[Gonza Alcaraz]

Hi everyone! A couple of months ago I started using TFTNA to plan my training, and would like to ask a couple of questions regarding the AeT Drift Test. The TL;DR question would be: am I interpreting the AeT drift test results correctly? And if so, why do I have such a high aerobic base but slow running pace?

Here is the link to the test itself: http://tpks.ws/5HTBDGRHY4BQ3TI4FEYTRMETSU
As I understand it from the Pa:Hr readings, my AeT should be a bit higher than 155 bpm. I performed the test outdoors, mostly on flat terrain, and jogging at what I eyeballed could be my AeT from breathing and general feelings. If this is correct, what I don’t know exactly is what to make of the results regarding pace vs bpm,

I guess a little background is in order to shed some light on this. I got into running around mid 2018, when I ran my first 10k. Around July 2019 I ran my first city 30k in exactly 3hs (nothing to write home about, but I did ran’em) after training some months with a running team, and also participated in a couple of trail running. These were all performed with an avg HR of around 174 bpm (though I din’t use a chest strap at the time, so that might vary). I never really trained by zones during these time, though I suspect most of my training was Z3, with some Z2 and definitely no Z1 training, so I expect some aerobic deficiency.

I mostly stopped running late last year due to injury and got into rock climbing (fell in love) and mountaineering, looking to train with that in mind, and using running for aerobic since the nearest hill where I live is probably about 4 hs away :(.

One other thing I thought could have to do with this is I’m probably sitting between around 15% and 18% body fat. At around 93kg of weight, those are quite a few kgs I could lose… Could this be making a big difference in terms of running pace?

Thanks for sitting through the wall of text! I really appreciate all the work you guys put on this site, books and podcast. Just started applying the concepts to my training 3 months ago but already see the difference from everything I did before. It’s really awesome!

Topic

[Gonza Alcaraz]

Gonza Alcaraz on September 7, 2020 at 10:50 pm #44833

(I cant seem to edit my comment) I should add that I felt great during the test, using nose breathing all the time, didn’t stop to hydrate nor had any food during the test, and at the end I felt a bit tired but could’ve probably gone for a lot more with a small snack. I even had to pace myself a bit during the second half because I felt like picking up the pace a bit, but that made my HR shoot fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on September 15, 2020 at 10:42 am #45074

Based on the Pa:HR in that test, it looks like 155 is a good estimate for AeT. You could try another one at 160 to confirm.

Weight definitely makes a difference in all weight-bearing sports, especially those that go uphill. “Pounds make pain” as they say.