What the protocol for the Lactate Threshold test?

Basically you select Run, then go into settings for Run, select training, then select Lactate threshold test.  Then it is structured like this:  Warm up (however long you want) and hit lap to start test and just follow the directions on screen.  For me it was 4 min in HR Zones 2-4, then 3 min in Zone 5. It could be able to find it a min or two before or after as the test says 15-20 min.  

If you have your HR settings setup somewhat accurately you will be running pretty hard towards the end, I treated mine like it was a tempo run.

Hi - do you know if the test is influenced at all by gradient? Not much flat running near me so not sure how much it will be impacted. Thanks!

The gradient will impact your HR.

Hey Bupkis, did you use the test and how was it, can you please answer your own questions: 

bupkis said:

how long is it going to take to do the test? How hard am I going to have to run? etc. etc.

I haven't bothered to do the test. Mostly this is because I don't want to waste a workout on it not knowing what kind of workout it's going to be.

That said, I'm (slowly) starting to get good results just letting the device set my lactate threshold automatically after hard workouts. While the pace it said was around my lactate threshold was initially quite a bit slower than where I feel it is, eventually it started moving the pace to right about where I think it is. This proves nothing of course, but I do feel I have a sense of where I'm working hard enough that the lactic acid is accumulating and the watch on its own seems to be doing a pretty good job of estimating it. Also, in the past, when I was more or less as fit as I am now, I've done protocols (the Matt Fitzgerald one last time) to estimate LT and the garmin is now giving me very similar results.

The trick is: you've got to do hard workouts, generally intervals or hill repeats to get it to start moving the LT to where it "really" is.