Having already arranged a 6 month sabbatical break from work, I received the news of my redundancy with less disappointment than usually comes with this kind of blow. Sure, the financial picture changes somewhat but all kinds of new avenues open up for how I will spend the next few years. It is a chance to see how I could develop as a triathlete, and whether at the age of 32 I can figure out how to become competitive as a Professional. Triathlon aside Steven and I, never having co habited before, are embarking on this adventure together; establishing new levels of mutual support, dependency and cooperation in our relationship. Not least because it will primarily be his income from the sale of his central London ‘Bachelor Pad’ that will support me until I can at least make the racing pay for itself and kit requirements.
This throws a whole new light onto that aspect of my life which was started as just a hobby, and I find myself asking the question - what motivates me? Or rather what DID motivate me…. is that still relevant – and/or what are my new motivators? Can we pick and choose such things anyway? It is often said about the successful people (in sports and elsewhere) - it's nothing to do with their talent, but their attitude, determination and belief that distinguishes them from the mediocre. I believe No matter what your potential for achievement may be, Motivation is the key, and multiple levels – long (ambitions, goals) medium (races) and short term (daily/weekly training regime).
I’ll admit that being the best in my age group - which effectively amounts to being the best age-grouper - at my races was a huge motivating factor for me. Pretty shallow, I suppose, that my prime motivation was based on a comparison of myself to others, but it was sufficient inspiration to put in that extra work to make sure that amongst those women of my age who were working a full time job, I was the one putting in those few percent more and earning the wins. It didn't require much thought; just set the alarm early, refuse the beers after work, and don't let up.
Now, this no longer applies; I’ll still be racing age group but it's hardly a level playing field and the sense of pride in a good result is diminished - of course I should be winning my age group; I have it so easy. So if the same result were not to bring the same sense of accomplishment and reward for extreme effort and discipline, how am I going to motivate myself to put that same level of effort into my training? It feels as though I am in a sort of transitional state – that no- mans land separating the top of the age group field and girls up there collecting the prize money who are racing around an hour faster.
Christchurch has been a great place for getting that sort of perspective. Scott, the extremely well connected and ever sociable legend of triathlon, has hooked us up on some great rides with passing pro triathletes that he has or currently does coached, including Chris and Marilyn McDonald, and Tara Norton. It has been a brief thrill to ride with these guys and girls, turning rapidly into big fat reality as the bunch cruises up the road and into the distance ahead of me. Now, that's perspective which is a little hard to swallow if I’m honest, and it's really making me think about the mental adjustments that will be required to bridge the gap.
So arriving at a drinks stop (which was probably entirely for my benefit anyway) on an easy ride minutes after the rest of the guys yesterday, feeling done-in and humiliated, I promise myself that in a year's time it will be a very different story. So, there is my motivation - I can see how far off the pace I really am, but I also know that these girls started somewhere, and probably somewhere lower than this. They have worked consistently at it and are now capable of these performances, which I am in awe of. I know that I have a capacity for hard work and extreme focus on a goal. And there is no reason to doubt that I have the 'stuff' to make it happen for me too.
To date I have trained on the principle that I should do as much volume as possible within the time available, spiced up with some weekend racing and a few more intense sessions in the lead-in to races. It has worked out ok so far, and now that I have the time do twice as much of the same - I should become twice as good at it, right? Here, the phrase ‘unguided missile comes into mind. I have already demonstrated to my self that suddenly getting stuck in to a 40+ hr week is ok for a few weeks at a time, but will shortly follow with a real fatigue low and poor motivation associated with it. I have little knowledge of how to optimize my training to balance volume and intensity for a step up to this ‘next level’. But I do have access to resources, guidance and advice. So, despite the apparent expense of top level coaching fees, when considered against the ‘cost’ of a year without earning plus all of the racing and traveling, the money invested in the guidance of a real expert coach through this transitional phase, and perhaps beyond (after all most professional triathletes do seem to work with a coach through their career) will be money extremely well spent and potentially add value to the entire process. So I have enlisted the coaching services of Scott Molina – a legend in the sport himself, who has coached a number of class athletes and world champions, easy to get along with and having values and attitudes which align with my own. After a year of doing my own thing, and being successful with it, it will be strange to be following someone else’s plan, but I am totally confident that this is the way to achieve my goals it is the right thing to do.
