Raceright

My lungs burning, feeling like my ribcage will explode. Searing legs, drained to the point of pedaling in squares, distortion of time, seconds feeling like they never end. My mind playing cruel tricks, trying to convince me easing up is the best choice, that backing off a touch will make everything so much better. The ringing in my ears of a thumping heart beat, followed by hitting the wall and slowly crawling home along a long, lonely, dark blurred tunnel.

It’s January, it’s snowing, it’s Vo2Max intervals, and they hurt.

So what is Vo2Max anyway? Put scientifically, it’s the highest rate of oxygen consumption available during maximal or exhaustive exercise. Or in other words, the point where oxygen consumption plateaus in relation to intensity. Go any harder and you’ll burn up.

The measurement is expressed in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. ml-kg-min. I’ve had a couple of tests before and luck out at the high end of the spectrum, having hit 79 and 84.5. The first number when I hadn’t trained for a couple of years and was busy drinking beer. The other, when I’ve done the opposite. Supposedly, Vo2Max declines with age, but I’m not convinced by that one, having seen my own numbers.

The intensity is one that can’t be sustained for more than 5 minutes without recovery, otherwise you are using a different energy system and not training correctly. 5 minutes may not sound like much, but just try it, it’s seriously difficult, mentally more than anything.

Going off a logical approach to periodization and the working of different energy systems, (completing a block of training then move onto the next level of intensity up, from low end endurance to threshold to intervals and sprints) the next stage of my training should be threshold work, having done a load of tempo and sub threshold work in the previous months. A good resource for the different levels can be found here. So why do them now? Well the previous months have helped build up my chronic training load up nicely so that I’ve got a good level of cycling fitness, but not race specific, and with the top end of my aerobic ability having not been stressed, now was the time.

As I am effectively maxing out my aerobic ceiling, I’m in turn raising the training levels of those lower to this, as they’re all done at a percentage of Vo2max. After this I move onto more sustained efforts developing my threshold, just bringing on that ‘race pace’ a little further. But by doing the Vo2Max beforehand I also benefit from my aerobic system working stronger and am then able to ride at a higher wattage.

OK, so now you follow, here is a workout to help develop your Vo2Max. Ride as fast as possible for 3mins, then spin around for 3mins and repeat 6 times. So that’s, 6 x 3mins @ 3mins recovery. Pretty straightforward to do, incredibility cleansing to do and an utter killer while you are doing it. Remember, if you don’t want to be sick, have your brain try and bargain with you, or just want to plain quit, then you aren’t riding hard enough. They hurt like hell while you do them but you’ll benefit so much from completing them.

September 12th, 2010 will be a date I will remember forever. It will be the date of one of my greatest achievements, racing in the masters world xc championships, out in Brazil. But maybe in truth it shouldn’t be remembered for just that one day. In truth everything that day is about will stretch back over a year beforehand when I first decided to take part in this challenge.

My 2009 season was intended to be the year I raced out over in Praloup, but inconsistency and what seemed like constant illness prevented my from taking part, and making it a non event year. It wasn’t until September 2009, returning from holiday that I found the energy, health and drive return enough to say yes to Brazil. Which was at that point exactly one year away. It’s only in the last month that I realize the size of the task that I’ve set myself in getting my condition ready for the race, but it’s one that I am very happy to take on, in fact, I am relishing the challenge. As each day passes I find myself seeking out those tiny improvements in all aspects which, when combined add up to better results. It’s safe to say I dream about the race every night.

Why am I doing it? What would make one want to go out and race a worlds? Well I would say who wouldn’t want to be part of an event of that size and importance. Racing alongside an international field of other worthy athletes has got to be a great feeling and something I’ve always wanted to do. But its more than that, it’s setting out a goal and working towards it with a spirit of no limitations. I just love the routine of an athletic lifestyle, the feeling of arriving at a race, all the nervous tension floating round just before the gun goes off and we seek to define ourselves through suffering out on the track. I like this probably more so than a great result, although that feels pretty good too!

I’m hoping one of the results of documenting my preparation is that it will inspire others to get out and chase their dreams. Seeing riders compete only goes so far in relating the hard work and determination involved in just getting yourself up to standard to race, let alone win. For me that means combining my training with working in a very busy advertising agency. This job alone is a tough one, and one you need to love as the burn out rate will testify. So I have to pretty much grab all the time I can get around the working day to train.

With roughly eight months of preparation left before the big day I’ll continue updating you all here, and on www.xcracer.com, giving you some behind the scenes preparation on how I am breaking down the challenge into something achievable, and one that I can look back on with full satisfaction.