Lactate Test #5: Progress

On September 18th, I did my fifth lactate test for the season. As with previous tests, I did both the aerobic and anaerobic portions on the same day with a break and some food in between. What does this lactate test show? Anaerobic capacity has increased In my last test,

First Impressions: Whoop vs. Garmin

This morning was my second workout with a Whoop on my wrist. In both cases, Whoop’s data is inaccurate and grossly overstates the intensity of the workouts. I recorded both sessions with the Whoop and a Garmin Fenix 2 with an HRM-Run chest strap. The workout was a

Lactate Test #4: Stupid is as stupid does

Over a month ago, I did my fourth lactate capacity test of the season. I did both the aerobic and anaerobic portions on the same day, albeit with a break and some food between them. Since my last test in early July, I’ve been doing a lot of Local

Training on a treadmill: Accuracy versus precision

In early 2018, I bought a treadmill. Training on a treadmill sounds horrible to most–and for long, steady sessions it is–but for high-intensity training, it’s perfect. Yesterday, I wrote about the big impact that gradient has on climb rates. While writing, I looked online for an

Gradient: Small changes in angle, big differences in climb rate

When using climb rates as benchmarks, make sure that the grade of the terrain during tests is consistent. Small variations in gradient will create big differences in climb rates and misleading results between tests. I often use a treadmill as part of my warm-up for strength sessions in the

Slow & steady is boring. Is it really necessary?

Originally published at Uphill Athlete in July 2018. I love The Matrix. In my favorite scene, Neo straps himself to an archaic dentist’s chair. He’s learning martial arts by downloading them into his brain. Once they’re installed, he can use them in the digital world. To make

Lactate Test #3: Moving in the right direction

Last week, I did my third lactate test of the season. As planned after my second test, I wanted to minimize glycogen depletion in the anaerobic portion, so I split the test into two parts. I did the aerobic part on July 2nd and the anaerobic on July 3rd. Since

Planning a training season

The chance of any plan going according to plan is zero. But the chance of arriving at an unknown destination without a map is also zero. Reality unfolds somewhere in the middle. For the 2018/2019 season, I did an analysis of where I’m at and what I need

Lactate Test #2: What happened to aerobic capacity?

On May 21st, I did my second lactate capacity test of the season. I planned on both an aerobic and anaerobic capacity check during the test. But the aerobic part of the test was too long. It likely caused a bit of glycogen depletion. Depletion would have compromised the results

Lactate Test #1: Where am I starting from?

On April 7th, I did my first lactate capacity test of the training season. A lactate capacity test tells you: * Your aerobic capacity by plotting ~2 mM/L and ~4 mM/L against pace and heart rate; * Your anaerobic capacity by measuring the peak lactate output during the test; and