John Kellogg talks about this zone in "Run Strong." It's basically running long intervals (3-7 minutes) at a pace just barely faster than lactate threshold with short recoveries (30-60 seconds). He says it's very useful, but I've never seen it talked about much. There's a small referance to it in "Better Training for Distance Runners" I think, but training in this zone isn't talked about.
Maybe this type of training is common but the terminology isn't? Does anyone have experience with this?
The term Isocapnic buffering, refers to exercise intensity where you are breathing hard but controlled. The hard breathing comes from the higher production and exhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2) that normal.
CO2 is always produced from carbohydrate metabolism, but as excercise intensity increases, so does the production of hydrogen ions causing acidity in muscle and blood. This acidity is partly buffered by lactate production and partly by bicarbonate, with extra CO2 being a product of this buffering.
The purpose of any hard interval training should be to practice running at faster paces or holding the same pace for longer. This effectivel means learning to maintain a long stride without losing concentration. The more you pracitice, the better you should get.
Inevitably the physical effort required to perform this task rises exponentially, as the intensity rises gradually so does the breathing. It doesnt matter whether you are running at 400m pace or marathon pace, your breathing will get harder and you will pass through the isocapnic buffering phase. This is why it is hardly ever refered to in training literature, because it is irrelevant to the knowledge required by athletes and coaches, we all know the feeling and how to control it.
Perhaps JK believes that we should often practice interval training without much cardiovascular stress where we go into the hypocapnic buffering phase, characterized by very heavy breathing. However whilst that may be useful sometimes, I also believe that it is necessary to pracitce maintaining pace as cardiovascular stress is quite high, because in most cases, we can recovery quickly from such sessions if we have a good background of hill running or cross country running or similar efforts.
return of the P wrote:
Maybe this type of training is common but the terminology isn't? Does anyone have experience with this?
Sessions like 10x1000 at 10k pace with 1 min rest is a staple session for many top runners.
I was rereading John Kellogg's section of Run Strong yesterday about reviving the cardiovascular system and was intrigued by the Isocapic Buffering Zone (IBZ) and its similarities to Critical Velocity (CV).
IBZ seems to be a touch slower and a bit more volume per session then CV workouts.
However, it seems like they could complement each other very well or even substitute between the two.
Is IBZ the zone Alberto Salzar uses for his 10km worth of work he likes to get in every 14 days?
Thoughts?