Your heart rate should be set at around five per cent below your known threshold. These should be run up to twice a week before peaking for a race season and once a week or less during the endurance build up - it is quite dependant upon your experience and fitness. These hard threshold runs should be preceded and followed by a recovery run. It is also worth recording, charting and analysing all threshold runs. It is also advisable to check your threshold every eight to six weeks.
Threshold training is important as helps to train the body to deal with the build up of lactate.
It is also possible to increase the heart rate at which the body deals with lactate. That is why it is important to test the threshold every six to eight weeks. Having achieved a new threshold heart rate it is possible to run faster due to the higher racing heart rate. Be warned though, if you do improve your threshold heart rate you will still have to train your body to race a 10km at this new level first. The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page.