Case regarding the use of a lactate test

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An account from the Berlin marathon.

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About 3 weeks before the Berlin marathon, I was, like the other 12 times I have been running a marathon, incredibly insecure about my own level and thereby my speed. Therefore, I chose to go through a lactate test at Flex Physiotherapy by Leif Lundstrøm. The test showed that I, at my current level, have the potential to achieve a running time just under 2.40.

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I chose to trust the test completely and went to Berlin. With me a brought a watch, set the time and pulse according to the previous lactate test. I had a really good feeling, that my goal would be completed.

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The race began and opposite earlier races, I focused 100 % on my heart rate and did not stress about the speed. The heart rate quickly reached the level, which Leif had advised me to run at, and when I passed the ½ marathon, I looked at the time for the first time. I noted that the time said 1.19.38. Running still felt incredibly easy.

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During the second part, I still had completely control over the heart rate, and I think, I hit the part, which you call “Runners High”. It was not until I had run 38 km, where we reached a part with a little headwind and a small increase of the road, it began to become hard. I fought my way through the last 4 km and reached the goal line with a time that said 2.40.32.

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After reaching the goal line, I asserted, that I had increased my PR by 2 min and 15 seconds. I had been running with a heart rate that was constantly 85 – 86 % HRR, and last but not least, I had an incredibly running experience without hitting the “wall”.

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In the future, I will use the results from the lactate test a lot during my daily work out, and hopefully the right training could be the defining aspect in my efforts to try and run a marathon with a time on 2.36 in 2013.