It can be a challenge to get in those Lactate Threshold runs during the winter months. Short days, slick conditions, track surfaces covered in snow, cold temperatures and brutal winds can sabotage your efforts to maintain a steady, even pace. The treadmill can be your best friend when it comes to running lactate threshold and tempo runs during the winter. Whether you have your own personal home treadmill, or head to the health club, it is often the best answer. It is safe and easy to regulate your pace and distance.
Exercise physiologists recommend elevating the treadmill 1% in order to maintain the same effort as running outdoors. The treadmill provides a little extra help by pulling your foot under your body, and you don’t have the air resistance encountered by moving through space. This same phenomenon, however, also makes you work a bit harder on the treadmill. Running in place rather than through space creates a pocket of warm air around your body causing your heart rate to elevate. You will notice you sweat a lot more on a treadmill, and it isn’t just because you are indoors, it is because you are running in an envelop of warm air.
For those who can’t tolerate the treadmill, an indoor track may be another option. Many local health clubs have an indoor track. Use these with caution and infrequently. Tight corners and hard surfaces can lead to injury, and are often crowded during the winter with lots of runners and walkers.
Another option is a fairly level, measured, plowed, low traffic street. This is where I usually do my tempo and lactate threshold runs during the winter months and always during daylight hours when icy spots and winter pot holes are clearly visible. The Psychiatric Hospital campus on Oakland Drive is a local favorite among area runners for doing faster paced running. It is low traffic and kept plowed during the winter. The Garmin can come in handy for these, or driving the course beforehand to measure the distance.
Tempo (T) and Lactate Threshold (LT) Runs are used to build stamina and like your long endurance runs, are a critical component to marathon success. Lactate threshold training will increase your chances of reaching your goal, whether it is to feel more comfortable during your marathon, set a personal record or run a competitive time.
Lactate threshold and tempo runs train the body to tolerate moderate levels of lactic acid in the blood while running at significantly faster pace than aerobic, “easy” conditioning (where there is very little lactic acid production). Lactic acid is the by-product of “oxygen debt” when we try to run fast for any length of time.
Lactate Threshold runs can be performed as “Tempo” runs of 15 to 45 minutes, or long, “lactate threshold” intervals of 3 to 15 minutes with very short jog breaks in between. Lactate Threshold/Tempo runs enable you to run further at or near your lactate threshold running speed, improve the speed at which your lactate threshold occurs, run more comfortably at the same pace, improve your running efficiency at all race distances of 5k or longer and help prevent overtraining. For more on the difference between lactate threshold and tempo runs, read this article: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/Tempo%20versus%20Lactate%20Threshold.doc
Lactate threshold runs are slower than VO2 Max workouts….and when they are run as intervals, the recovery period is also shorter…usually 60 seconds. For a tempo run, recovery is nonexistent. Your lactate “threshold” is the speed just below the point at which lactic acid is being produced at a faster rate than it can be removed from the bloodstream, Threshold pace is at your 10-mile race pace, approximately 25 - 30 seconds/mile slower than 5k race pace, 10 – 15 seconds/mile slower than 10k race pace or 20 – 30 seconds faster than marathon race pace. This correlates with an effort of about 85 – 90 percent of maximum heart rate.
Lactate threshold is often expressed as a percentage of VO2 max. As you improve your lactate threshold, your pace becomes faster relative to your VO2 max. If you raise your VO2 max, it allows more leeway to raise your lactate threshold ceiling higher as well. Lactate threshold, however, can continue to improve many years after you maximize gains in VO2 max. It is very important that lactate threshold runs are done exactly at or right below the appropriate pace. If you train too fast, the desire improvements will not occur and it will make it difficult to complete the entire workout at lactate threshold pace. It is also important to begin and end workout sessions with a warm up and cool down.
How do you figure out how fast you should be doing your lactate threshold and tempo runs? If you have a recent 10k time, you can get a fairly good indication by referencing the VDOT chart located here: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/VDOT%20Threshold%20Training%20Chart.doc. Locate your 10k time and then reference the corresponding VDOT and threshold pace per mile. Your 10k should be one run at best effort, and on a reasonably fast course (a very hilly or trail 10k would not be as good a predictor). Although not quite as accurate, you can also predict your VDOT using a shorter or longer race time using the VDOT Conversion Table here: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/VDOT%20Conversion%20Table.xls
If you need help predicting your lactate threshold pace, please email or talk to one of your S-Pace leaders or Space Captains after one of the runs.
