Running out of my head

So I haven't posted in a while and am going to get things rolling here again. I will post a race report soon from the Run Vermont Half marathon (5th overall with a 1:20 personal best on a course with a mile of snow). Anyhow I am extremely happy with where my fitness is right now. I have worked harder and smarter than ever before. My coach is a genius and I should have started working with him earlier. My run is where I think I've made the most noticeable improvements although my swim TTs show I'm ahead as well. My bike fitness feels great but I don't have a powermeter to really gauge things and haven't done a bike TT yet. I know I'm averaging around 21 mph at aerobic threshold (Ironman race pace) so that is good. On the the run--- people have been asking me what have I done differently and I want to summarize that in this post. Basically Jesse got my heart rate zones dialed in correctly. I had previously thought my lactate threshold on the run was around 175-178 but this was way too high and not correct. My run LT is actually 161-164. So once that got fixed my aerobic threshold (AeT) was calibrated correctly. Once I had this number (141 on the run), pretty much every single run for 16+ weeks was run right at that HR. I was not allowed to go over it unless I was racing (once a month). What happened was jaw dropping, makes me speechless kind of stuff. Every single run was focused on running as fast as I can without going over 141. I had to keep perfect form and restraint to not go over that number. I had to walk up hils early on. My pace at 141 kept improving and is still getting quicker (although at this point I'm wondering if some of it is from a fried peripheral system). Anyway here are the avg paces I ran at 141 since Dec. This heart rate point is about 20 beats below my lactate threshold. As my pace at AeT lifts, so does my pace at LT without even doing speed work!!


Dec 7:45
Jan 7:30
Feb 7:05
March 6:50
April 6:34

With a 6:34 avg pace at aerobic threshold that predicts some scary fast times. It predicts 15:59 for 5k!!, 1:14 for half marathon and 2:36 for the marathon. This is out of hand and too good to be true. I will need to race to prove it to myself.

I also want to add that in addition I have had a much bigger focus on nutrition this year (way more fruits and veggies) and different timing of my carbs. I am following what Jesse calls the "core diet". Check it out on his site www.qt2systems.com