a nice road for riding.
Things have been going great recently here in Premanon and it seems that training is now in full swing. The first couple of weeks included a lot of time spent riding at Tempo or otherwise aerobic intensity while my body generally got reacquainted to the increased training workload. During the first 10-12 days it was a lot of going through the motions, but since Saturday I’ve felt quite strong on the bike. The goal of increasing sustainable power while exploring the countryside is off to a promising start with six weeks still remaining. I’m motivated to make the most of each ride and the roads that I find. ’Roads’ no longer means pavement only since I’ve found some cool dirt sections and also some ski trails that are suitable enough for me to loop through rather than turn back when forced with such navigational dilemmas. Lately I’ve been able to connect up a bunch of the small roads with fewer stops to check out the map so I must be beginning to figure it out.
Sunday’s testing made for a long day at the hospital lab, but all went well with each of the VO2Max tests and all the measurements that came along with it. With catheters placed in each arm (left arm vein and right arm artery) my cardiac output was measured with use of a Lithium injection. Other sensors monitored heart rhythms, blood flow to the brain, blood pressure, lactic acid concentration, and respiratory gas exchange all while I completed the exercise test going until exhaustion no longer allowed. After doing this once we got to relax for a couple hours before doing the same exact test all over again, only with hypoxic air to breath that simulates 2500 m (8200 feet) this time. The break wasn’t very relaxing however, having tubes still stuck into both arms with an IV drip to wheel around, but nonetheless I came out strong with the hypoxic VO2Max test – getting all but 25 watts of what I did on the first test.
These next couple of weeks are very mild in terms of testing since the ‘hypoxic’ intervention is now taking place. So far we’ve had just two nights in the altitude rooms (or are they control and normal elevation?) since the first couple of weeks were scheduled for baseline testing and allowed us a chance to generally adapt. A once per week blood test is all that will be required while we are exposed to the hypoxic environment for 16 hours of each day of the week for a period of three weeks. After having acclimated we’ll go through another round of heavy testing to see what has changed and to what degree as a result of the altitude exposure.
So with schedule that’s relatively wide open for training I’ll try to keep some updates coming from any of the more interesting rides. Good luck to everyone racing Chequamegon this weekend too. I’m already looking forward to the 2011 version when I’ll be back and a little extra motivated after having to sit this one out. Ciao, -TJ
