So What is Next?

It is time to reveal my change in plans. I have alluded to the fact that my race plans have changed a few different times but have yet to detail those changes. During the Xterra weekend, I heard from two different people that if I could do Xterra, I could likely do a Half Ironman on the road. Instead of doing the Shenandoah Mountain 100, I am planning to do the Patriots Half in Williamsburg on Saturday, September 10, 2011. Training and racing triathlon has become very fun for me and I like the variety in training. The SM100 will have to wait for another year.

The Patriots Half consists of a 1.2 mile open water river swim followed by a 56 mile mostly flat bike ride and then finishing up with a 13.1 mile mostly flat run. No doubt this event will take some serious preparation. I decided that instead of trying to wing it and come up with a training plan myself, I would enlist the help of a professional. I reached out to the folks at Endorphin Fitness here in Richmond, VA and decided to get a custom coaching consultation as well as some fitness testing.

Step 1 was VO2 Max testing. Here is the Wikipedia explanation of VO2 Max:

VO2 max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake or aerobic capacity) is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual. The name is derived from V - volume per time, O2 - oxygen, max - maximum.

VO2 max is expressed either as an absolute rate in liters of oxygen per minute (l/min) or as a relative rate in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min). The latter expression is often used to compare the performance of endurance sports athletes.

And here is a brief explanation of the benefits of getting tested:



I went to Endorphin fitness early in the morning to do my first round of testing on the treadmill. I never run on the treadmill and really cannot stand it but the test requires it. After about 10 minutes of easy jogging, the tester strapped the face mask on my head and I donned a heart rate monitor. The mask looks somewhat like the one in the picture below.



Once strapped in, I started running on the treadmill. Every two minutes we made the speed slightly faster and then after a few rounds, the tester raised the incline on the treadmill a couple of degrees every two minutes. The idea is to run until failure.

The results of my running VO2 Max test were quite good. I hit 70 which is very high. According to what I read on the Internet, the average for college-age cross country runners is around 50. Elite endurance athletes like Lance Armstrong measure out at about 80. Interestingly enough, the people with the best recorded Vo2 Max tend to be Nordic skiers.

I had a feeling that my VO2 Max was high and I was happy with the result of the test. After a couple of days, I went back to get tested on the bike. My bike results were lower-about 59. I knew that would be the case as I am slow on the bike. A 78-year-old man did the bike leg at my last Sprint Tri faster than me after all.

I still don't have the formal results from these tests. Tomorrow I go to meet with Endorphin Fitness's head coach, Michael Harlow, who will put together a detailed training plan based on my test results, race results, current training volume, injury history, and race goals. The detailed plan will include my heart rate zones which I can plug into my Garmin so that I am always in the right zone. The science behind training is very precise and by getting my custom heart rate zones and sticking to them, I will undoubtedly see better results from my training and hopefully get stronger and faster for the races I want to compete in.

Of course, I still have not signed up for the race. I am waiting to talk to Michael to see what his thoughts are about the whole thing. In the meantime, I am going to continue training hard and smart. With my 10-hour work days, it is going to be a challenge. Already I am missing out on one of my favorite workouts-Wednesday morning swims with Pro K swimming. Karen has helped me so much already and I can't wait to get back to class at the end of the summer.

Thanks for reading.