my coach is general manager of absolute endurance, arguably one of the best multisport training facilities in the province. i do almost all of my training at absolute, and having access to the facilities and having a coach that owns the place comes with some pretty nice perks. one of those perks is lactate testing. the purpose of a lactate test is to determine what your lactate threshold is, and then use that information to determine training zones. particularly valuable to endurance athletes, you train in those zones to increase your lactate threshold, thereby increasing your performance. by no stretch of the imagination am i an expert on the subject, but in the very simplest of terms, your lactate threshold is the point just below the work effort that your body switches from using its fat supplies as its primary energy source to using carbohydrates as its primary energy source. your body burns through carbs much faster than fats, and an average person could very likely run a marathon at a very low exertion effort, using fat supplies to make it through the race. however, once that same person's body starts working harder and their heart rate increases, there's a point at which the body will switch to burning carbs. if not properly re-fueled, the body will run out of carbs long before crossing the finish line. the idea is that if you train just below your lactate threshold, your body slowly begins to adapt and will eventually switch to burning carbs at higher heart rates.
for those multisport athletes out there, we all know that our heart rates are much lower on the bike portion of the race than they are while running. that means you have to train in zones differently for each discipline. in november, when i had recovered enough from an injury that put me out for three months, i started my new training program with my coach. my leg was still recovering and it was too soon for a running lactate test, so my coach started me off with a test on the bike to see where i was at. going only from my workout logs from the past three months and how my body has felt, i knew that my cycling had improved since then, but it wasn't until last night's second lactate test that my coach and i got a much better idea of how far things have come in that time.
it would take me too long time to completely break the test down but i'll try to explain the jist of it. both tests (the first in november, the second last night) were identical and started out the same: i began by pushing 160 watts, i would ride for three minutes then my coach would record my heart rate, watts would then increase by 20, i'd ride for three more minutes and have my heart rate recorded, watts would again be increased by 20. this keeps going until, by feel only, i knew that i was working hard (when you know you're working hard, lactate is in the system). at this point it's a tough effort, about 80% of max, which i should only be able to hold for about 15-20 minutes. this is when my first blood test is taken and my blood lactate is recorded. at this point the watts are brought way down and held at a level that allows my heart rate to settle at 145bpm. this is the recovery portion of the test. once my heart rate has settled, my blood lactate is measured again and the watts start coming back up every three minutes. when the watts start climbing again, my heart rate slowly starts to come up again, and the test ends when my blood lactate level goes about 4 mmol/l (whatever that means). the numbers (both heart rate and wattage) just below that level is my lactate threshold.
so that's the complicated part. here's the real world, laymen part: in three months i've increased my wattage at my lactate threshold by 70 watts. and not only has my power output increased, but my recovery time has decreased. in theory that means that i'll be able to ride a course for a sustained effort at 70 watts higher than i could have three months ago, and i'll be able to push harder sooner after a big climb. this is a HUGE improvement!!! not only was my coach very excited with the results, but i was ecstatic! it was so awesome to see some fancy scientific numbers affirming what i already feel: i've come a long way on the bike in a short period of time.
another great thing that has come out of this test is that it's clear i know my body. at two different points during the test my coach asked me to guess my heart rate and my watts (which were blind to me) and both times i guessed them bang-on. this means that out there on race day i should be able to gauge how hard my body is working and i should know how long i can hold a specific effort. this should payoff huge in race management, helping to ensure i don't go out on the bike too hard too soon.
my body feels great on the bike, the numbers show gains, and next week i'll have a chance for a real-world cycling fitness improvement test. every so often absolute endurance has indoor 40k time trials. i haven't been able to do one since the end of october because of schedule conflicts, so next week's TT will be my first opportunity to do some side-by-side fitness comparisons. i don't honestly expect to be able to average 70 more watts for over an hour, but i do expect improvements. either way i'm looking forward to the workout.
too bad running is a whole other issue. my running speed is still sucky and slow slow slow. a geriatric in a wheelchair could probably beat me across the finish line in a running race.
