Week 12/Further Review and Progress on Aerobic Threshold Intervals/New Max HR test

Week 12 was mostly BAU but I did take a "mostly rest day" on Saturday this week:

Swim: 7,500 yards

Bike: 221 miles

Run/Walk: 22.5 miles

PT/Weights: 5:45

Total Training Time: 27:42

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Yesterday (3/24) I completed my 5th AeT run interval session.  This time I increased my work/rest ratio from 1:1 to 3:1 by going to a 0.25-mile walk followed by a 0.75-mile run (trying to keep below my AeT, which turns out to be 145bpm--see below) and repeating three times.  I also found a flaw in my report on session 4 below but I was able to reconstruct my average HR/pace for the work sessions.

In session 4, I did 4X (0.5-mile walk/0.5-mile run).  Here are the corrected 4 run splits:

Session 4 (0.5-mile repeats)

1: 10:08@132bpm

2: 10:42@139 bpm

3: 10:52@ 136bpm

4. 9:58@ 136bpm

Based on this updated data and my new max HR test (see below), I concluded I could probably go faster and go longer for Session 5.  In session 5 I did 3X (0.25-mile walk/0.75-mile run):

Session 5 (0.75-mile repeats)

1: 9:20@ 127bpm

2: 9:51@ 138bpm

3: 11:08@ 144bpm

I think what the data from session 5 is telling me is:

--  I continue to get faster at my AeT (or below).  The first two intervals were my fastest and the fact that I was doing 3/4 mile repeats indicates that I'm getting better at buffering lactic acid at my AeT.

--  I lack some elements of endurance given the dramatic fall-off in interval 3.  I felt good during the interval but I just couldn't bring my HR down even with the much slower pace.  This really isn't a surprise as my cumulative running distance this year is around 12/13 miles, with 5 coming just in this week.

I was contemplating doing 4 intervals to push up to 3 miles of interval work but after the 3rd interval recognized I was done as far as AeT intervals go for this session.

Then, and this may not have been the smartest thing to do, I decided after walking for 0.5-miles that I would do a max HR test by running a 1/2-mile run with the first part being at or near Z4 and then really push, especially over the last 100-200 yards to see how high I could get my HR.

I ended up doing the 1/2-mile test in 4:16 or about at a 8:33/mile pace.  My average HR lept up to 165bpm and I managed to peak out at a max HR of 179bpm, which I gather is unusual for a 66-yo, but hey if I'm anything, its unusual!

Anyways based on this new max HR, I now have my 5 training zones at:

Z1: 98-116bpm

Z2: 117-144

Z3: 145-157

Z4: 158-167

Z5: 168+

Onwards and upwards!