Setting Zones for with high AeT and AnT

[ellena_c]

Hello!

Thank you so much for all the amazing resources made available here. I’m looking forward to starting the evoke 50k training plan soon!

I have a question about setting zones for people with unusually high heart rate zones.

• I have tested my AeT at 164. I had 4.2% drift between the first and second 30 min halves.
• I have tested my lactate threshold less thoroughly, but I held a 192 HR for the first hour of a 4-hour race. And in a 30-minute effort I held a 195 HR. So my AnT is somewhere in the mid-190s.

This is where I am getting a bit confused as I am aerobically deficient (currently ~18% diff), but if I were to raise my AeT to 10% of my AnT, I would have a 175 AeT threshold. I’ve never heard of anyone else running at such a high zone 2 HR.

I also recorded a max HR of 212 two years ago which may explain why my zones are higher than usual.

All this is measured using a Garmin heart rate monitor and I’ve tried several monitors to make sure there is no recording error.

Are people like me genetic anomalies? Is it okay to run at 164 HR as my zone 2 ceiling, and should I run my easy runs higher as my AeT hopefully increases?

[ellena_c]

Also, my AeT was tested on a treadmill at 2% gradient.

[Scott Johnston]

Ellena;

Both max HR and HR response to exercise are highly variable from individual to individual. With a max HR of 212, your AeT and AnT numbers make sense.    It is good that you have tested these things. From these tests, you can see why relying on formulas like 220 minus your age is not a good idea.  Same with using the kinds of zone settings based on a percentage of your max HR.  Getting your own personal HR data will allow you to personalize your training most effectively. While a max HR of over 200 is probably only exhibited in less than 10% of athletes, it is not unheard of and there is nothing wrong with you.

One of our coaches, Maya, when she was ski racing, had an AeT of about 190 with an AnT of 195 and a max HR of 210.

Keep training that aerobic base to raise your AeT.

Scott

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