VO2 Tests, 30 Min Hard Swim, 10min@10mph, 10min Bike

Rewind two weeks.

Matt Russ: "Are you sure you want to take the test this close to the race? I don't like to mess with people's heads that close."

Me: "Nah, I'm good."

Fast forward to today (TiVo sound... blooooop, blooop, bloop): VO2Max test for run was only nominally better than four years ago despite my losing 12 lbs. So, actually, kinda worse. 60.9. Suck. Bike was a couple points higher but nothing to write home about. 59.something. AeT and AT a little better across the board but, again, not what I had hoped for.

Winner: Matt Russ

Bonus: Giving "canary heart" Crouch a run for his money... max hr of 193, up from 188... and this wasn't a max hr test... I could have gone three or four beats higher... when I gave the 1 min warning i thought matt would push me for 2 minutes (so it was really my 2 min warning) but then matt stopped me after 30 sec... i'll just explode myself next time and then as i fade from consciousness wave the 1 min warning. Oh, well, I'll test again and get closer to Crouch.

For the first four hours or so after the test it didn't phase me. Same numbers as last time. Science works. Precision. Same measurements again and again. But then I started thinking, "jeeze, I've been working for four years and my zones are essentially the same?"

So that turned into a bummer because I know I've been in much better condition over the last four years.

But I'm not there now: the 1hr@8mph test alone proved this to me a few weeks ago so I shouldn't be surprised. I guess we all delude ourselves into thinking we're faster than we are. Benchmarks bring us back down to reality... and then kick us in the balls... for fun... because benchmarks are mean. I'm not bitter.

After talking to Paul C this am about the merits of rest, and after doing two close-to-max workouts for the VO2 test, I went to the gym and swam the hell out of the pool, ran a bit (hard) and came home and rode. Oh, and a hard ab workout to boot.

In my defense, there was a female swimmer in the lane next to me. Guys, I know you feel me.

Also in my defense, these workouts didn't hurt and I did rest all weekend. Can we just call it sharpening?

I checked my calendar from last year (bad idea) and found that I did 10min@10mph on this exact same day... the Monday before the race. I'm a sucker for benchmarks like that.

Within an hour of seeing that: me on a treadmill hitting the "Up" button to 10mph.

The result: same average heart rate as last year.

So that was a bit of a pick-me-up. At least if I have to throw down some six minute miles at the beginning of the marathon I'll be ok! Smart.

Another pick-me-up was Matt Russ telling me that most people have a much wider spread between their bike and run VO2max's. He said that generally he'd expect close numbers like mine from somebody coming from a cycling background moving into triathlon. Of course, Matt knows sports psychology and may have just been grasping at straws to give me something to hold on to before the race. Which, btw, I'm totally cool with. I printed it out on a 3x5 card and will sleep with it under my pillow.

When I got home from the gym: a stationary bike where I started doing mad intervals before finally engaging my brain a bit and abandoning at ten minutes. Carriere was on my left shoulder with a look of disgust. Kindzia was on my right shoulder saying "dude, only 185 on that last interval?"

I think the sleep cycle switch is messing with my head. I promise I'm not freaking out about the race. I'm just doing a lot of things that I hope will boost my confidence. Some are. Some aren't.

The VO2 test was, in fact, very good for me. It numerically crushed any twitching impulses I might have had on race day to "just go for it." There's no point... I'm not "there" and doing so will only result in yet another mid-run explosion. Wait for it...

It's a tricky downside to having a lot of data and one reason I'm leaning more and more towards a naturalistic approach for key periods and races (counter to general wisdom and worth a blog post at some point).

And my VO2 test deserves a full post at some point as well.

But I have 50 minutes before I'm allowing myself to go to sleep.