The physiology of athletic conditioning

bigislandfj - 2010-03-05 9:24 AM

bryancd - 2010-03-05 3:56 AM ...and it doesn't get easier, you just get faster.

This is true, the fastest racers aren't taking it easy, they are busting their humps just like everyone else, in reality more than everyone else. Their pain just happens to get them home faster than yours. I think many forget that.

In training?  Sure.  The FOP'ers will spend more of their training time doing speed work, raising LT thresholds, etc. while many of us MOP/BOP'ers are happy to just get the time/miles in. 

In a race?  Nope!  The FOP go faster for the same relative effort, but they aren't racing an Ironman at Z4/Z5 while us MOP/BOP'ers are doing it in Z2.  They might be in the upper end of their Z2 while we're in the lower end of our Z2. 

You would likely be suprised at how much easy training FOP athletes (especially pros) do compared to their time spent doing harder training.

I think this is the key statement.  The more specific training of FOP'ers allows them to be faster and more efficient in Z2/Z3 during the race since their bodies are trained to sustain the faster speed.  FOP'ers also know how to better implement the specific training, such as speed work, etc. to make it translate into racing (or they have a coach that knows how and they just follow the prescribed plan without fail).  

Why do you say that? On what basis?  (I'm truly curious...not trying to start a debate on your sources)

Those questions posed...I'm not sure I would agree fully with your assessment.  A few of our own FOP'ers here are notorious for pushing it at every workout and not just getting the miles in because they have to.

bigislandfj - 2010-03-05 11:00 AM

McFuzz - 2010-03-05 4:55 AM

bigislandfj - 2010-03-05 9:24 AM

bryancd - 2010-03-05 3:56 AM ...and it doesn't get easier, you just get faster.

This is true, the fastest racers aren't taking it easy, they are busting their humps just like everyone else, in reality more than everyone else. Their pain just happens to get them home faster than yours. I think many forget that.

In training?  Sure.  The FOP'ers will spend more of their training time doing speed work, raising LT thresholds, etc. while many of us MOP/BOP'ers are happy to just get the time/miles in. 

In a race?  Nope!  The FOP go faster for the same relative effort, but they aren't racing an Ironman at Z4/Z5 while us MOP/BOP'ers are doing it in Z2.  They might be in the upper end of their Z2 while we're in the lower end of our Z2. 

I feel like you did two things with your response. 1. Be incredibly condescending by implying that I said a FOP is in Z4/Z5 for an Ironman 2. Prove my point What was the purpose of your post?

No.  During a race, they're not really busting their hump "more than everyone else."  They aren't magically racing at efforts we only dream about, they're just much faster racing in the same zones we race in. 

Now training may be different.  I know FOP athletes do a lot of Z1/Z2 workouts (as do the MOP/BOP'ers).  The also do more training in Z4/Z5 than many of us (since I do almost no Z4/Z5 stuff, that bar doesn't have to be very high) so I am giving them credit for busting their humps more in training than the rest of us. 

The condescention was the highlighted part of your first post, that they somehow suffer more than the rest of us. 

Here's the point of my post:  Give credit to anyone out there racing to their limits, whether they're fast or not. 

Thanks for the medical info, folks.  I never thought about what exactly was happening.

Does the conditioning cause your zones to change?  Certainly a world-class athlete isn't going in Z4/5 in an ironman to achieve their incredible speed.  Rather, they can now go 1.5 times faster in z2 due to the physiological changes?

The quote that Bryan offered in the beginning still applies to many athletes who continue to improve.  As your physiology changes, most do not say "Okay, good, I can still run 10 min miles but it's SO much easier now."  Instead they say "Sweet, I can now run 8 m/m and it's no harder than when I first started!"

Great info so far..

so how much of this can be reacquired for lack of a better word.??    I'm coming off a good 6 month lay off will it take the same amount of time to improve as before?