Message sent by: Paolo
Hi Paul,
your maximum heart rate is normal considering the age.
If during a maximal effort you reach 160 beats per minute it is natural that you are unable to run for a long time at a heart rate above 150 bpm.
In fact, your anaerobic threshold is in all probability placed at a heart rate between 144 and 150 bpm.
As you know the time for which the threshold speed can be maintained varies from subject to subject, based on genetic characteristics and training methods.
In general, the more a person is trained, the greater his resistance to this speed (up to an hour in elite athletes)
In your case the ability to maintain that speed is more limited in time, probably around 20 minutes. Therefore, probably at this time you should be able to run for about 4-5 km at a heart rate of 146-152 bpm. Beyond this mileage your body will no longer be able to metabolize all the lactic acid produced and you will be forced to decrease your running speed.
To improve one's anaerobic threshold, the body must be trained to run at speeds close to this intensity.
But we must be careful not to overdo it and respect recovery times.
With your performance level you should not perform more than one workout for improving anaerobic threshold per week.
This session will be characterized by the interval work method: for example, you could perform 5 repetitions of 1200 meters interspersed with 3 minutes of recovery. The speed at which to perform the repetitions will be slightly higher than the threshold rhythm (+ 1-2%) while the recovery will be performed in slow motion.
Every week try to lower the recovery time by 15 seconds and continue for 6 weeks.
Then give yourself a break and enter only occasional reminders (once every 20-30 days)
Have I reached my limit?
You will probably be close to reaching your maximum performance level. Unfortunately, if you do not start running as a kid and if you are not supported by favorable genetic characteristics it is useless to hope to become champions.
The most consistent improvements occur in the first training periods, after which they begin to decline.
Not that improving is impossible but you have to look at things with rationality: for example, if you have a strong body (broad shoulders, muscular thighs, big bones, etc.) you need to consider that every extra kg you carry on slows down by 2 seconds and half the time per kilometer (in a subject of 70 kg). If you have practiced completely different sports up to thirty years or worse, you have been a sedentary, you cannot expect to reach certain levels.
You can act on nutrition, quantity and quality of training but if you have already optimized these elements the chances of improvement are very low.