I will take every opportunity to learn from others who have also “been there and done that” and prove generous enough to share some of their experiences. During Epic Camp, I can look forward to spending time with Tara Norton and Marilyn McDonald (though not on rides, it seems!) - my female comrades on camp; learning about their journeys in profession competition. In the short term, I need to remove my focus from my age group race results and towards improvements that I make in training through the year. Of course I feel more pressure to perform well in the age group rankings at New Zealand and Lanzarote but I should really be assessing against the top females overall, and come March 7th I will have my chance to see how it is done at Ironman New Zealand, as well as get a measure of how far I still have to go to get on that level.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
2 weeks in New Seal Land
So, almost 2 weeks in and we're developing a routine.
It's easy with the swimming - turn up at 6am, which means a 5:15 wake up call, to join the triathletes swim squad session. It transpires that the session starting at 7am is mainly for masters (i.e 'proper') swimmers and a few elite, or at least damn good triathletes. The earlier session is divided into 2 groups - 'proper' triathletes who can swim, and remedials/losers who would like to think that someday they will swim. This puts me in a difficult situation - not being fast enough to cope with the real training, but requiring more structure and yardage than we get given in the second group. It is frustrating, but i'm resolved to make the best of it - work hard when the session requires pace, and add on reps to make up a minimum 4k per session. The sessions are 4 days/week, 2 of these are in a 50m pool and there is a lot of emphasis on use of paddles and pull bouy. With an additional sessioon of my own each week 20km is acheivable and so even if i'm not getting pushed to swim to target times, time in the water will improve my stroke, stamina and strength.
The riding here is great with several obvious loops around town of varying length and topography, and it'll be a while before we have exhausted all the possibilities of places to explore with new routes of our own. Then there are al the link-ups between these routes....so i ride 3 days as: tues - hilly 50 -60miler, wed - long flat fast pace with intervals, thurs- mixed 70-80mile easy take a day off the bike for a long run in the hills then ride the weekend as: sat - hill reps, sun- over distance tourist ride with Steven. This format gives about 350 miles and some variety and the sunday tourist ride gives us a chance to see a bit of the area, and sample some of the excellent coffee and confectionary that NZ has to offer ( yes, i know that its time to be careful with the diet in preparation for the race, but when i see those savoury scones or the amazing variety of candies I really AM prepared to carry them around the course at Taupo with me!!!). Last week we headed out south east to Akoroa - a coastal/harbour town on the edge of asubmerged volcanic mountain rim. The ride is around 60miles each way - similar to London-Brighton - and presents soem pretty challenging climbs after about half way. Similar to London-Brighton, though as far as i can recall, Ditchling Beacon has never taken 45 minutes to climb ;o).
On our return, just having departed our 3rd snack stop and decided on the flat and direct route back into own rather than adding 2 further significant climbs over the 'port hills' for a more scenic route, we experienced a sudden thunder and hail storm. One minute wwe were commenting that the sky ahead looked a bit ominus, the next we were stopping to put on shower proofs against the start of a little rain and next thing we'd flung our bikes in a ditch and were desperatly trying to scramble through a hedge for refuge against the grape-sized hails stones which were being flung at us at 60 mph!! A sign of how bad these storms can be is that 2 vehicles stopped when they saw us to let us get in and sit it out. We really would have been quite done in had it not been for this kindness - even though the storm passed withing about 20 minutes, we would have been hyperthermic by the time that it had. It turns out that the folk who had seen us and actully turned around to drive back and rescue us was the family of former All-Black prop forward, Mark Hammetts, international rugby star who now coaches the Canterbury Crusaders!
With all of this riding my running has somewhat taken a back-seat, being a sort of slow paced fill-in sort of thing to and from swimming and into the city centre with a brick runs thrown in. The plan for this phase of my training does call for a bit more pace and tempo work, however, and I'm in a bit of a dilemma here as to whether to ease off on the volume and allow my legs to function like this and get some 'quality' running sessions done, or to maintain my focus on cycling load whilst the riding opportunities are so great, just maintaining a reasonable run volume at easy pace. Afterall, the last few months back in the UK have been run focused and riding limited, but on the other hand - there is a race looming on the not very distant horizon.
