Threshold Run Training Fixed What Zone 2 and VO2 Max Couldn’t

[00:00:00] This is what Mato Method says, keep your heart rate under 180 beats per minute, minus your age. And this, this is what my lab test said. My threshold doesn’t even start until 166 beats per minute. In this episode, I’ll break down the difference between zone two threshold and VO two max and why they’re all so very, very important in improving your threshold so you can race and run faster.

[00:00:23] I’ll also show you the very interesting results. From my own test that absolutely flipped the script on Mafa Tune. And if you stick around to the middle, I’m gonna give you my free eight week sub-threshold training plan. I love free stuff helping the internet so you can discover your own threshold without expensive lab testing.

[00:00:39] I’m Daren D Lake, running a nutrition coach sub throughout marathon, a 10 hour Ironman finisher. And my very simple goal is to help you and 10,000 other self-coach runners get 1% better each day. Let’s get into it. The difference between zone two. Threshold and VO two max. Let’s start with definitions ’cause we have to, so you know, we’re all talking the same language.

[00:01:00] Here’s the big zoomed out picture. Zone two threshold and VO two max are all three core. Let’s call them gears in your training system. Most runners, I’d say use them wrong when they start or just don’t understand why they’re doing this sort of training session at this time of the year. Et cetera, et cetera, before the race.

[00:01:15] And then they wonder why their race pace feels like a grind. Everything’s so hard and they blow up in the race and they don’t get their best time. So let’s talk about zone two, the foundation. Zone two is your aerobic base builder. It’s easy, slow at times, and crucial. Arguably, I’m gonna say the most important, you’re burning mostly fat for fuel building mitochondria and expanding your capacity, which means that your blood is just getting more efficient at delivering.

[00:01:41] Oxygen to your muscles so that you can run faster, easier at a lower heart rate. So a good analogy I like to use, think of it like a backpack. You’re building the backpack, build it right and strong, and you can carry whatever tools you want in it to run. Faster than your aerobic base. So let’s say VO two max is a knife.

[00:02:00] That’s one tool that goes into your backpack Threshold is a screwdriver, another tool, and sprints and strides are a hammer of sorts. You can add whatever other tools you want. Okay, a bit of run science here. Threshold is the intensity where your body is at a metabolic tipping point. This is where lactate starts building up faster than your system can clear it.

[00:02:19] You can sustain this effort for roughly 45 to 60 minutes at maximum. And in terms of racing threshold, pace typically corresponds to half marathon to one hour long race efforts. So, uh, the really fast half marathon people probably above threshold. The slower ones might be below faster than marathon. Pace usually is where your threshold is, and usually slower than 5K or 10 k.

[00:02:40] Race pace. Me personally, my threshold is between my 10 k and my half marathon pace. That’s right between 45 and 60 minutes. If you’re struggling to find out what your threshold is, I’ll sort you out. Just wait until the middle, I promise I’ll get you there. Threshold training teaches your body to handle more lactate buildup, like upgrading your body’s waste removal system so you can run faster for longer For.

[00:03:01] Analogy I like your muscles are a pot of water on a stove threshold is just before the water boils over, so it’s obviously on a flame and you’re running. The flame gets hotter and hotter. Hotter, the water gets hotter, your muscles are the water and it boils over, makes a big mess, and puts the fire out.

[00:03:17] So you have to stop running. But the goal is to keep the water rumbling and just moving a bit. Little bit of bubbles so that you can sustain and not have it boil over, not have the water evaporate for as long as possible. Defining VO two max, so I call this the peak VO two max is your top end aerobic power.

[00:03:35] Uh, it’s short, sharp intervals, 80 to 90% of full gas. This is not all out sprinting. You can really only all out sprint for 20 to 30 seconds if you’re well-trained. I’m talking about like properly sprinting Usain Bolt style. You’re training your body instead to use more oxygen per minute. So you’re running quite fast.

[00:03:51] Uh, 5K pace is usually around VO two max. An analogy I like. It’s like taking the governor off of a race car. You’ll go faster, but only in burst because it’s not sustainable for very long. So since we’re defining things, here’s another quick run science nerd break. You’ve probably heard of terms like aerobic.

[00:04:07] With oxygen and anaerobic without oxygen. People think aerobic equals easy. Jogging and anaerobic is all out sprinting while they are mostly right. Here’s the twist VO two. Max training is actually still aerobic, so is threshold training, so is zone three. That’s actually still aerobic. It’s just at the very upper limit of your aerobic system where you’re burning through carbs, glycogen, super fast instead of fat.

[00:04:30] So actually most distance running is aerobic. 5K is actually aerobic. It’s about. 80, 80 to 75 to 85% aerobic depending on genetics and how well-trained you are. The marathon is 99% aerobic. So when you sprint for 20 seconds and go all out, that’s pretty much the only time you’re like mostly anaerobic and even still a hundred meter, you’re still 10 to 20% aerobic.

[00:04:51] You still need that aerobic. Uh, with VO two max, it’s just at the very upper limit of your aerobic system where you’re burning through carbs again, glycogen, super fast instead of fat. So how do you know where your zones are? Well, most runners, including myself, used the formula and I mainly used monotone.

[00:05:06] The monotone method, MAF 180 minus my age. And I used it for years and it was great in the beginning, but I always had this gut feeling it might have been slightly wrong, like off like five to 10 BPMs. So I got tested, I got my lactate threshold tested, and my VO two max and what I found out kind of destroyed that whole formula.