Reference: Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 1999. Road Racing for Serious Runners. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Exercise physiologists recommend elevating the treadmill 1% in order to maintain the same effort as running outdoors. The treadmill provides a little extra help by pulling your foot under your body, and you don’t have the air resistance encountered by moving through space. This same phenomenon, however, also makes you work a bit harder on the treadmill. Running in place rather than through space creates a pocket of warm air around your body causing your heart rate to elevate. You will notice you sweat a lot more on a treadmill, and it isn’t just because you are indoors, it is because you are running in an envelop of warm air.
For those who can’t tolerate the treadmill, an indoor track may be another option. Many local health clubs have an indoor track. Use these with caution and infrequently. Tight corners and hard surfaces can lead to injury, and are often crowded during the winter with lots of runners and walkers.
Another option is a fairly level, measured, plowed, low traffic street. This is where I usually do my tempo and lactate threshold runs during the winter months and always during daylight hours when icy spots and winter pot holes are clearly visible. The Psychiatric Hospital campus on Oakland Drive is a local favorite among area runners for doing faster paced running. It is low traffic and kept plowed during the winter. The Garmin can come in handy for these, or driving the course beforehand to measure the distance.
Tempo (T) and Lactate Threshold (LT) Runs are used to build stamina and like your long endurance runs, are a critical component to marathon success. Lactate threshold training will increase your chances of reaching your goal, whether it is to feel more comfortable during your marathon, set a personal record or run a competitive time.
Lactate threshold and tempo runs train the body to tolerate moderate levels of lactic acid in the blood while running at significantly faster pace than aerobic, “easy” conditioning (where there is very little lactic acid production). Lactic acid is the by-product of “oxygen debt” when we try to run fast for any length of time.
Lactate Threshold runs can be performed as “Tempo” runs of 15 to 45 minutes, or long, “lactate threshold” intervals of 3 to 15 minutes with very short jog breaks in between. Lactate Threshold/Tempo runs enable you to run further at or near your lactate threshold running speed, improve the speed at which your lactate threshold occurs, run more comfortably at the same pace, improve your running efficiency at all race distances of 5k or longer and help prevent overtraining. For more on the difference between lactate threshold and tempo runs, read this article: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/Tempo%20versus%20Lactate%20Threshold.doc
Lactate threshold runs are slower than VO2 Max workouts….and when they are run as intervals, the recovery period is also shorter…usually 60 seconds. For a tempo run, recovery is nonexistent. Your lactate “threshold” is the speed just below the point at which lactic acid is being produced at a faster rate than it can be removed from the bloodstream, Threshold pace is at your 10-mile race pace, approximately 25 - 30 seconds/mile slower than 5k race pace, 10 – 15 seconds/mile slower than 10k race pace or 20 – 30 seconds faster than marathon race pace. This correlates with an effort of about 85 – 90 percent of maximum heart rate.
Lactate threshold is often expressed as a percentage of VO2 max. As you improve your lactate threshold, your pace becomes faster relative to your VO2 max. If you raise your VO2 max, it allows more leeway to raise your lactate threshold ceiling higher as well. Lactate threshold, however, can continue to improve many years after you maximize gains in VO2 max. It is very important that lactate threshold runs are done exactly at or right below the appropriate pace. If you train too fast, the desire improvements will not occur and it will make it difficult to complete the entire workout at lactate threshold pace. It is also important to begin and end workout sessions with a warm up and cool down.
How do you figure out how fast you should be doing your lactate threshold and tempo runs? If you have a recent 10k time, you can get a fairly good indication by referencing the VDOT chart located here: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/VDOT%20Threshold%20Training%20Chart.doc. Locate your 10k time and then reference the corresponding VDOT and threshold pace per mile. Your 10k should be one run at best effort, and on a reasonably fast course (a very hilly or trail 10k would not be as good a predictor). Although not quite as accurate, you can also predict your VDOT using a shorter or longer race time using the VDOT Conversion Table here: http://www.kalamazooarearunners.com/Articles/VDOT%20Conversion%20Table.xls
If you need help predicting your lactate threshold pace, please email or talk to one of your S-Pace leaders or Space Captains after one of the runs.
Reference: Pfitzinger, P., and S. Douglas. 1999. Road Racing for Serious Runners. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
