I thought I’d create a post for aerobic development. Most sport is aerobic and the long steady sessions, though not sexy, are a key part. They complement the higher intensity sessions.
Today I had a 4 hour aerobic development session. In the end my session was 3 hours 52 mins. I do my sessions outside , and today was 4C, damp and misty.
I never get bored being outside on the bike. The challenge of keeping my effort not too high up any hills can be fun. Plus there’s always interest outside. Sometimes deer, sometimes birds of prey (like today), always scenery and fresh air.
As you can see, despite being outside, I managed the planned effort well. My breathing was nice and light and controlled.
Could someone elaborate on what I should be looking for with the aerobic decoupling number, IE, what is good and what is bad?
This morning called for a 1hr 20 min aerobic endurance run where I covered 15.49km with an average HR of 147 and an aerobic decoupling (%) of 4.03. I feel like I nailed the session, what does the aerobic decoupling number say?
Aerobic decoupling tells you about your efficiency (durability/fatigue resistance); how much does your heart rate(internal output) increase relative to your pace or power (external output) when comparing the second half of the aerobic run/bike to first half.
You can see it in your analysis chart: does the heart rate “drift” upwards & your pace/power stay the same or go down? In some runs you can probably see it pretty clearly.
The run you mention , 4% is a great number. You also mention you felt like you nailed the session. Trust that gut feeling.
If I were your coach, I would double check your session “time in zones” and if you stayed in zone2, I would lengthen your run. based on what you told me this session was perfectly manageable for you. Depending on your goals of course… great job!!
@Prof often talks about negative aerobic decoupling with high level athletes, especially in the taper phase, when he can see that power/pace is increased the second half of a session while hr stays the same. An indication that the athlete is ready for a smashing performance.
Note that of course this is a little bit faulty if you have a hilly terrain at the second half that you didn’t have in the first half… as you run/walk up that hill, you pace slows down while your heart rate goes up… so context always!
For longer distance running/biking I look at the decoupling (but I don’t have a reference values - maybe someone here can enlighten me) and I use decoupling <5% as a “good to go”, (extend long run), 5-10% as “repeat the length of long run “ where she is now couple of times more (if overall plan allows) and over 10% indicates maybe we need to “increase frequency of running” instead of length to build up aerobic capacity first. There are other ways to increase efficiency as well like strength training, & nutrition… But context dependent.
Sorry I can’t give any reference values, but these are my thoughts of the aerobic decoupling and long runs.
Where as for the 4 hours I was a little over 5% as per my OP. The Athletica medium bike all rounder has me doing a 4 hours 30 mins aerobic development session in a couple of weeks. Thus nicely developing my aerobic conditioning. Which ties in nicely with the much longer events I do, without generating too much fatigue.
