Dashboard.
The Dashboard is where you can see all of the important info in one place. The Dashboard has 3 separate screens that you can navigate through to access this info quickly. The 3 screens are Current Fitness, Current Week, and Year to Date.
Current Fitness
Current Fitness is the screen that will show all of the data that is collected from the treadmill tests that have been performed. The data fields include HR Max, VT (Ventilatory Threshold), AeT (Aerobic Threshold), Running Economy, and Recovery HR. Also included is a line graph which tracks your fitness over time so that you can see what sort of fitness gains you’ve made month over month.
HR Max is a measure of your actual maximum heart rate. This data point is what defines Zone 5 in the training plan. Knowing your true HR Max is very helpful when defining your training zones. This number may not change any during your training and it may actually decrease as you become more fit. The data field also includes the incline and speed of the treadmill when the HR Max was achieved. This data should change as you become more fit. As fitness increases, the further in the treadmill test you will be able to go and subsequently the higher the incline and speed values will be.
VT (Ventilatory Threshold) is the HR value which is closely associated with Lactate Threshold. This value is determined by pressing the VT button during the HR Max Treadmill Test when your breathing makes a drastic jump from normal to very heavy. It also indicates the top of the Zone 4 HR range. This is sometimes referred to as Threshold Pace and is likely close to your 1 mile timed run pace. This pace cannot be maintained for longer than several minutes and is typically used as an interval session for higher level endurance athletes.
AeT (Aerobic Threshold) is the HR value associated with the top of the Zone 2 HR range. This is the zone which you will spend the vast majority of time training in. This value is determined by pressing the NT button during the Aerobic Endurance Treadmill Test. The test is started with the runner breathing only through their nose. The NT button is pressed when the runner reaches the point where they can no longer easily breathe through their nose and breathing becomes slightly more labored. This HR is a close indication of the effort in which your body moves out of “fat burning zone” and into burning more carbohydrates for fuel. The pace is indicated in this field on the Dashboard screen and this pace should get faster as fitness improves. This would represent the fastest pace that you run in a Zone 2 training session on flat ground.
Running Economy is perhaps the greatest indicator of fitness gains in the endurance world. There was a time when VO2max reigned king as a measure of fitness but it is now more universally recognized that Running Economy is much better (especially when tracking your own fitness gains over time). The Running Economy is given as your HR while running at 8:00/mile pace (other sources may use a different pace but this is what I chose). It is an indication of how hard your body is working at that pace. This HR value will decrease as your fitness increases. That decrease in HR tells you that your body is working much more efficiently at that same pace.
Current Week
Current Week is the screen that tells you what’s going on with your training this week. It gives quick overview of the run that is scheduled for today, it indicates the training week that you are currently on, it shows how many miles you’ve actually run so far vs. how many miles have been planned for the week, It shows how much elevation gain you’ve actually achieved so far vs. how much has been planned for the week, and it gives an overall training adherence for the week in a running total.
Today’s Workout shows the type of run, the training zone that the run is scheduled for, the distance of the run, and elevation gain according to the plan. This screen is very helpful for runners to plan out their day. One quick glance and you know exactly what your workout is going to be.
Underneath Today’s Workout is the current week selection. This indicates which week (by number) you are currently in according to the training plan. You also have the ability to scroll and select another week (either forward or backward) to see what is upcoming or to take a quick look at your stats from previous weeks.
The Actual Miles and Actual Elevation Gain boxes give a good running total for the week and also include what % of the total has been completed. If you missed a run early in the week these boxes will let you know how much you need to make up in order to stay on track to hit your weekly distance and elevation gain numbers. As we all know in ULTRA-running, it’s not about the individual training session but about the larger blocks that matter. Missing one run won’t kill your season, and it’s not too bad to slowly catch up if you need to.
Training Adherence takes into account each training session and whether or not you stayed within the HR Range, Distance, and Elevation Gain that was determined by the plan. Your training adherence might be 50% but your Distance and Elevation Gain % might be 100% for the week. This is just another piece of data that can be used while looking back at the plan if your fitness gains are not improving as much as you’d hoped.
Year to Date
The Year to Date screen gives you a snapshot of the yearly totals that you’ve racked up so far. Many runners like to track total miles or total elevation gain during the year. This is the place to find that information. Here you’ll also find a Training Adherence bar that shows how closely you’ve stuck to your plan up to this point in the year.
The last part of the Year to Date screen is the countdown timer to race day. This is just in case you forget how long it is until the big day!
