bents

Hi all,

I did a lactate threshold test with my heart rate monitor last week, by doing a 30-minute time trial and averaging the HR from minute 10 to minute 30. I got an alarming result: 194 bpm. The highest I've ever seen my HR is 204 so I figure the max is about 205. When I did the same thing in July, when I was pretty new, I got a more reasonable result, 185.

I'm not super fast; I got dropped on a fast group ride last month. So I'm guessing that my heart is beating really fast because I have different limiting factors than your average rider. Like, maybe my legs have good endurance to consume a ton of oxygen for 30 minutes, but there isn't enough hemoglobin in my blood to carry it there. If that's the case, I'm wondering what can be done with diet/training to grow more red blood cells. If anyone has any other ideas for what might be the cause, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks.

BACKGROUND IF YOU'RE WONDERING:
I'm 31, 6'1", 153 lbs. Since June, I've been doing about 75-150 miles/week, mostly long slow distance, with some faster stuff for fun. Before that I was a casual bike commuter. I've gotten most of what I know from Joe Friel's Training bible, but I haven't been following it very closely because I'm a noob. His book suggests that my max HR should be 212 which it isn't. My diet is much better than your average American's, but not consistent. Sometimes I eat fast food or drink beer. I don't take any supplements or vitamins.

turkey9186

Heart rate is an individual thing. Nourishment, hydration, over training, ambient air temperature, winds, and many other factors will all have an effect on it. The only true way to accomplish a lactate thresh hold test is on a trainer in a controlled environment.
Also, the 220 minus your age formula just doesn't work for most people. My max HR was and continues to be around 190. I started riding at 28 and am 43 now. There are days when I can ride all day with an HR of 150-155, and the next week on the same ride, at the same speed, struggle to keep it under 170.
If you are really concerned about your hemoglobin, go have a blood test done. Any chance you are iron deficient?
If you want to ride fast, you need to train by riding with faster people. Keep doing the group rides and you will find you can hang with them for longer periods of time. If riding by yourself, do interval training.
JB

Carbonfiberboy 

LSD doesn't do much to increase speed at your weekly riding load. That's a problem with Friel: he reduced the training levels for everything proportionally from what pros do. That works with everything else, but not with LSD. So cut back the LSD and increase the intensity generally. More hill rides, more going hard on the hills. Your HR data indicates a fairly young rider. You should be able to handle a good training load. Use LSD as recovery rides. Build base in the hills.

Beyond that, 3 minute max effort intervals is how you increase red blood cells. You only need a couple of them a week, but they have to be truly maximum, about to puke efforts. You'll be trying to reduce blood oxygenation to below 91%. It takes 6 weeks to see the full effect.