My training has continued to focus on general endurance capacity / base training, and it’s been fun seeing continued improvement even with the modest time investment I’ve been able to make. Especially because the training is simple and monotonous, more like a tiny Isuzu work truck than a Ford F-350. Nothing flashy, just forward progress every day and every week to try and get the job done.

Stats

Over the course of 2019, I ended up with a nice round 225 hours of training. Mainly road running, some hiking, some strength, a tiny bit of AT skiing. 98% of my training volume was below aerobic threshold (AeT): 86% Zone 1, 12% Zone 2. I have been using a 15-beat-per-minute wide Zone 2 in order to stay conservative. And my Zone 1 extends from ~165bpm down to ~125bpm—probably way too wide, but I found myself getting demoralized when jogging at a Zone 0.9 pace, so I decided to just give myself credit for Zone 1. Others might benefit from separately tracking Zone 1 and Recovery.

Distribution of training hours by zone

I’ve stuck to a good schedule, mostly getting two strength days and one long run per week with the rest of the volume made up of easy short runs.

Results

A recent lactate test showed that my speed at aerobic threshold increased by 9%, to 13kph from 12kph. That was gratifying to see! Both my AeT and AnT shifted up by 3bpm, to 183 and 196 respectively, which is probably just false precision.

Speed at aerobic threshold

Race day

I’ll be doing half (as a relay) of the Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35-mile race at the end of March. Planning to add in a little bit of intensity, but not much – maybe 15-30 minutes of Z3 per week, if that.

I don’t plan to “peak” the race, besides an easy week or two beforehand, but it’s a good catalyst for some different workouts. The hardest part of that race is likely to be the vertical gain and especially the descents. I’ve done a couple of big vertical days, and am planning a run from Stinson Beach to Mount Tamalpais (~14 miles, 2,500 feet) this week. We’ll see if that gets me sufficiently prepared.