Training Zones

My goal for my athletes is to develop a "feel" for each zone. Your power/pace/HR is going to be different every day for every zone so in order for you to get the most out of your training, we have to stay focused on the intent of the workout, and give whatever you have in you that day. 

That doesn't mean we won't try to hit certain paces, and reach specific targeted goals. It means that it's important to develop your feel for a certain goal pace so that you can nail it in a race. One of the strategies we'll focus on is hitting a certain pace or effort without constantly checking in on your watch, and then go over the data together after the workout to see how your internal pacing matches up with the numbers.

Zone 1: 

This zone is comfortable, embarrassingly easy; you should be able to carry on a conversation in this zone, you're getting your blood moving without a lot of effort; 

RPE: 3-4/10

Zone 2:

This should still feel relatively easy- especially at the beginning, your effort should feel "smooth" and sustainable. The upper end of zone 2 is Ironman pace. 

RPE: 5-6/10

Zone 3:

You should feel "strong" and efficient in zone 3. This is where it will start to require more focus to maintain effort, but this is still sustainable for longer than an hour. Zone 3 is tempo or 70.3 pace.

RPE: 7/10

Zone 4:

This is when the effort becomes uncomfortable, even from the beginning. Zone 4 is above your lactate threshold, which means this effort is unsustainable for longer than an hour (and very hard to sustain for an hour). This effort requires dedicated focus and commitment to form. This is Olympic race effort.

RPE: 8-9/10

Zone 5:

Hard, uncomfortable, only sustainable for a short period of time. Zone 5 is used for training VO2 max.

RPE: 10/10