Testing Week! AHHHH!!!!

This week is the AWCA testing week. So far I have endured a VO2 Max test, the uphill double poll test, a physio assessment, and I still have one more time trial tomorrow—the skate uphill test.

The VO2 max test was quite the experience. VO2 max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual (Wikipedia). This was my first time doing this test, and because of my continued hip problems, I, unlike all my team mates, had to do it on a bike.

Before the test, the staff at TCR Sport Lab took our body fat readings, weight, height, blood pressure and a few other readings. Then I hopped onto the stationary bike that was hooked up to a computer and got to do a virtual ride through some random desert. It was pretty cool. The giant computer screen in front of me showed me riding uphills and down. When I would go uphill it would get harder to pedal and when I rode down it would get easier.

Then for the actual test, they strapped on the breathing tube apparatus and plugged my nose. The tube runs through a computer which measures ventilation, oxygen, and carbon dioxide concentrations in both the inhaled and exhaled air.

They started me off very easily and increased my workload by 20 watts every 3min, telling me to keep my RPMs at 85-90 or they would stop my test. Once I hit a certain point, the watts were increased by 20 every minute until I could not keep my RPMs in the appropriate range. At first the breathing tube didn’t bother me at all and I barely noticed the change in wattage every 3 minutes, but then I basically hit the wall and suffered through the last few minutes of my test.

As for my results, let’s just say that I won’t be chasing down Lance Armstrong anytime soon. My heart rate hit 207 which surprised the lab pros and my VO2 was on the low side for an athlete which isn’t great, but what it really means is that I am not in good biking shape. Duh, I already know that. Throw me on roller skis and let me try that again! But it did help to clarify my training zones and it also found that my body is basically only burning carbohydrates when I train or race. This means that I cannot go for very long without eating because my body just completely runs out of energy. This also means that I probably don’t do very well at distance events. True. To fix this problem, and the problem of my high heart rate, I have been instructed to do lots of long, slow, zone 1 (aerobic) training. This will strengthen my heart and let it beat slower, more powerful, beats and give my body time to dip into fat reserves and learn how to burn that kind of energy as well.

So all in all it was a great training tool and a neat experience. I look forward to doing it again because now I know what it is all about. I hope that next time I can do it running or roller skiing to get an accurate result, but for now I will be out there pounding out the hours to try and teach my body what it is supposed to do!

Bye for now!