Guiding High Breakpoint Athletes

Race-Specific Training

Hellemans Subjective Perception Chart

In Part Three, we discussed how to identify a high-breakpoint athlete. Over this series, I have made several points:

1. Precision is an illusion, it is better to assess breakpoints on the basis of high, average or low.

2. There are different ways to assess breakpoints: heart rate, lactate, ventilatory, VO2 and fuel mix. By using different methods, and assessing over time, we gain an accurate profile of the athlete.

3. Metabolic testing (see Part One) gives us a look into the metabolic flexibility, and persistence of fat oxidation. The section on First Threshold & Fat Oxidation provided an example of an athlete with fat oxidation persisting into Zone 3.

4. Part Two showed a case study of low bike breakpoints, and this is typical for (most) amateur athletes. “Do More” is a safe, and proven, protocol for increasing fitness with a low-breakpoint athlete. “More” should have a Green Zone bias.

Today, we will discuss the high-breakpoint athlete with persistent fat oxidation. How are we going to get this individual ready to race fast?

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Green Zone Targets & Tempo Dosing

When we see fat oxidation persisting into Zone 3 (or higher), it is a sign the athlete has a greater capacity for Zone 2¹ and Tempo training. As a reminder, we are defining Zone 2 as the area at, and slightly over, the first breakpoint.

Before cranking up the average intensity of our programs… there are two essential factors to consider:

• Race Specific Needs

• Energy Budgets

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Reviewing my data in Elias’ office, 7 weeks out from my A-Event

Race Specific Needs

I’ll illustrate with a case study. To set the scene…

• I’ve just finished a high-volume training camp, with a short freshen, followed by a race.

• I’m 7 weeks out from my A-Event.

• An expert sports scientist has told me I’ve tapped out my run breakpoints. Meaning, there are at as high a percentage of VO2max as he believes is possible.

• I have plenty of time for a Red Zone / Sustained Speed block.

• It seems like the perfect time “raise the roof.”

It wasn’t, and I’ll explain why.

The purpose of Red Zone training is to improve race specific capacity. We improve capacity, so we can do specific training and generate race performance.

Specific Capacity => Specific Performance

Knowing I’d be getting off the bike after ~9300 feet of climbing, I suspected my second threshold for running would be the least of my worries.

I was correct. Race performance was defined by who could “just run” and avoid cramping on a technical course.

• Specificity. I was training for a 7-hour race and knew my velocity at VO2max (vVO2) wouldn’t limit my performance after ~6 hours of exercise.²

• Trade-Offs. There is a cost to everything. Red Zone run training is costly and would reduce my Tempo bike volume. Due to the climbing on the bike course, Tempo cycling was the most specific form of fitness required for success.

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What You Can Do

1. Create a specific picture of what’s required for race success.

2. Break the race into segments (example in my race report).

3. Train the segments.

4. Don’t get distracted.

5. Schedule recovery.

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When You Should Do It

• When we are within 7 weeks of our race, focus on specific fitness.

• Address critical, but non-specific limiters, away from key races. You’ll find ideas about this in a personal blog of mine.

There many are different ways to get tired. The closer we get to our races, the more specific our fatigue needs to be.

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Using High Breakpoints To Our Advantage

What is race pace and how does race pace compare to velocity at both: (a) LT1 (the top of Zone 1), and (b) the point where fat oxidation starts to drop?

By considering both these points we can manage:

• Stress, which will increase when we move beyond LT1.

  • Important for training.

• Depletion, which will increase rapidly once fat oxidation declines.

  • Essential for race strategy.

To deliver our fitness to the finish line, we have to pace our day in line with our fitness, both metabolic and overall. Many excellent athletes have been painfully reminded of this reality at a long-distance triathlon.³

Saying the above another way… make sure going harder is worth it.

…and even a high-breakpoint athlete will get tired from boosting the amount of Zone 2 and Tempo in their program.

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Energy Budgets & Race Specific Block Training

For a fit athlete, efforts above LT1 are energetically costly. Recall my Zone 2 & 3 energy requirements were 1,000-1,200 kcal per hour from my running test. The high-breakpoint athlete will need careful fueling before/during/after their key sessions.

To manage our energy budget, we use intervals. I know many of you hear “intervals” and think high intensity sessions. A better way to think is… Race Specific Block Training.

For the high-breakpoint athlete (racing long), the intervals are moderate intensity, mostly Zone 2 and 3. Rather than shifting Green Zone targets higher, use intervals and the progressive sets we have shared in Chapters 2, 7, 8 and 9.

The duration, and targets, of these intervals should be determined with respect the race course. Think about the course in detail, especially the location and length of climbs.⁴

• If race pace is Z3 then mix Z3 intervals with Z1 recoveries.

• If race pace is Z2 then mix Z2 intervals with Z1 recoveries.

Race pace must be set realistically.

• For example, my fat oxidation persists up to 3-hour marathon pace and there aren’t many (any?) people my age running that fast off the bike. Might that energy be better used elsewhere?

• Other triathletes have high breakpoints on the bike. If your LT1 power is enough to hit your goals… then focus on durability and improving your weaker sports.⁵

• Most everyone discovers the real challenge is durability, not improving short duration performance. By building general capacity, we are likely to nudge our thresholds upwards without needing to train more intensely.

Back to Table of Contents

1. See Chapter 4, Training Zones & Chapter 5, Lactate Testing for how we define zones.

2. When we discover an important physiological limiter, make a note. Just because I didn’t address my vVO2 this past summer… doesn’t mean it won’t get addressed in due course.

3. See my Multi Year Planning article. I’ve been using a multi-year plan to generate fatigue (and performance) with intent.

4. Courses (like the Nice Ironman, or LT100 Bike) with a lot of climbing suit high breakpoint athletes. The higher intensity of the climbs “takes less” out of them and the descents provide an opportunity to process nutrition (if they get it on board). It is a different kind of fitness from the ability to lock in power/effort on a flat course.

Do you know what type of course suits you best?

5. A classic example is a muscular and strong cyclist, who wants to race a fast Ironman. This athlete needs to reduce the metabolic cost of their swim and focus on low-end economy (bike and run). Absent exceptional metabolic fitness, working hard on the bike will result in run, and race, underperformance.