Last weekend I did a trail run with (nearly) the exact same route and conditions as last year. I got a notification that my LTHR increased (+3 to 168). Last year, it was 162-ish.
I’ve done more triathlon training this year (21k Load vs 18k Load at this point in the season). I’ve also tried to work on my run technique, which I feel has gotten better (self coached though).
Despite all that, my pace during the race was not actually faster. I would have expected to be able to run faster when my LTHR increases, run at the same pace at lower HR, or that it would feel easier. And neither is the case. RPE was about the same I feel. Was actually a bit surprised I was holding 170 +/- 2 bpm throughout the race.
I’ve gone over previous posts on LTHR, but could not really find an answer to the question: if LTHR increases, should that translate into more speed? If not, then what’s the point?
I’ve attached an activity comparison chart (awesome tool btw!). There were some HR glitches in the second half last year (Coros Pace 2), that push down the AvHR on last year’s run quite a bit, but apart from those, I feel the HR was pretty spot on.
Does anyone have any insights ? Many thanks in advance.
FWIW, I’m late 40’s, did not feel overtrained, HRV, tapering, and warmup were more or less the same.