That's what makes being a multi sport-er so interesting!
Friday, 9 January 2009
down under 1
Admittedly we did not get off to the very best start to the year, and rather than arriving in Christchurch full of beans and ready to hit the ground running, we arrived full of cold and exhausted from the last minute exertions of packing up and moving out of, and moving my sister into, my home. During the 30 hour flight via LA, on the plus side I managed to catch 4 movies, an entire series of Gavin And Stacey and several episodes of Peep Show, on the minus side I also managed to catch conjunctivitis and so my first views of Christchurch have been through eyelids stuck together with green goo…..
However, the weather has been beautiful since our arrival – yesterday being the hottest day of the year with unofficial reports of 40 deg in places, which takes some getting used to when the last time I was out training it was below zero all day- so we could not wait to get out for a gentle ‘shake down’ ride. We rode a lovely loop south of the city around ‘the bays’ which surround an area of high ground, which is traversed by a couple of pass road offering various length cuts back over the hills and into town. We had not noticed when planning our little excursion that these passes were considerable climbs, and in our fragile states were pretty done in after the 3 hour ride in that heat!
Today started with a jog to the pool, and for me ended pretty promptly with an about turn and jog back to bed with my throbbing head and sore throat whilst Steven knocked out a 5k swim without me. A bit of sulking and a couple of Lemsip tabs and a cheese omelet later we headed out on the bikes to explore the other direction, north out of town. Christchurch’s situation on the coastal edge of the Canterbury plains means that in every direction other than immediately south, it’s flat as far as the Southern Alps. It is possible to ride for hours along a perfectly straight, and all-but flat road for 2 or more hours without coming to anything to break the monotony. We spotted a town 50km up the road called Oxford and headed toward that (it’s amusing us that many of the places names around here are called after British towns – last night we had tea on Brighton beach!). Not my preferred sort of riding, especially into a headwind, but these will be fantastic roads for training in aero position and similar to the racecourse at IM NZ. I made my return by a parallel road back into town (slightly downhill and tail wind) whilst Steven took a more exciting but longer loop back along the foothills of the Alps.
So, already we have stumbled across 2 great and very different training routes and have plenty of ideas for longer variations of these to be tested once we are fully back to health!
Thursday, 1 January 2009
getting tecky, getting tested
There has been some interest amongst my triathlon colleagues in what is referred to as the Maffetone method. Phil Maffetone promotes his philosophy primarily for long term injury prevention on the journey toward weight loss, recouperation or for older and less conditioned people wanting to improve their general health through an exercise (and diet) regime but it has been proven useful for endurance athletes and was famously employed by Ironman legend Marc Allen during certain phases of his training. His method requiers that you set a heart rate cap of (180-age) +/- a few beats for various other factors, and religiously train below that heart rate at all times. Well, very few of the people that I train with have the patience to stick with this and it has raised interesting discussions, and an experiment to compare the MAF test results of those following the method and those of us who are not.
The MAF test (nothing specifically to do with Dr MAFfetone: MAF = Maximum Aerobic Function)is conducted over 5 uniform miles, run at the (180-age) heart rate, recording the mile splits and repeated each month. Much debate was generated by the apparently arbitrary formulas (180- age); with certain individuals exceeding their threshold by merely walking fast, whilst others found themselves unable to maintain that heart rate for the duration of the test. Many had difficulty getting their head around ‘the formula’; why (180 – age)? What is significant about this threashold, and how could it be the same for everyone of that age??
Well, it seems to me that if you accept that (220- age) is a reasonable estimate of your max heart rate, and that your Aerobic and anaerobic threasholds are around 65% and 85% of your max respectively, then (max – 40) beats will stick you somewhere in the upper portion of the aerobic training zone – that which you can train at without lactic accumulation, burning predominantly fat and improve your ‘aerobic base’.
