[joshp]

This week I tested my Aet/AnT for the first time in a few years, and the results weren’t what i expected at all.   All results recorded using a Wahoo Tickr hrm and the wahoo app for android.

My last testing was done in the summer of 2020, my AeT came out at 168, and my AnT 178.   That was preceded by a winter averaging 24 hours per week, a summer involving 5000 miles of fast hiking, and another winter of 14 hours per week.  Since then i’ve tried to stick to around 15 hours a week of training, favouring RPE over heart rate/pace, excluding the summer of 2022 when i set the PCT speed record (so 18+ hours a day of z1 for 8 weeks). Last winter was my first time really following a (self built) plan and doing consistent, regular running workouts.  Before that it was just lots of easy running, a weekly gym based ME session, and sporadically doing hard efforts for fun.  This summer had irregular training due to a 250 mile race and a 170 mile solo run, each needing a few weeks of recovery, I then did a month of easy effort peak bagging in the Rockies before taking August and September mostly off training.  The past 4 weeks I’ve averaged 20 hours total volume a week, including 1 workout and a 1 hour muscular endurance session.  The rest was all easy trail running.

That’s all to say, I don’t understand why/how my AeT to has fallen so substantially, and even less so why my AnT has increased.  I did 2 AeT tests, 1 on a treadmill (starting low 150s hr, 156 average hr in the first half hour, 164 in the second) and the other on a stairmaster (1st 150/2nd 156).  Nose breathing the entire time for the both of them (I can nose breath to a steady 3 count up to a HR in the upper 160s).  My AnT treadmill test ended up only being 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 188.    I did a 2 hour easy run that morning and my legs were feeling the cumulative fatigue, then spent the 9 hours between that and my AnT test working on my feet.  I definitely could have kept going for longer than I did, but was having some stomach problems and just generally exhausted and lacking in motivation, so doubting i’d last the hour I called it at 30 minutes.   I’ll retest on the stairmaster next week, and aim for a couple bpm lower or be more rested going into it.   Regardless, that’s suggesting a spread of at least 20% between Aet and AnT.

Is it actually possible that I’ve been spending 15+ hours a week above my AeT, or could there be something else at play here?  I’m transitioning to skiing this winter, but wanted to see if there were any other explanations before I commit to an additional 10+hours a week of easy running on top of skiing. And if that is what’s required, would there likely be a noticeable difference between doing that training in mostly z1 vs z2?

[Brian Bauer]

have you recently completed a simple drift test when rested? eg a 60 min drift test on a treadmill at a HR that you suspect may be you current AeT? pick a number, if you think your AeT is between 150 and 168, try the drift test at 160.

[Scott Johnston]

Josh:

If I am reading your next to last paragraph, you did a 2-hour run the morning of your AeT test and then were on your feet for 9 hours before doing your AnT test.  Try doing these tests rested and not stacked back to back on the same day. We usually have two very easy days before any AnT test.

Scott

 

[joshp]

Thanks for the replies, and sorry for not being clear.  All tests were done on separate days over a 7 day period.  The 2 AeT/drift tests were done first thing in the morning following an easy day of training, and after breakfast/before work or other training.   It was just the AnT test that was done on a day involving a 2 hour easy morning run and 9 hours of working on my feet.    Wouldn’t retesting my AnT better rested only serve to further exaggerate the difference between AeT and AnT?

I didn’t think to retest at a higher starting HR, as the first drift test with a starting HR in the low 150s got a nearly exactly 5% difference between the first and second 30 minutes (156 to 164), and the 2nd one seemingly confirmed that, but it can’t hurt to see.

[dcgm]

If you spent a lot of time training indoors, feel free to ignore this post, but otherwise consider the possibility that you may be dealing with a heat issue. If you don’t have a giant floor fan pointed right at you and maybe a couple of windows open or the a/c cranked, the heat buildup with indoor cardio is just crazy and will absolutely change the relationship between HR and pace over the course of an hour.

[Author]

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