Help needed!!!

[Betty-Boo]

Hi all I've been running regularly a good few years now and have recently been trying to run easier in threshold zone rather than max heart rate zone. I am achieving this better now but noticed my VO2 max has dropped rapidly into bottom 50% for my age. So my question is from a health perspective which is best to train in? Any advice would be much appreciated 🤔

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

You say from a health perspective ?It would really depend on what your training goals are as to which would be the best zone for your requirements.

This may help.

Also worth remembering that your best development will come from doing around 80% of your runs as easy runs .

IE, at a conversational pace.

Training zones

[Betty-Boo Graduate10 in reply to Instructor57]

Thanks for your quick reply, think I'm maybe getting a bit hung up on the numbers on my garmin and being to hard on myself and should probably concentrate on how I feel .

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Betty-Boo]

yep

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Hi Betty-Boo , Instructor57 has already given a very helpful response.

I was just wondering if you've personalised the HR zones on your Garmin? Until I did that, my watch was convinced I was constantly running in the maximum range. The 220 minus age maximum HR formula was useless for me! In any case, I prefer to run by perceived effort, not heart rate.

I'm also thoroughly cynical about Garmin's approach to VO2 Max as I find that the algorithm rewards boring, flat, easy short runs and punishes longer, more demanding ones. If you take VO2Max as a measure of fitness, I'm fitter today, coming back gradually from injury and illness, than when I did a fairly technical trail marathon!

[Betty-Boo Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Hi thanks for your response I will definitely look at personalising my HR zone as I don't recall doing that.

😊