However, very few of us do accept the (220-age) formula and the evidence of the various difficulties that people were experiencing in their MAF tests demonstrates that this is righty so – especially in well conditioned older or less conditioned younger athletes. Personally, I felt that although fine as a guide for aerobic base training, (180-32)+5= 153 was about 5 beats too low for my maximum aerobic heart rate test. Based on perceived exertion and observing how my breathing changes at heart rate of 158, I modified my test heart rate to 156BPM. At this level, after a decent warm-up, I run feeling ‘comfortably uncomfortable’ at a 7:30 min mile pace. Relax a little or let my mind wander and I slow to a jog without even realizing it, apply too much focus and I’ll transit into heavier and rhythmic breathing (and run the risk of scortching the track surface in the process :o))
Testing it:
Luckily I was recently introduced to Alan Lowne of Informed Fitness, a personal trainer and fitness consultant based locally (Crouch End) who specializes in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing. This is more commonly referred to as Vo2 max testing – but vo2 max is just one of the things, and actually the least interesting or useful, that can be determined by this method. As the name implies the test relates cardiac and pulmonary data during exercise, and by analysis of the proportions of oxygen and carbon dioxide released in the breathe enables him to create an individual aerobic profile for the athlete. The science of this is no doubt extremely complex, but basically, aerobic exercise utilizes fat and oxygen for fuel – the exhaled by-product being oxygen. As intensity of exercise increases, CHO comes into play as a fuel source, which releases carbon dioxide. By monitoring the exhaled gases in the breathe and heart rate, Alan’s equipment is able to tell him the ‘fuel’ mix that his subject’s body is using at different exercise intensities. This can be useful for people on a weight loss plan as well as athletes wishing to gain better insight into their own individual response to exercise to maximize the benefits of their workouts and realize appropriate race intensity.
For athletes the most significant feature of the test is determining the Anaerobic Threshold. This is the point at which the body is no longer using oxygen for fuel but is entirely depending on carbs (glycogen) to fuel the muscles, and is identified by the point at which only Co2 is exhaled at an equal rate to the amount of oxygen inhaled. This point widely is accepted as being identical to the Lactate Threshold (although driven by a different system, it occurs at the same exercise intensity which causes Lactic accumulation in the blood at a rate faster than it can be cleared) and the two terms AT and LT are often interchanged to describe this point. Once this threshold has been crossed, duration of exercise at this intensity is limited – the lactic accumulation will result in increasing discomfort and muscular fatigue. It’s generally stated that we can perform for around an hour at our AT/FT. Fine for a shorter distance race, even an Olympic distance triathlon, but for anything longer it’s worth sticking well below this level if you want to maintain pace throughout the race. The good news is that by specific training it is possible to improve your Aerobic profile, thus pushing that threshold further up your heart rate range, resulting in greater output before lactic accumulation starts to ruin your fun.
The Procedure:
Alan had instructed me to arrive for my test after at least 4 hours (ideally a night) of fasting and a day (ideally 2 days) of complete rest. The reason for the fasting is to avoid any existing blood sugar responses influencing the body’s use of fuel during the test and for being well rested to enable the subject to fully exert themselves and be in their best possible condition for current fitness during the test. The test was conducted on a stationary bike - though it is possible to test on a treadmill also this tends to be less common, I assume that this is for practical reasons of maintaining a good pickup form the heart rate transmitter (typically that part of the body remains more still whilst riding than running) and that it gives the tester more control over work output.
Having fitted me up with my mask – a cool looking set up resembling an anti- pollution mask with a hose protruding from the end - wired it up to the gas analysis box, and established a signal from my heart rate transmitter, Alan first wanted to record my ‘at rest’ data to determine my basic metabolic rate. All I had to do was relax. Whether it was nerves, the strange sounds of the machinery as I breathed, the lack of sleep and emergence of a cold that I noticed the night before, but as I sat quietly trying to relax, whilst breathing through my mouth, I could feel my heart racing. After 10 minutes, during some of which Alan had left the room to help me relax, we had collected enough ‘steady’ data (about 4 minutes worth) to make an assessment of my resting heart rate and basic metabolic rate. I suspect that although I had followed Alan’s directions as regards the fasting and a rest day prior to the test, I can think of a few other factors as mentioned above that might have had an effect on this. Certainly I have recorded a resting heart rate lower than 70 BPM (it is usually around 50-55) which is what the readings showed us – still these were ‘real life’ conditions and although possibly not ideal, will ignore for the sake of the test. This is why it is probably worth repeating such assessments periodically, as well as monitoring your own resting heart rate – not only to track improvements in aerobic profile but to provide a better chance of reliable data and identify (and react to) any unusual readings.
