Team,

Welcome to week 2 of race phase. Congratulations to those who raced Uvas. It was fun seeing the Ironteam flames out here and also watching some top notch pros. Macca and Lieto finished neck and neck with Macca winning by a half second.

During the base and build phases, we worked almost exclusively in the Aerobic range. Level 5, Long-Slow-Distance. This increases capillary density, burns fat, and is the major building block of your Ironman endurance. Now in the race phase we’ll be adding some higher intensity workouts - Level 7-8 - right around lactate threshold (LT). We began last week with our run marker set and will continue going forward.

LT training improves your economy of motion, your speed, and your ability to “clear” lactic acid from your muscles. It also helps to raise your LT. So while you will never “race” at or above your LT, it’s helpful to train there. Training at or above LT has a downside as well - we must weigh the benefits of LT training vs the possibility of injury, which is only made worse by the increased distance we cover in the race-phase.
Therefore, LT training is only for those who are 100% ready for it.

Regardless of what the schedule says… If you are injured, dehydrated, sick, or have an elevated resting heart rate (more than 5 bpm above normal), skip the LT work, and just do L5 (or take the day off).

But, I don’t know what my LT is, Coach!

LT is determined by a “graded exercise test” where the intensity is increased on a regular basis, and your body’s response is plotted. This can be done by blood-work (direct measurement of lactic-acid in the blood), gas-exchange (measure of O2 and CO2), or by an estimate using the Conconi test.

Gas-exchange tests are available at FIT, blood measurement tests are available at SMI, you can find the Conconi test on the Ironteam website under the “resources” section. It can be done on a treadmill or stationary bike, and is best done with a partner to record your heartrate while you sweat. Fill in the spreadsheet and send it to Coach Dan for analysis.

But Coach, I don’t own a heart-rate-monitor!

That’s ok. Some people find them very useful, others have no need for them. If you don’t use a HRM, you will need to hone your personal sense of Perceived Exertion. Instead of your watch telling you when you’re near LT, you’ll need to listen to your body. The best test is the talk test. When you’re exercising aerobically, around Level 5, you should be able to carry on a normal conversation. As you reach LT, your sentences will get a bit shorter. When… you… only… get… one… word… you’re right around LT. Now, if you have a heart-rate monitor (but were reading this section anyway), you can check your HRM at this point and use that as an estimate of your LT.

It’s not required for you to do the LT or Conconi testing - but you should know your levels of Perceived Exertion - and when you are in your LT area.

Thanks to all who sent their marker sets in (and for reading this far into the e-mail). You guys are doing great!

As usual, any questions, comments, or concerns, please talk to one of the coaches.

Stay strong, go long, and pace yourself properly,
Your coaches,
Ann, Chris, Steve and Dan

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 9:36 am and is filed under IT2009 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.