[Upwards]

Hi,

First  of all a big thank you for your great books, website, and podcasts, they had a big positive influence on my life!

I  am training mainly for mountain running events up to ~50km and ~2800 vertical meters and since I no longer have ADS I thought about incorporating z3/z4 training when a multitude of questions arose:

 

1)  Can you incorporate z3 training alongside the ME work in the early stages of the base period or should you wait until you finish the ME block?

2)  I was wondering what the different effects of z3 training uphill or flat are? I would imagine that uphill induces more ME benefits whereas flat z3 training improves running economy/speed in the flatter sections. Can you mix them, e.g. X minutes uphill z3,  jog down, and then the next X minutes flat z3 if your training terrain allows for such training? Or would it be better to focus on either uphill or flat z3 training in separate sessions? In TFTUA I think only uphill z3 training is mentioned, how steep should  the uphill part be?

3)  Additionally I was wondering why the procedure seems to be to start with z3 and go then to z4 training when I would argue that first z4 to afterward z3 matches better with the “general to more specific” training philosophy?

Thank  you and BR

[Brian Bauer]

I am currently in the middle of my competitive ski season for both Nordic and Skimo.  in weeks when I am not racing I am doing two L3 interval sessions: one session is on flatfish terrain, the other is on uphill…usually very steep uphill.  as you can imagine, I am moving much faster on the flatter terrain than I am going uphill….the uphill sessions require more power.  My Evoke coach has me keeping the workouts separated.   in the Spring, as I start transitioning to trail running/racing, intervals will remain similar but be done on foot….and in these running sessions, I often do the flat intervals on the road and focus on building speed/economy

[Upwards]

Thanks for the answer that helps a lot! When do you also add z4 intervals or do focus mainly on z3?
Can you incorporate one z3 session alongside the gym ME or would this be too much and one should first finish the ME cycle?

BR

[Brian Bauer]

I think the decision to add Z4 or not depends on how you are doing with Z3 intervals.  Getting Z3 sessions dialed in across terrain and varying altitudes can be super tricky .  I would not worry about Z4 until you have demonstrated over time that you have mastered Z3…and something to consider is if your primary focus is ultra-distance races, what do you hope to get form Z4 workouts which will either be run extremely fast, or on extremely hard uphills.  I work my sessions at the top end of Z3 only( not Z4), and my races like skimo, nordic and trail running( under 30k) definitely include red-line hammer segments…and knowing what they feel like and what recovery between efforts requires is really important.

[Upwards]

Once again thank you so much for your valuable insights! Do you also make use of dedicated z2 sessions or is the rest of your training all z1?

BR

[Brian Bauer]

it depends on the time of year.  during competition periods I mainly do Z1 or Intervals, with no time spent in between.  out of competition, Z1 and AeT(Z2) runs become part of my plan.

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