Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Threshold Test


Yesterday I went to the Whitworth Human Performance Lab (sounds fancy, huh?) to meet with my coach to have my lactate threshold tested. I have never had this test done before so I was excited. My husband even joined me because I think he was curious about it as well. It was also Valentine’s Day so maybe he just wanted to spend the afternoon watching his Valentine run on the treadmill? How romantic. J

Matt started out explaining how the test works and what I should expect. He would have me warm up and then run at a certain pace for 3 minutes, hop off so he could get a small blood sample from my finger (like a diabetes test) and then hop back on the treadmill and run for another 3 minutes at a faster pace than before and repeat until I reached my threshold. Pretty simple!

I have never run on a Woodway Treadmill before so I was pretty excited to try it out. I have  heard great things about them and I can confirm that all the great things are true!!! My husband’s jaw hit the floor when he found out the treadmill I was running on cost a whooping 12K (this was their LOW END model). Needless to say, I don’t think I will be getting an upgrade from Trixie ANYTIME soon. J

After my warm up, Matt had me start out at 7.0 and then I gradually moved up to 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0,  & 9.5. There was less than 1 minute rest in between each of these 3 minute sets.   At the end of 3 minutes I hopped off, had my finger pricked and then hopped back on.

After the test Matt went over what he had in mind for my new training plan. The week before I had given him my current training plan and sent him some of my Garmin data so he had a general idea of what I had been running before he set out to create a plan for Eugene in April. The new plan looks fantastic!  It doesn’t follow the concept of RLRF, which I was never really sold on in the first place. It involves more running days and higher mileage, but nothing that I won’t be able to handle.  All of the runs are based on my current threshold pace which we will re-evaluate again mid March.  There are essentially 3 workouts per week and 2 easy running days where I can run anywhere from 2-5 miles. I will also continue my cross training on Tuesdays & Thursdays and either run easy, easy on Saturday or hit up a spin class.

Here are my official threshold results....


To say that I am excited is a huge understatement. I am excited about working with Matt, I am excited about my new training plan, I am excited about the goals I have set for myself, and I am excited for EUGENE!

Questions for you:

Have you had a lactate threshold test done before?

Anyone else run on a Woodway??? Anyone lucky enough to OWN a Woodway???

--Tasha

10 comments:

  1. So excited for you! And a bit jealous about the coach...in a good jealous way. So your threshold pace is about a 6:54 pace? This is about where I'm putting my threshold pace according to my plan and charts...he has me go by 15k-half marathon pace so I usually try to hit around a 6:54 to 7ish. Can't wait to see how this will help you. You have so much talent!

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    1. Yep, that's correct! I'm pretty excited about this too. I need someone to keep me in check that knows what they are talking about. I have never trained with my threshold pace or even knew what it was before so I'm intrigued to see how it helps my training.

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  2. I don't get it...so what does that mean?
    are they saying that is your threshold pace for what distance though?
    this seems cool...wish I could do this test!

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    1. Hey Nicole I'm on my phone or else I would give you a website to look up. Try Googling "lactate threshold training for runners" and that should answer your questions. I'm sure your coach would know of a place in PDX to get this test done. Its around $100.

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  3. I'm having mine done tomorrow! Hopefully I don't embarrass myself...

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    1. Alanna, how did your test go????? I'm sure you did great- can't wait to hear about it!

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  4. Wood way treadmills are awesome!!!! Wish I could justify paying that much for a treadmill! I think I will find a place to get this test done, seems really helpful :). Excited to see you what Eugene holds for you!

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    1. I know Stephanie, I wish i could justify the cost too! Well, I probably could, but my hubby wouldn't!

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  5. Wow that's really cool!! I have never had this test done and I don't know if I will ever have it done. I have never run on a Woodway but sounds sweet.

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  6. I have never had a LT test before but would LOVE one. I may look into that this summer as I *hopefully* get a bit more fit!

    I've never run on those treadmills either...I hear they are like running on clouds! Super jealous you got to run on one!

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