Originally Posted by
DropDeadFred
absolutely, hammering is subjective to each rider, anything in my zone 4 for me is just barely pushing it and doesn't tire me too bad, its my zone 5 that tends to make me feel like I'm giving a maximum effort (as it should) and am hammering.
I could easily discern that the guys I ride with might not feel like they are hammering when I'm trying to keep up with them on tuesdays and I"M hammering.
You almost certainly have your Zone4 HR wrong, then. Zone 4 should NEVER feel that easy. Redo your HR testing (if you've done it at all) - you're definitely misinterpreting your HRs.
Zone 2-3 is the 'aerobic' zone, and the upper end of zone3 should actually feel pretty tough for anything over 30 minutes. My Zone4 hurts pretty bad within 5 minutes, and my 2 x 20 minute power is nearly 300 watts.