a little physical test

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I recently had a question from my manager on his frustration at struggling to train at “zone 2”. He felt that it was a battle to keep his heart rate at the level he thought he needed to be at, and felt he was plodding as opposed to running. He had thought he needed to be under 140bpm and found it a struggle to stay there, particularly in the later part of the run.

For a little perspective, Jase, is not training for an ultra-marathon, or any other long-distance event. His objective is simply to increase his base level fitness and in particular his V02 Max.

So I put him to the test as an exercise to help him check his threshold which would help guide our “aerobic” zone. Hopefully we could get to a place where he could enjoy those slower runs a little more.

Here’s the test:

Run for 30 mins at 95% of your 60min ‘race pace’. Don’t have a race pace? Run at a pace that’s hard (difficult to have a conversation) but where you can say a few words. It’s a tough but satisfying run.

Make sure the conditions are favourable (flat, without traffic disruptions, not super windy/hot etc)

Once you’ve finished. Look back at the data and take the average pace and HR for the final 20 minutes.

In Jase’s case this is how it played out.

Average HR across the last 20mins: 171bpm

His aerobic zone is 85% of this: 145bpm (+/- 5) (171*0.85)

His threshold pace is around 4:10min/k (average of the last 20mins) which works out at an aerobic pace of around 5min/k (250secs * 1.2 = 300secs or 5min/k)

Feedback from Jase was that he pushed a little hard, but the run was good fun. And the bonus is that he’s not tied to that sub 140bpm target anymore. Freeing him up to enjoy those slower longer runs.

There are many ways you can work to figure out your training zones, but this is a good fun session for those starting out.

Here’s a little more detail on structuring your training…

Despite how simple running can be, it’s not something that everyone nails in their first attempts at training. No, most people getting into running will go out and thrash themselves most runs. This will likely bring improvements initially but then a plateau as diminishing returns take effect.

A bit of research into running will likely produce results stating that the 80:20 rule is the way to train. Running 80% of the week in the aerobic zone and 20% in the threshold zone. I feel this is a bit of a simplistic approach as I do believe that in certain endurance and ultra-endurance events you can benefit from zone 3 training. Especially as you prepare your body to race at a specific pace or effort.

Aside from the test Jase went through you can go old school using perceived exertion to work out your threshold and aerobic zones.

I think this method of measure is super important. If your body is telling you something completely different to the data you’re receiving, what do you think is more important?

Listening to your body is a key skill. You can develop this skill as you gain more running experience. So how do you figure out your zones by feel…

Let’s say you use a perceived exertion scale of 1-10. One being the easiest thing ever and ten being the hardest. So using perceived exertion to work out your zones:

Threshold Zone:

- Aim for a perceived exertion of 7 to 8 out of 10

- You should be able to speak in short sentences and maybe answer in a few word answers. It is difficult to maintain a conversation.

Aerobic Zone:

- Aim for a perceived exertion of 3 to 5 out of 10

- You should be able to maintain a conversation reasonably comfortably. However, the run is not a jog and at completion you know you’ve had a nice smooth run.

*Note: Take pace threshold with a grain of salt. More experienced or higher performing athletes can hold a higher pace for longer, which means your aerobic zone from the above calculation can be quite quick. Sometimes it pays to play with the calculation to work out your aerobic zone based on your ability.

As you can see there is a bit of intuition that goes with the science. To get the most accurate training zones, you can go and get tested in the lab.

When you have your zones sorted, see if they jimmy up to your perceived exertion. You can use your pace zones on the flat but remember these need to be adjusted when going off trail and adding in elevation. This is where HR becomes more relevant.

Something I haven’t gotten into is Power. With more innovation to our devices this will become more accurate as the variables of our running terrain are included into the data captured during our run.

Hopefully, if you’ve found this article useful you can use the info to help you progress in your running journey.

Remember if you have questions around this information talk to your coach or do a bit more research. There’s a bit to dig through but worthwhile in our pursuit to improve.

JOIN US tonight (Thursday 1st) at 7:30pm NZT as we discuss all things Tarawera Ultra in the monthly AMA for paid subscribers ($5 a month). The link to join will be sent soon.

If you can’t make tonight, please send your questions in the comments below and the recording will be sent through to all paid subscribers tomorrow.

Hopefully see you tonight

Dan