I’m letting Sara do the running today. I’m behind her; lazy on the bike. My legs have a well deserved rest this week. Two ultra runs in 8 days was a little bit too much.
We’re doing part 2 of Sara’s Lactate Threshold Test. We should have done it earlier, but work got in the way. Today she’s running 20 minutes at a pace between 6 minutes and 7 seconds per kilometer and 6.27. See, last time we worked out that her Lactate Threshold pace is 6.17 minutes per kilometer. Now we’re trying to put a heart rate on it.
RELATED: Sara broke her 5k personal record
That’s why we should have done the test earlier. Preferably I like to determine the pace one week and the heart rate belonging to that pace the week after. In that way you do the test more or less with the same stamina and strength. Now several weeks have passed between test 1 and 2. But okay, we just want to have an idea of what her Lactate Threshold Heart rate is. That’s all.
Low Heart Rate training
Home again and analyzing Sara’s data on the Garmin app. Her Lactate Threshold will be around a heart rate of 150 beats per minute. That means her zone 1 is 94-113, her zone 2 is 113-131, her zone 3 is 131-150, her zone 4 is 150-169 and her zone 5 is 169 and above. With this we can start her low heart rate training.
RELATED: What Lactate Threshold is and why it matters
Sara would like to be able to run a bit further. I think 15 kilometers, even half marathons are fun distances. If she can run 15k, we could do the Mud Sweat Trails province trails together. That would be fun. However, running long distances is best done on low heart rate. In that way the body mostly burns fat and we have more fat reserves than carbohydrates.
Frustrating
The only problem is, Sara doesn’t like to run on a low heart rate. Every time I make her do it, she looks angry at me. Understandably, because in the beginning it’s frustrating. It’s something your body really has to get used to. In the beginning you run a couple of meters, your heart rate shoots up and you have to walk to bring your heart rate down. Only after weeks – for some even months – you can run normally.
Yet, I do think it’s worth it. Okay, this week I’m taking it easy, but I did run the Mighty Marathon (43,5 kilometers) and the Brabantse Ultra Trail 50 within one week. Stamina/energy-wise I was fine. It’s just my legs who still have to get used to running so much. That’s why they have a well deserved rest this week. But this weekend they are allowed to run again. Together with Sara’s legs. On a low heart rate of course.