So, at my resting heart rate of 70 BPM I was metabolising at a rate of 1.3kcal/minute – roughly equivalent to 1900 kcal/day. For those whose objective is to loose weight, this information enables Alan to formulate a diet based on calorie counting foods, off-setting against activity and a deficit for a steady rate of weight reduction. My feeling is that this simplifies the equation much too far, and it certainly was not my prime concern, but this figure did rather surprise me and went some way to explain how a 50kg female can eat most 90kg ‘sedentary’ blokes under the table and retain relatively stable weight! I also learned that at rest around 50% of these calories are derived from carbohydrates, 50% from fats. With the amount of low intensity endurance training that I do, I had assumed that the ratios would be far more biased toward fat oxidization – a 70-30 (fat –CHO) balance is, according to Alan, ‘normal’.
Next we move onto the real test – the bit where I get on the bike and start doing some work. Alan explained that it is not necessary to perform the test to maximum in order to build a useful aerobic profile, since the relevant threshold (AT) usually occurs somewhere around 80% of max HR - however since I was also curious to establish my Vo2 max, we agreed that we would do so.
Having set the spin-bike to fit, ensured that the mask was fitted well and that all the machines and monitors were picking up and reading my heart-rate and breathing data, I start off spinning at very low resistance at a comfortable cadence, that I knew I would be able to maintain for the duration of the test. Once my heart rate begins to rise, then Alan increases the resistance on the bike whilst I maintain my cadence. We proceed like this – with gradual increase in resistance equivalent to roughly 20watts – the machine whirring, rasping and beeping at 60 second intervals as it created its data points; volume oxygen exhaled/min, volume co2 exhaled/min and hear- rate for interval. We were not making note of the power output, although this would have been an option had the equipment calibrated to do so.
I’d been pedalling for a little while and after a couple of incremental increases in the resistance began to feel a bit warm, and my heart rate had reached 140bpm. I still felt comfortable pedalling, but it seems that I had suddenly become conscious of the task. Alan apparently identified this slight shift in my focus and breathing rate and asked me to rate the effort on a 1-10 scale. I figured this was worth about a 5. At around 150bpm, whilst still relatively comfortable with the effort, I really didn’t feel like talking much as I realized that there was not the spare breathe and I needed to focus pretty hard to maintain the cadence. I rated this 6. At 160bpm I found myself shifting and searching for a more comfortable position of the handlebars of the stationary bike. It didn’t really feel like much fun. 7.5. I’d been taking the odd peek at Alan’s computer and the data points as they tracked their way diagonally across the screen. We were looking for convergence of the blue line (Co2 exhaled) with the red line (o2 intake) – as the rate of Co2 exhaled makes a rapid increase indicating that all of the inhaled oxygen is being utilized by the working muscles and expelled as Co2. Beyond this point the muscular demand for oxygen is greater than that which can be drawn in the breathe and the carb only anaerobic system kicks in - the Anaerobic Threshold. By the time my heart rate had hit 170bpm I was pretty keen to see some convergence happening. We’d agreed to take the test to ‘the max’ and my understanding is that AT is typically found at around 80% of max. I didn’t feel that there was another 20% left in reserve here and we appeared to still be some way off that threshold. So taking what little I understood of the science, I tried to convince myself that I was still well within my ‘comfort zone’, that I could maintain this intensity durig a race and that it was just the weird environment that made it feel so much harder. I knew for sure that I’ve held heart rate of 185 for the duration of a 10k running race, for example. And so we cranked it up another notch. By now I am seriously perceiving a 9.5 on the scale, and Alan joins me in willing those damn lines to converge – and keep me pedalling. At last, at 183bpm we hit that point …and Alan encourages me to just keep it there for the 60 seconds he needs of data. It’s all I can do – the test is over.
