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VO2 Journal, Part 2
The following is a continuation of Andrew’s accounts of his experiences with VO2 training. Please see Pete Vordenberg’s article “VO2 Training” in the “More News” section of this website for further info about these training ideas.
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\r\nVO2 Training Journal
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\r\nJune 1, 2004
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\r\nBy Andrew Johnson
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\r\n5/31/04
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\r\nI’m half way through the first hard intensity block of the summer. Last week I did four hard interval sessions, every morning for four consecutive days. They all went well, and thus far I’m very encouraged by the results.
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\r\nYesterday was a planned rest day. I took the day easy and enjoyed the holiday weekend in a very American manner; spectating at the Memorial Day stock car races at Barre’s Thunder Road…locally known as the “Nation’s Site of Excitement!” Pretty rad…
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\r\nToday’s a different story. Back to the business at hand. I plan to do a session of classic rollerskiing intervals this morning, and this afternoon I have some “moose-hoof” intervals planned. This will be my first foray into the land of double interval sessions in one day, and I’m excited to see how my body will handle it.
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\r\nIt’s nice and sunny here in Vermont, for a change. I’m not used to it. I kind of feel like a fish out of water, almost literally after bathing in rain for the last week. I hope this nice weather doesn’t make me soft!
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\r\nThe intervals go well. I’m skiing up the same hill I did classic intervals on last week at a faster pace, and the intervals, though hard and challenging, feel more comfortable than last week. The one major difference between this session and the classic intervals from last week is that I’m no longer noticing major improvements from one interval to the next. Over the course of my 4-times 4.5 min intervals my times are staying very similar. My last interval is a touch faster than my first few, but gone are the days of fifteen to twenty seconds of improvement between interval one and four. I figure this is a good thing. My body has made the necessary neuro-muscular refinements and I’m now skiing every interval closer to my max potential, and closer to my pre-defined goals for the workout.
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\r\nBy the last interval I’m tired but still recovering well. I feel as if I could do another interval if I had too. I ski a short warm-down, before heading home to stretch, eat, shower, and nap.
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\r\n6 hours later…
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\r\nI’ve taken every necessary step between this morning’s workout and now to be as fresh as possible for my next set of intervals. I ate a big, healthy lunch, did some stretching, and took a long nap. I realized earlier that I might have a tough time getting really mentally excited for this second set of intervals. After all, this will be my sixth session in six days. So I mixed up a big cup of really strong coffee right before heading out. This isn’t something that I do on a regular basis, but I recommend it on occasion. By the time I finished the cup I had the sweats (happens to me when I have too much) and I couldn’t wait to get out the door!
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\r\nI jogged for a half hour through the woods before getting to my workout destination: Gray’s Drive. Gray’s Drive is a steep uphill road that winds through the woods to the top of Baker Hill, a little over a kilometer in length. It’s ideal for ski walking, running intervals, and moose-hoofs. Moose-hoofs can be likened to a cheater’s bound. Done with poles, a moose-hoof is simply a less dynamic bound, which makes it ideal for long, hard intervals. I’m always surprised by how, with steep enough terrain, the upper body gets a great workout as well as the legs.
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"Moose-hoofing". Weird name, great workout...
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\r\nI did four of these intervals, all five minutes long, today. I felt good. Better than I expected, and I was able to travel further up the hill every time in the given five minutes than I was in this workout last week. Even the first interval today was significantly longer than the fastest from last week, and if anything I felt more comfortable, with slightly lower heart rates, than last week. This is a good sign. I’m excited as I jog home through the woods and past the lake, but I know that the true success of this two-a-day interval training will be told tomorrow. This will only work if I feel good tomorrow as well, and am able to complete interval #7.
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\r\nJune 1, 2004
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\r\nThis morning is wet, windy, and cold. Again. It’s after ten before I get out the door. I decided early on that my best bet would be to wait for it to warm up a little. It did, fortunately. Just a little, unfortunately. When I crawled out of bed the thermometer read 42.4 degrees. As I left the house I checked again…42.8 degrees…downright tropical.
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\r\nToday I’m back to one set of intervals. Four-times 4.5 minutes skating, with 2.5 min. recovery. The road is slow with standing water, there’s a nice headwind, and I feel pretty good. The warm-up goes well, and the first interval is steady, fast and technically efficient. The road is so slow it’s hard to compare to last week’s time for these same intervals, but my times of 4:37, 4:36, 4:29, 4:33 are good, considering that I’m also going about 30 yards further than the last time.
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\r\nOverall, I feel that I’m in better shape than I was a week ago. I feel good after my two intervals yesterday, and I’m looking forward to my last interval set for this block tomorrow. These new training ideas are good ones, I think, if practiced with good control and in the right manner. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I’m looking forward to getting back to focusing on more distance training, strength, and a larger variety of training than rollerskiing!
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\r\nTeam Today is a non-profit organization run by, and for, the athletes of the US Cross-country team. The USST is run on a shoestring budget, and our increasing success at the international level is making for increasing demand on our ever-limited resources. To find out how you can join Team Today, visit www.teamtoday.org, or contact Andrew Johnson bode1978@yahoo.com, or Pete Vordenberg pvordenberg@ussa.org. With your assistance, we will be THE BEST IN THE WORLD!
Written By: andrewjDate Posted: 6/1/2004Number of Views: 341
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