Lactate Threshold and Alcatraz

Welcome to Episode #338 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. You are listening to your weekly connection to coaches, experts, and pro athletes to help you reach your endurance goals. We're your hosts coach Rich Soares and 303 Chief Bill Plock. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance interviews and discussion. Show Sponsor: UCAN Take your performance to the next level with UCAN Energy and Bars made with SuperStarch® UCAN uses SuperStarch instead of simple sugars to fuel athletes. UCAN keeps blood sugar steady compared to the energy spikes and crashes of sugar-based products. Steady energy equals sustained performance! Use UCAN in your training and racing to fuel the healthy way, finish stronger and recover more quickly! In Today's Show Training Discussion: Lactate Threshold Test Endurance News 2022 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon New Garmin Varia RCT715 tail light has a camera to record your crashes Why Running at Night Feels Harder What's new in the 303 Ragnar Snowmass June 9-10 Without Limits Productions Inglis Cup - SHIMANO Cyclocross Series Video of the Week Ragnar Snowmass Training Discussion: Lactate Threshold Test Last couple of weeks we have discussed how regular testing and consistency at the correct intensities improve performance. To improve our endurance, we want to be more efficient at an aerobic intensity. To improve our speed, we want to have a higher anaerobic capacity. Besides doing "field testing" like the Swim CSS, Bike FTP and Run TT, one scientific way to test is how well the body processes muscle lactate. If you've ever done a Lactate Threshold Test (LTT), here's how the test administrator interprets the lactate measurement to determine your training zones. The LTT is performed by starting the athlete a warmup at a very easy intensity. We'll use the run discipline for this example. The athlete will walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes before starting the test and once the test starts, the intensity is increased every 2 minutes. At the beginning of the 10 minutes, the test administrator takes 4 metrics - pace, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR) and lactate millimoles per liter of blood with a blood sample and lab kit. The lactate compared to the pace is the primary metric and the HR and RPE are secondary but useful to confirm and interpret the data. The administrator takes those same 4 metrics at the end of the 10 minutes and every 2 minutes there after. Every 2 minutes the treadmill pace is increased by 30 seconds of pace (11:00, 10:30, 10:00, 9:30 and so on). There are two key inflection points the test administrator is looking for. When the intensity is increased and the lactate level remains the same as the previous level means that the subject athlete is predominantly aerobic (zones 1-2). When the lactate level increases and levels out after each increase the athlete is in between aerobic and anaerobic (zone 3). When the lactate level continues to rise without an increase to intensity, the athlete is above lactate threshold (zone 4-5). Our News is sponsored by Buddy Insurance. Buddy Insurance gives you peace of mind to enjoy your training and racing to the fullest. Buddy’s mission is simple, to help people fearlessly enjoy an active and outdoor lifestyle. Get on-demand accident insuranc