I want to do it right this time. This race. My next Ironman. I have this potential in me that is untapped. I know it. I am not speaking of the oft-mentioned Rod Of Iron that iron distance athletes gain through all the time and pain they spend training and then all the forward motion produced on race day. That has more to do with capacity than potential.
No. I touched something in my training for Ironman Florida that I have not touched since. After hours of contemplation and prayer its still alludes me by just a fingers breadth. I think that when people, I speak of and include myself here, get so informed about something, like health and fitness, at some point you become a, "Do as I say, not as I do" personality instead of an informed participant. I have held two hour seminars on nutrition and supplementation and fitness and yet it seems I have painted myself into a corner. While I have the tools and ability, my application sucks.
To capture that Will o' the Wisp I am seeking so badly in my ironman training, I look not for a panacea but for education, motivation and accountability.
Today I went to get a consult. I wanted baseline tests on my RMR, Resting Metabolic Rate, and a VO2 test so I can get some advice on training for the next 8 months. I was not surprised. The official medical test for my RMR was only 65 calories higher than the experiments I've done on myself over many years. So in a since it was validation for my own expertise in the subject since I did not use computers and tubes and such.
The VO2 MAX test which includes, accurate HR zones, Lactate Thresholds and Anaerobic Thresholds was the typical run on a treadmill with a face mask and move through a series of speeds and inclines. After essentially nine weeks of off-season averaging only four hours of training I was still in the upper Good, shy of Superior. A good baseline. I can only go up from there and will.
So what do I do with all this information? How do I use it?
Well I am going to use it in accordance with my goals, silly goose. I know that is ambiguous but I do have specific goals; to go over them in this post would make it too long. So I will go over them the next few posts breaking down how these tests and mentoring will help me reach me my potential.
No. I touched something in my training for Ironman Florida that I have not touched since. After hours of contemplation and prayer its still alludes me by just a fingers breadth. I think that when people, I speak of and include myself here, get so informed about something, like health and fitness, at some point you become a, "Do as I say, not as I do" personality instead of an informed participant. I have held two hour seminars on nutrition and supplementation and fitness and yet it seems I have painted myself into a corner. While I have the tools and ability, my application sucks.
To capture that Will o' the Wisp I am seeking so badly in my ironman training, I look not for a panacea but for education, motivation and accountability.
Today I went to get a consult. I wanted baseline tests on my RMR, Resting Metabolic Rate, and a VO2 test so I can get some advice on training for the next 8 months. I was not surprised. The official medical test for my RMR was only 65 calories higher than the experiments I've done on myself over many years. So in a since it was validation for my own expertise in the subject since I did not use computers and tubes and such.
The VO2 MAX test which includes, accurate HR zones, Lactate Thresholds and Anaerobic Thresholds was the typical run on a treadmill with a face mask and move through a series of speeds and inclines. After essentially nine weeks of off-season averaging only four hours of training I was still in the upper Good, shy of Superior. A good baseline. I can only go up from there and will.
So what do I do with all this information? How do I use it?
Well I am going to use it in accordance with my goals, silly goose. I know that is ambiguous but I do have specific goals; to go over them in this post would make it too long. So I will go over them the next few posts breaking down how these tests and mentoring will help me reach me my potential.
6 comments:
Good for you! We'll look forward to those posts.
Exciting!
Smart. It will be interesting to read about you applying all that you know in your training. Good luck!
If I felt like you about tapping my full potential I would hire a coach. It helps with accountability and it's good to have someone else figure out the nutrition and the load and recover parameters. Have you considered going that route?
How cool is that - do keep us posted. I want to do all those tests too, just out of curiosity. It's amazing - when a baseline would have been useful to me, I could have cared less. But now...
very smart approach. I'll be watching you on your diet! Next time I train for an Ironman remind me not to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's every Sunday night.
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