Dear community, what are your thoughts about replacing some of the Z2 workouts with Z1? Background: as ultra runner my LT1 is relatively high and Z2 workouts quite taxing (pace around 4:50), esp. giving my age of 55 yrs. Steve House (Uphill Athlete) suggests in these cases to replace some of the Z2 work with Z1 work. Would you agree? And shall I change other parameters (e.g. increase duration, or keep Z2 and decrease duration)? Thx
I am a 45 year old triathlete. This year I experimented with my endurance/Z2 runs. Whenever I felt tired or like I needed more recovery and I had an endurance/Z2 run on my schedule, I would drop my pace and do it in Z1. I found that it helped me to be fresher for later in the week when I had harder workouts scheduled. I did not adjust the duration at all, I just went slower.
Side story about going slow. Several years ago I was battling recurring calf injuries. I couldn’t do any running intensity without getting injured. So I trained all my intensity on the bike and pool for about 6 months. I don’t think I ever ran faster than 9:30/mile (approx. 5:54/km) in the lead up to my first race of the season. I ran a 6:30/mile (approx. 4:02/km) 5k at the end of the sprint triathlon. Volume and staying healthy is king!
A great call @okoeth … also more walking suggested by Iñaki de la Parra.