craigmwilson.net/blog

Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a big fan of using a lot of training toys and pouring over training data. I spend 40+ hours per week writing algorithms and working with terabytes of data for a data mining company so I have no affinity for letting that creep into my hobbies. I do not own a Power Meter and I infrequently use my heart rate monitor.
Not to say that I do not know what I am doing. Over twenty years I have read many of the more popular training books (this, these three books, 8 titles on this page and everything here) and digested hundreds more magazine and online articles on bike and run training (I even read some stuff on swimming). So I do prefer to rely on my own experiences and that accumulated knowledge.

Over the last several years I have been intrigued by the lab fitness testing offered now by many sources now including the pioneering and prominent local resource the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine (Twitter), but never could bring myself to pull the trigger and actually schedule an appointment. Last week an opportunity presented itself that I could not refuse: VO₂ max, Lactate Profile and Fuel Test testing in exchange for the sharing of all my data at a public meeting of the Boulder Triathlon Club.

Lactate Profile test
This is the test where you learn your training zones, pedal for 4 minutes at a set wattage than the attendant pricks your finger in order to draw some blood to test for Lactate rate. Then the wattage/resistance increases and you do it all over again - totaling about 70″. My numbers were lower than I had estimated them to be, which I am not sure what to conclude from, other than I wasn’t exactly fresh from the test and I am not going to change anything that I do as a result. I know my body well and I’m sticking with what I know. Seems like great information to have if you didn’t have a lot of personal experience to rely on. Perhaps I’ll do another test in the fall when I am rested and compare the numbers.

VO₂ Max test
Concluding a short break from the LT test I was back on the bike (and the world’s most uncomfortable saddle - some white Specialized torture device I can’t imagine anyone actually uses) for a brief warm-up and 5 minute buildup from 100 to 200 watts the protocol is to increase the wattage 25 every 60 seconds. My sole focus was to keep pedaling cadence steady at my customary rate of about 90-92. Up to 275 watts was no problem; 300: starting to get uncomfortable, 325: I can handle this, 350: burning legs, 375: separate the men from the boys time, 400 ouch, time to not think and instead replay some Linkin Park in my head dig it out… digging deeper…, at 425 watts I was a mess: gasping for more air than the O₂ regulator would give me and out of the saddle trying to maintain a cadence over 85 when the lid blew off and I was toast: reduced to a pile of exhaustion after 30 seconds or so.
The result: my VO₂ Max of 63 is good, but had I started training hard at 10 years old probably would never get to the Olympics. No surprise there. Nice number to know, not sure what I do with it now, though. I surely will never be fitter in my life so it’s all downhill from here, nice to now how far I fell should I do this again, I guess.

Fuel Test
This is what I was really interested in learning. How much fuel do I burn and how much should I think about replacing? Essentially: how do I eat over a long session? I learned that I burn over 1000 combined CHO and fat calories per hour at the pace I plan ride in B.C. The take away is that if I exceed 275 Watts for any length of time I can expect a caloric-catastrophe and end of any hope of achieving my goal. Below that I’ll be fine if I eat as planned. Long term, I could do more to increase the fat burn rate but that would require a lot of slow miles. Not too interested in doing that any time soon.

A big thank you to Neal Henderson of BCSM for the testing and arranging the nutritionist consultation…

This past weekend I volunteered at the 5430 Sprint triathlon at the Boulder Reservoir. I got to be one of the body marking people in the morning, later on I had the unenviable task of transition nazi: “10 minutes until transition area closes!… 5 minutes until… get out… now…". Later on I was the dismount your bike at the line guy.

After watching the first 20 pro and neo-pro competitors come through gracefully I learned just how important this job really is: dozens of people seemed intent on riding their bike all the way to their rack. Shoes falling off the pedals, water bottles flying, skid marks all over the pavement and probably 8 penalties assessed for either going way over the line or coming in with their helmet unbuckled. I saw a couple of horrific over-the-handlebar crashes the result of too much speed combined with too much front brake…

Denali was born August 5, 1996 in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

We ventured to New Hampshire for a family vacation and to participate in the Mooseman Triathlon Festival. Christy and I entered the half-iron event with 850 other entrants and the girls ran the 1K Moose Calf the day before. The event took place in a beautiful clean, clear and cold (59F) lake and on the rolling and tree-lined roads surrounding it.

Let me start by stating this: my wife Christy kicks ass. In addition to working 30+ hours per week she is an always-on über mom to our two girls. She also has sacrificed her own personal time and goals so that I can pursue mine this year. With all that being the case, she still found time to do a lot of training in preparation for this event. Most of that training was done on either a treadmill during our girls’ swim lessons or a bike trainer in our basement while they slept or even set up in our driveway while she watched them play in the front yard. This triathlon was a special one for her and we chose to come here because Newfound Lake, the event site, is where she grew up. She came here and busted out a 6:09 finish, an 11 minute improvement over last year’s 5430 long course (this was a much tougher bike course and hillier run).

As for myself, I had a fun race and ended up 10th of 87 in Age Group. I gave up a couple minutes and a couple spots prepping for the finish line “bust-a-move dance contest” - stretching my arms and legs, clearing out the long finish line chute of other competitors and the first woman finisher. The goal was to look something like this. Although I am not sure I pulled it off, I was a bit tired and stiff. Still, I got the crowd hooting and the announcer in a tizzy. Silly, I know, but Christy threw out the challenge and gave me massive incentive to try and outscore her. Her’s was to be like this, but what I saw was a very abbreviated version. Apparently she was just too tired. Really, I think she just wanted to make me look like a jackass, and surely I did .

After the race I was treated to the best post-race massage I ever received from a wonderful woman from Vital Massage named Kim. She did mention in her thick NE accent “You are wicked stiff, wicked tight - I could bounce a quarta off your hamstrings right now.”

Overall, I am content with the swim effort, happy about the bike ride and not happy about the run. 4:35 was on the table and I missed it. Legs just had no cadence, perhaps still wasted from the previous weeks, perhaps stiff from the long car trip, but more likely I just need to get back into the run work. Not being satisfied is a good place for me to be, lots of work to be done in the next 76 days to get where I do want to be - time to notch it up a couple…
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