[00:05:26] And I just so happened to have built a free sub-threshold training plan to help you find your actual threshold without needing a lab test. It gives you clear workouts that stay just below the boiling point. Again, that analogy of the pot on the stove. We got the fire, we got the water. We don’t want it to boil over.

[00:05:42] This is where adaptation happens in a healthy and smart and kind of slow way. It’s what I’m using right now to reset my own training. So get out the QR code right here, the link below in the video description, or if you’re listening, open up your podcast players, show notes and get that link. Double bonus, there’s more.

[00:05:58] There’s always more. You’ll get my five minute weekly email in your inbox with tips on VO two max long runs, mental fitness, mental training, and I have some fun in there every now and then because this running stuff, this life stuff, it’s supposed to be fun. What are we here for? Let’s get back into the episode.

[00:06:15] My VO two max and lactate threshold test results. So here’s what came back VO two max slightly lower than seven years ago, but still in the superior range. And I think if I go too up or down, according to Peter Atea, Dr. Peter Atea, who’s all about VO O2 max and how it helps you age in you kind of like a life predictor, quality of life predictor.

[00:06:34] So by zone two actually started at about 140 BPMs, even though it says 152. Um, that, that is slightly wrong based on if you go into the actual data. So 140 to 162 BPMs and my anaerobic threshold, so that’s LT two lactate threshold number two started at 166 BPMs. That means my race pace zone. Doesn’t really even start until I hit like 168 BPM.

[00:06:59] So race pace. As far as like for this a 10 K or the end of a half marathon, I really need to have my heart rate quite high. Let that sink in because Mato was saying 152. And now I have this test confirming the gut feeling that my zone two was higher. It’s actually 162. I thought it was like 1 58, 1 59, 1 62.

[00:07:21] So I’ve spent the last few years going deep into aerobic efficiency, low heart rate training. Being fat adapted, long, slow runs, and it worked and I became really good at cruising. But it came with a cost because I do wanna race fast. I stopped pushing into threshold territory altogether, and when I did, I wasn’t really at my true threshold.

[00:07:39] I basically built a high efficient diesel engine that never gets tested at speed on the highway, just cruising around town and all the back streets. Never really letting that thing get loose. Cool. So that’s my data, but here’s why it matters for you. If you’re using Mafi tone or just guesstimating your zones, you might be massively off from your real training intensities.

[00:08:00] You could be under training, you could be overreaching over training, or you could be like me super fit, but accidentally avoiding the exact work that would move the needle so I can race my best and race my fastest note to the people that. Don’t race that, don’t like pushing themselves, that like running and enjoying themselves and having a low heart rate, that’s absolutely fine to do.

[00:08:21] You can be very, very healthy doing that. You won’t get very fit. So I believe, and from the data in Dr. Peter Attia and a lot of people, you need to do a combination of like 80% zone two. You can even do 90% zone two and sprinkle in 10 to 20%. Of zone three and zone four running, that’s more of that VO two max and threshold running.

[00:08:41] I personally want to run my best time, so I will sacrifice a bit of health, but everyone doesn’t wanna do that, and that’s absolutely fine. If you’re watching this, you probably wanna race faster, so I’m gonna actually just focus on the people that want to race faster. Your real threshold, it isn’t a guess, it’s personal, it’s physiological, it’s trainable, and once you know it, you stop wasting.

[00:09:00] I’d say some to most of your time, training in that gray zone of kind of hard, kind of useless, the middle zone. I did an episode on Gray Zone up here. If you want to learn more about that and open up the show notes and your podcast player app, if you’re listening to hit that link on Gray Zone. But the middle zone, that gray zone is actually what I call sub-threshold, and it’s actually a way for you to improve your threshold without burning out, but you have to use sub-threshold.

[00:09:24] Cautiously. So now that I know my zones, here’s what I’m adjusting. Adding weekly threshold or sub-threshold sessions, cruise intervals, broken tempos, et cetera. Reducing the always easy bias in my training when I’m ramping up into race mode. Periodizing it all. So keeping seasons zone two gets, you know, four to eight weeks.

[00:09:45] VO two max gets a focus of about four to six weeks. Threshold gets a focus of about four to six weeks before races, and then. Some down weeks recovery, rinse and repeat, et cetera. Using objective and control data, like my power meter on a treadmill, a track or familiar flat-ish run route to confirm effort, not replace my intuition.

[00:10:04] So I want to use all different data points, and then it’s like, cool, I know that I’m within threshold because I’m not gonna finger prick myself every single time I do a run. That’s a pain. The pros do that. Wish I had that. But I don’t. So there’s other ways around that. If you’re training off guesswork and acting like it’s magic, trying to find your threshold, make sure you grab my free sub-threshold training plan.

[00:10:24] It’s eight weeks at the QR code right here, the link below in the video description, or open up the show notes in your podcast player. It’ll help you find your real threshold without needing a lab test and train just under it with clear workouts that actually. Move the needle and if you’re wondering how to figure out your own zones without dropping $400 on a lab test, I tested four different methods, a field test, gut feel calculators, and only one gave me the answer I actually trust.

[00:10:50] You can find out which one that is, the video below. Link in the video description or in your show notes, podcast player app.