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Friels' zone 5a and LT

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Friels' zone 5a and LT

Old 12-02-05, 07:42 PM
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Friels' zone 5a and LT

Okay, so I tested myself on a 30 minute TT on a trainer and the last 20 minutes of my TT was 186 bpm...it seems a bit high for me, and actually, on most of my rides, I hit 183 and the intensity is already very high...getting to 186 from here is very slow for me. So could you guys first help me interpret these results:

first ten minutes: avg. 178 bpm, ended at 184 bpm
last 20 minutes: avg. 186 bpm, ended at 190 bpm

I had a caffienated GU gel about 15 minutes before starting TT, but I don't think it has veyr much caffeine.
I also did a hard TT effort the day before, but I was not that tired from it...felt fine the day of the Friel test (and if it did affect my HR, my HR would be lower, not higher, right?)


So, I'm thinking that zone 5a which Friel sets for me, 186-189 is way too high. It takes a lot of effort for me to reach 189, and sometimes I might not even reach it. Even getting to 183 is difficult for me sometimes.

I was under the impression that Zone 5a was still AEROBIC. Yet, Friel sets the bottom of 5a as your LT HR...wouldn't this mean that the rest of 5a is anaerobic? I definitely know that over 186 for me is anaerobic. So, I'm wondering if I should set 5a to 183-186 (that might even be a bit high for, I'll see...).

I'm 17 years old by the way, and it seems that my HR is always on the low side because I am tired...I try to get enough sleep but almost always during the week, I'm tired from HW and staying up...so my last question is:

The majority of my rides now are in Z2...my Z2 is around 152-163, but on many days, staying in 152-163 feels like it is too hard of an effort for a long aerobic ride...is there supposed to be a slight burning still when riding Z2? And is the breathing supposed to be at least noticeably labored? (although not fast, just louder...)

Thanks.

-Chris
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Old 12-03-05, 04:37 PM
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please, anybody?
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Old 12-04-05, 08:57 AM
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If you didn't have a good fan cooling you, you may have had an elevated heart rate from overheating. Did you do your TT at a constant effort, ie. same gear, same cadence for the whole ride? I wouldn't worry too much about a few bpm's. I mean Friels zones are so tiny, you'd have to be in a controlled environment to stay in the right zone. The 'threshold' zone I use is ~95- 105% of your TT heartrate.
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