The discrepancy between HR and pace zones has been mentioned here quite a bit. The standard response to this seems to be just follow one for training. I have done this and just followed HR while ignoring the pacing.
But now it is time for a race and I look at the Athlete Zone data for pacing and now it becomes a problem. I would expect a coach to be able to give me input about this, but following the current data, I would DNF or die, which is not what I want from a coach.
I don’t understand how the data can be so far off. I have been running at X paces with Y HRs for a year and a half with the program. It shouldn’t be so difficult to get this right.
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Hello @kenny_in_motion
Could you please be more specific? I don’t understand what you mean with “I would DNF or die?” Are you looking for pacing advice for your race? what race is it? Have you looked at your pacing chart?
Happy to have a look if you’d like.
MJ
Hi @Marjaana . Thanks for your reply.
I am talking about the pacing chart in the Athlete Zone section being completely wrong. I am running a few half marathons over the next few weeks. If I followed the pace on that chart I would injure myself or drop out of the race in the first few kilometers. It is much faster than it should be (I am big and slow). Some pacing advice would be great, thanks. I used to be able to get a feel for that on long runs, but my plan hasn’t had any that I could test with.
Since the system analyzes all the data I have, I am wondering how it could be so far off.
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@Marjaana would you be able to help me with the pacing? Or is there a way to fix it in the system? I ran a half marathon yesterday and the pacing was totally off (and that was running much slower than the Pace chart suggests). My worst half yet. I have another one this weekend and hoping to pace that one better.
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Kenny, sorry to hear that! Have you tried manually adjusting the paces to match what you’ve been putting out? B now you should have an idea of what pace you can hold at the given HR. See example in the image and you can edit there to override the automatic pace.
Settings > Training > Thresholds:
And crucially: make sure you’ve checked the box for Athletica to ASK YOU before threshold changes are made, otherwise the bad data will revert the change.
Settings > Profile > Automatic Threshold Updates
By bad data, it seems like there may be a few historical workouts with bad data (forget to turn off when you got on the bike or in a car? Started a run while driving by accident? etc.) that are showing you can go much faster than is true, which then skews everything. GIGO right?
To correct this for the near term, manually changing it will stabilize for now, and then eventually the bad data will drop off and Athletica will go back to being accurate. (Or you can go hunt for the historical problem workouts and delete them, but that’s a lot of effort LOL.)
Hope that helps, and good luck with your event!
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Hey @kenny_in_motion so sorry for late reply.
I had a look at your training plan. It’s been a while you did a test (June) and to me it looks like your threshold was set a little too high. I’ve adjusted it for you. Let me know if that made a difference.
If you have a look at your Running Pace chart, you can get an idea of:
- What pace did you do your last hard 20-30 min effort
- Your long distance effort from last weekend (half marathon) - your pace was around 7:23 min/km. Depending on how you felt during the run, I would recommend following:
- split the half marathon into three sections: First 7km: Start conservatively around 8min/km - keep your HR down. Stay patient. Let folks go. You’ll see their backs later.
- 8-14K - see if you can pick up pace a little towards 7:45min/km. Is it hot? Pour water on your head, neck, chest. Art is to not get your feet wet if you don’t like wet shoes. Grab energy since you’re out there 2:30-3hrs.
- Last 7K- time to be your biggest cheerleader. Focus on technique. You’re tired and want to get to the finish line. Focusing on technique takes your focus from the hurt to task at hand. Once step at a time. Keep taking in energy. Your brain will love it. Keep cooling. Keep your mantra in your mind.
Last 2-3K - if you have anything in the tank, let it rip!!!
PS.If your threshold changes and your training zones feel too hard, let me know - the quickest way to get help is via our support.athletica.ai and submit a request.
Thanks, you’ve got this!
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Thank you! I did try manually change it and did not know why it kept going back to other numbers. I did not see the “Ask me” option. That’s good to know.
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Thank you! I had a look at the paces in and they look like an exact match for my HR and pace zones. Thanks for the help. I’ll try out your advice in tomorrow’s race.
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Good luck! In the future if the threshold don’t stick, please use support.athletica.ai - top right there is a button to submit a request. That is the fastest way to get help and fix.
Thank you,
Marjaana
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