The Heat is Most Definitely On!

Hurrah! One of the possibilities I wrote of in the last post has now become an actual. No sooner had I published the post than I received an email from a chap at Bangor Uni who said that he had a masters student who was looking for test subjects almost immediately and, come the new term, there would soon be a whole host more.

Anyway, Steph and I hooked up with Sam the student and agreed to take part in his research. Stage 1 consisted of measuring our V02 max, which basically tells you how efficient your body is at taking on oxygen. We both made our way to Bangor Normal Site on Bank Holiday Monday (see how dedicated we are) and proceeded to thrash ourselves on an exercise bike.



Steph piling it on whilst Sam makes
sure he's not about to cark it!

 Sam emailed us the results the next day and I was pleased to learn that my result was 48 something or others, which is apparently high for my age, although nowhere near Lance Armstrong who is said to have a V02 max of 95! Steph had achieved 38, which, again was good for age but as he's been suffering with a cold, Sam told him to come back and have another go. Meanwile I rocked up again on Thursday to be dressed in all manner of wires and thermometers, including the ominously sounding rectal thermister! After 40 mins of pre tests I then entered the heat chamber for my first eagely awaited session.

Not being a cyclist by nature I found the going pretty tough, having to pedal non stop for an hour. I can only describe this as cycling up a never ending incline, not being able to stop pedalling as the bike would grind to a halt. After conceding that I would have to drop the resistance a bit for the last 20 mins, I managed to complete the hour. The good news was that I didn't feel that the heat had affected me too much other than an horrendous taste of salt in my mouth due to not hydrating (all part of the research).

Another 90 mins of observations followed, which I found most uncomfortable due to my aching saddle sore bottom, before the final test of thrashing to exhaustion on the bike at 105% of my V02 max.

All in all I was pretty happy with the session, especially as I had coped with 30 degrees of hard exercise with no apparent discomfort. I had even forgotten about the cable thermometer that I had inserted over 3 hours earlier. Good job Sam had asked me to remove and wash it or it might still have been there now!!

So we're back this Thursday for another session and then hopefully there will be a few more gigs like this as more masters students turn up in the new term. I can honestly say that I have never had such preparation for an event and am now more confident than ever of a worthwhile and enjoyable performance. Top 50 is still an achievable dream.