The Outcome:
HR @ AT 183bpm
Vo2max 67ml/kg/min
HR max 185bpm
Once more I was surprised by these results. Not so much that I had expected to be able to get my heart rate up to around 200bpm as has been measured previously, because I am well aware of the factors which can influence this, but more so that my AT was so high. Not that think I have an unusually high AT, it’s just at far higher intensity than I’d expected. Which makes me feel that I really am doing all of my training at very easy levels, but i dont think that this is a 'fair' interpretation of the data - just highlights my miscoceptions.
Of course Alan did explain that AT is just used as an indicator of the total Aerobic range, which is sub divided into 3 zones for training purposes. These zones are constructed as +/- 15 bpm around the 'Aerobic Base' level; at which point you are burning 50%fat/50% carbs. By specific training, involving short intervals within the different zones, the aerobic markers can be shifted thus improving the aerobic profile. The desired result being able to work the body harder whilst still utilizing the aerobic fuel system – more fuel efficient and prolonging lactic free performance. Interestigly, in respect to my MAF level, my AB HR ws 153bpm - on a bike. It is generaly accepted that equivalent heartrate for rning is 5 beats higher...thus my MAF test heartrate choice happens to be at the top of my Aerobic Zone 1.
As I now approach the end of my base preparation phase, armed with these figures I’m ready to begin the next phase of my pre Ironman New Zealand block and add some measured intensity into the routine. Alan has agreed to re test shortly after the race to assess the impact that 3 months of this type of training has had on my aerobic profile, and we will be able to view this in comparison to my race performance.
The MAF test (nothing specifically to do with Dr MAFfetone: MAF = Maximum Aerobic Function)is conducted over 5 uniform miles, run at the (180-age) heart rate, recording the mile splits and repeated each month. Much debate was generated by the apparently arbitrary formulas (180- age); with certain individuals exceeding their threshold by merely walking fast, whilst others found themselves unable to maintain that heart rate for the duration of the test. Many had difficulty getting their head around ‘the formula’; why (180 – age)? What is significant about this threashold, and how could it be the same for everyone of that age??
Well, it seems to me that if you accept that (220- age) is a reasonable estimate of your max heart rate, and that your Aerobic and anaerobic threasholds are around 65% and 85% of your max respectively, then (max – 40) beats will stick you somewhere in the upper portion of the aerobic training zone – that which you can train at without lactic accumulation, burning predominantly fat and improve your ‘aerobic base’.
However, very few of us do accept the (220-age) formula and the evidence of the various difficulties that people were experiencing in their MAF tests demonstrates that this is righty so – especially in well conditioned older or less conditioned younger athletes. Personally, I felt that although fine as a guide for aerobic base training, (180-32)+5= 153 was about 5 beats too low for my maximum aerobic heart rate test. Based on perceived exertion and observing how my breathing changes at heart rate of 158, I modified my test heart rate to 156BPM. At this level, after a decent warm-up, I run feeling ‘comfortably uncomfortable’ at a 7:30 min mile pace. Relax a little or let my mind wander and I slow to a jog without even realizing it, apply too much focus and I’ll transit into heavier and rhythmic breathing (and run the risk of scortching the track surface in the process :o))
Testing it:
Luckily I was recently introduced to Alan Lowne of Informed Fitness, a personal trainer and fitness consultant based locally (Crouch End) who specializes in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing. This is more commonly referred to as Vo2 max testing – but vo2 max is just one of the things, and actually the least interesting or useful, that can be determined by this method. As the name implies the test relates cardiac and pulmonary data during exercise, and by analysis of the proportions of oxygen and carbon dioxide released in the breathe enables him to create an individual aerobic profile for the athlete. The science of this is no doubt extremely complex, but basically, aerobic exercise utilizes fat and oxygen for fuel – the exhaled by-product being oxygen. As intensity of exercise increases, CHO comes into play as a fuel source, which releases carbon dioxide. By monitoring the exhaled gases in the breathe and heart rate, Alan’s equipment is able to tell him the ‘fuel’ mix that his subject’s body is using at different exercise intensities. This can be useful for people on a weight loss plan as well as athletes wishing to gain better insight into their own individual response to exercise to maximize the benefits of their workouts and realize appropriate race intensity.
