Why lactate testing matters in ultra-distance running
By Donncha Long · · Training
Lactate testing has been around for nearly 100 years. It’s been adopted in national endurance programs for about 50 years and has become a mainstream coaching tool since the 90’s.
Lactate testing has been around for nearly 100 years. It’s been adopted in national endurance programs for about 50 years and has become a mainstream coaching tool since the 90’s. So there’s nothing new about measuring lactate in our bloodstream, we have just become more efficient with how we use the information. Endurance performance is often attributed to metrics like VO₂max. But when you’re planning to run ultras — many hours on the go — what often matters far more is how efficiently your body produces and clears lactate over long periods. That’s where lactate threshold testing becomes valuable to those of us that like to run, very far.
The blood lactate vs intensity curve is not smooth: rather, it typically features two important “inflection points” that exercise scientists categorized asLactate Threshold 1 (LT1) and Lactate Threshold 2 (LT2)— more often referred to as aerobic threshold and anaerobic threshold respectively.
LT1 marks the exercise intensity at which blood lactate first begins to rise above resting levels.