The World is Spinning!

I've taking a rest from running for a week. So this week I'll be doing cross training and spinning. It's been over a year since I've been to a spin class, and I totally forgot hot hard it is.

The data collecting on the bikes aren't working properly, so most of the data is not going to be correct. The only think that seems to be accurate is the heart rate because my it's on my watch. Hopefully they will get the bikes working properly soon.

Heart Rate Work - Threshold

Alright, so the idea of threshold training, or Lactate Threshold Pace, is all about the maximum effort a person can do while the body can still remove lactic acid from muscle usage. For most this is the maximum effort that can be maintained for an hour. If this effort has gone above the person will feel the “burn” in the muscles, then shortly, stop or slow down to be able to clean the muscles of the lactic built up. Endurance athletes need to be able to go as fast as they can for as long as they can. By staying under the lactic threshold allows endurance athletes to be able to go hard without having the “burning” built up.




Threshold training is important because, unlike VO2 max, it can improved consistently through training. By training above and below threshold levels will improve the body's ability to remove lactic acid that builds up within the muscles, and be able to tolerate the high concentrations of lactic acid that builds up.

First Attempt of Tempo Running

Along with my Heart Rate (HR) training I'm adding in tempo running because it is recommended that I have at least one harder day of running per week. I decided to give tempo running a try, as there are a few benefits to doing so. With tempo running it helps increase the number of capillaries around the slow twitch muscles, it also will increase capillaries around intermediate  fibers. It helps increase blood volume, including red blood cell count. For the non-cardio benefits is it increases the volume of mitochondria, MCT (a specialized transport protein), and aerobic enzymes in the slow twitch and intermediate fibers. Tempo running also increases the contraction acceleration of slow twitch and also improves running economy.

I’m still learning how my Garmin 235 works, so my first attempt results are a little out of sync. I tried to set up interval running with a pace alert, but I don't know if it is possible to do both. I'll need to look into it more. My Tempo run consisted of 3x10. I ran 10 minutes 3 times at a 8:23 pace, with a 3:30 minute slow jog in between. It felt a little too easy because that seems to be the pace for my HR training, so I think I’ll pick the pace up a little more to around 8:09 minute pace.

Sep 16, 2013 - The hunt back

Back in 2013, I was just at the peak of my fitness for climbing. At this time I wasn't running nearly as much as I do now. But for climbing I was at the level of 5.13. My goal is to get back to climbing at the 5.13 level, and I'd also like to add in 100 miles of trail running with no support, meaning I'd carry my own food and water in as I run.

Heart Rate Work