HR Bike Test - did I go too easy today?

[Deleted User]

Hi Coach - 

I am trying to figure out if I went too easy on my trainer for the 40min heart rate bike test today.  Or if this looks like good zone data to use going forward..

2/18 Test:  distance (12.04mi), ave HR (151), ave speed (18.0)........Z1: 98-118, Z2: 118-134, Z3: 134-140, Z4: 140-149, Z5: 151-154

3/18 Test:  distance (12.14mi), ave HR (143), ave speed (18.1)........Z1: 93-112, Z2: 112-127, Z3:127-133, Z4: 143-146, Z5:143-146

I felt like I paced myself a little too much for the first half and only stepped it up in the last quarter.  It looks like I am maintaining the same speed with a lower heart rate, which I guess is the whole idea, but all my zones are lower.  I just want to keep pushing myself now that I only have 8 weeks to go - I can't afford to be taking joy rides with lower zones.  Maybe I am missing something. 

I also need to get a power meter one of these days.    

Coach Patrick

Ashton, first great job on the tests. It's not that your zones are lower and you are going slower. You are doing more work at those zones. So before when you rode 151, you could only go 18mph...but now you can go 18 at 143...which is awesome as you want a lower HR that you can sustain for longer on race day.

I say you still want to ride 18.1-18.5 mph for your FTP intervals...HR should be between 143-150.

More importantly, when you are doing your long rides outside let's note what your average HR is as you go...that will also be a critical metric for you.

Ps - those zones will go up outside by 5-10 beats just b/c you are outside...so be ready for a bit of a leap!

[Deleted User]

Thanks Coach.  But should I have tried to maintain the same heart rate as before (on the first test)?

Here is what I am still having a problem with:  I feel like I should have tried to push harder to get my heart rate up to the 151 range - not sure I could have, but should that have been the goal...so that my test would have looked like Ave HR 151, Ave speed 19.5, and distance 13miles.  I should have been faster and gone further at the same heart rate as the previous test.  And because I didn't, now my zones are lower and easier...which means I won't make the same gains going forward.

Is that line of thinking right?   

Coach Patrick

We always want you to push harder in a test but you can't use your HR zones in a test as the guide (like you do in training). Rather you need to use your internal pacing clock and look at your HR afterwards.

Your effort won't lower as you fear ; the test itself shows that you went faster for a lower HR.

Remember -- HR is a description of the work behind done, it is NOT a measurement of actual work -- that would be pace or power.