For athletes the most significant feature of the test is determining the Anaerobic Threshold. This is the point at which the body is no longer using oxygen for fuel but is entirely depending on carbs (glycogen) to fuel the muscles, and is identified by the point at which only Co2 is exhaled at an equal rate to the amount of oxygen inhaled. This point widely is accepted as being identical to the Lactate Threshold (although driven by a different system, it occurs at the same exercise intensity which causes Lactic accumulation in the blood at a rate faster than it can be cleared) and the two terms AT and LT are often interchanged to describe this point. Once this threshold has been crossed, duration of exercise at this intensity is limited – the lactic accumulation will result in increasing discomfort and muscular fatigue. It’s generally stated that we can perform for around an hour at our AT/FT. Fine for a shorter distance race, even an Olympic distance triathlon, but for anything longer it’s worth sticking well below this level if you want to maintain pace throughout the race. The good news is that by specific training it is possible to improve your Aerobic profile, thus pushing that threshold further up your heart rate range, resulting in greater output before lactic accumulation starts to ruin your fun.
The Procedure:
Alan had instructed me to arrive for my test after at least 4 hours (ideally a night) of fasting and a day (ideally 2 days) of complete rest. The reason for the fasting is to avoid any existing blood sugar responses influencing the body’s use of fuel during the test and for being well rested to enable the subject to fully exert themselves and be in their best possible condition for current fitness during the test. The test was conducted on a stationary bike - though it is possible to test on a treadmill also this tends to be less common, I assume that this is for practical reasons of maintaining a good pickup form the heart rate transmitter (typically that part of the body remains more still whilst riding than running) and that it gives the tester more control over work output.
Having fitted me up with my mask – a cool looking set up resembling an anti- pollution mask with a hose protruding from the end - wired it up to the gas analysis box, and established a signal from my heart rate transmitter, Alan first wanted to record my ‘at rest’ data to determine my basic metabolic rate. All I had to do was relax. Whether it was nerves, the strange sounds of the machinery as I breathed, the lack of sleep and emergence of a cold that I noticed the night before, but as I sat quietly trying to relax, whilst breathing through my mouth, I could feel my heart racing. After 10 minutes, during some of which Alan had left the room to help me relax, we had collected enough ‘steady’ data (about 4 minutes worth) to make an assessment of my resting heart rate and basic metabolic rate. I suspect that although I had followed Alan’s directions as regards the fasting and a rest day prior to the test, I can think of a few other factors as mentioned above that might have had an effect on this. Certainly I have recorded a resting heart rate lower than 70 BPM (it is usually around 50-55) which is what the readings showed us – still these were ‘real life’ conditions and although possibly not ideal, will ignore for the sake of the test. This is why it is probably worth repeating such assessments periodically, as well as monitoring your own resting heart rate – not only to track improvements in aerobic profile but to provide a better chance of reliable data and identify (and react to) any unusual readings.
So, at my resting heart rate of 70 BPM I was metabolising at a rate of 1.3kcal/minute – roughly equivalent to 1900 kcal/day. For those whose objective is to loose weight, this information enables Alan to formulate a diet based on calorie counting foods, off-setting against activity and a deficit for a steady rate of weight reduction. My feeling is that this simplifies the equation much too far, and it certainly was not my prime concern, but this figure did rather surprise me and went some way to explain how a 50kg female can eat most 90kg ‘sedentary’ blokes under the table and retain relatively stable weight! I also learned that at rest around 50% of these calories are derived from carbohydrates, 50% from fats. With the amount of low intensity endurance training that I do, I had assumed that the ratios would be far more biased toward fat oxidization – a 70-30 (fat –CHO) balance is, according to Alan, ‘normal’.
Next we move onto the real test – the bit where I get on the bike and start doing some work. Alan explained that it is not necessary to perform the test to maximum in order to build a useful aerobic profile, since the relevant threshold (AT) usually occurs somewhere around 80% of max HR - however since I was also curious to establish my Vo2 max, we agreed that we would do so.
Having set the spin-bike to fit, ensured that the mask was fitted well and that all the machines and monitors were picking up and reading my heart-rate and breathing data, I start off spinning at very low resistance at a comfortable cadence, that I knew I would be able to maintain for the duration of the test. Once my heart rate begins to rise, then Alan increases the resistance on the bike whilst I maintain my cadence. We proceed like this – with gradual increase in resistance equivalent to roughly 20watts – the machine whirring, rasping and beeping at 60 second intervals as it created its data points; volume oxygen exhaled/min, volume co2 exhaled/min and hear- rate for interval. We were not making note of the power output, although this would have been an option had the equipment calibrated to do so.
I’d been pedalling for a little while and after a couple of incremental increases in the resistance began to feel a bit warm, and my heart rate had reached 140bpm. I still felt comfortable pedalling, but it seems that I had suddenly become conscious of the task. Alan apparently identified this slight shift in my focus and breathing rate and asked me to rate the effort on a 1-10 scale. I figured this was worth about a 5. At around 150bpm, whilst still relatively comfortable with the effort, I really didn’t feel like talking much as I realized that there was not the spare breathe and I needed to focus pretty hard to maintain the cadence. I rated this 6. At 160bpm I found myself shifting and searching for a more comfortable position of the handlebars of the stationary bike. It didn’t really feel like much fun. 7.5. I’d been taking the odd peek at Alan’s computer and the data points as they tracked their way diagonally across the screen. We were looking for convergence of the blue line (Co2 exhaled) with the red line (o2 intake) – as the rate of Co2 exhaled makes a rapid increase indicating that all of the inhaled oxygen is being utilized by the working muscles and expelled as Co2. Beyond this point the muscular demand for oxygen is greater than that which can be drawn in the breathe and the carb only anaerobic system kicks in - the Anaerobic Threshold. By the time my heart rate had hit 170bpm I was pretty keen to see some convergence happening. We’d agreed to take the test to ‘the max’ and my understanding is that AT is typically found at around 80% of max. I didn’t feel that there was another 20% left in reserve here and we appeared to still be some way off that threshold. So taking what little I understood of the science, I tried to convince myself that I was still well within my ‘comfort zone’, that I could maintain this intensity durig a race and that it was just the weird environment that made it feel so much harder. I knew for sure that I’ve held heart rate of 185 for the duration of a 10k running race, for example. And so we cranked it up another notch. By now I am seriously perceiving a 9.5 on the scale, and Alan joins me in willing those damn lines to converge – and keep me pedalling. At last, at 183bpm we hit that point …and Alan encourages me to just keep it there for the 60 seconds he needs of data. It’s all I can do – the test is over.
The Outcome:
HR @ AT 183bpm
Vo2max 67ml/kg/min
HR max 185bpm
Once more I was surprised by these results. Not so much that I had expected to be able to get my heart rate up to around 200bpm as has been measured previously, because I am well aware of the factors which can influence this, but more so that my AT was so high. Not that think I have an unusually high AT, it’s just at far higher intensity than I’d expected. Which makes me feel that I really am doing all of my training at very easy levels, but i dont think that this is a 'fair' interpretation of the data - just highlights my miscoceptions.
Of course Alan did explain that AT is just used as an indicator of the total Aerobic range, which is sub divided into 3 zones for training purposes. These zones are constructed as +/- 15 bpm around the 'Aerobic Base' level; at which point you are burning 50%fat/50% carbs. By specific training, involving short intervals within the different zones, the aerobic markers can be shifted thus improving the aerobic profile. The desired result being able to work the body harder whilst still utilizing the aerobic fuel system – more fuel efficient and prolonging lactic free performance. Interestigly, in respect to my MAF level, my AB HR ws 153bpm - on a bike. It is generaly accepted that equivalent heartrate for rning is 5 beats higher...thus my MAF test heartrate choice happens to be at the top of my Aerobic Zone 1.
As I now approach the end of my base preparation phase, armed with these figures I’m ready to begin the next phase of my pre Ironman New Zealand block and add some measured intensity into the routine. Alan has agreed to re test shortly after the race to assess the impact that 3 months of this type of training has had on my aerobic profile, and we will be able to view this in comparison to my race performance.
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