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East-Side Update/VO2 Journal
East-Side Update
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\r\nAndy Newell
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\r\nWazzup! Newell here, with another update from the Green Mountain State. As many of you probably know the US Ski Team has been experimenting with VO2 max building blocks, one this time of the year and another in September. I began my first block last Monday and I really think it had a positive effect on my fitness level.
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\r\nMy training plan called for 3.5 hours of level 4 training (this includes recovery time) and a total of about 12 hours for the week. My goal was not to worry about necessarily getting in the 12 hours in but to make sure each interval session was a quality work out. I decided to split the week up into 6 interval sessions while still keeping up with the 3 strength work outs a week.
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\r\nThis is what my schedule looked like:
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\r\nMon: AM Skating 4x4 min lv. 4 1:20 fallowed by strength work out 1:00
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\r\nTue: AM classic 4x4 min lv 4 1:20
\r\n PM Ski walk 5x3.5 min lv 4 1:20
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\r\nWen: AM Classic 4x4 min lv 4 1:15
\r\n PM run and strength 1:00
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\r\nThur: off
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\r\nFri: Skating 5x3.5 min lv 4 1:20
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\r\nSat: AM-bounding 4x4 min lv. 4 1:30
\r\n PM- strength 45 min
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\r\nSun: off
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\r\nThe total number of hours ended up being 11:45. By taking 2 days off and keeping every workout under 1:30 I was able to get everything in without getting too tired. One thing I could have done a little better would have been to sneak a few recovery workouts in there, but with work and everything I didn’t really have enough time. I will continue the VO2 max building bloc through this week but without as much intensity. I plan to do three interval sessions this week similar the ones I have already done. After doing the first week I am already feeling an increased speed of motion in my everyday training and increased fitness. Today when I did intervals it felt like I was recovering twice as fast as at the beginning of last week. If anyone out there is looking to try this in their training I would recommend making sure each interval is just above your threshold and that each interval session should be kept reasonably short to make sure you can make it through the week without getting too blown out.
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\r\nAs most of you probably felt or saw last week’s weather was pretty gnarly with lots of rain and thunderstorms moving across the country. I froze my nards off several times driving the motorcycle to work and did most of the workouts in cold rain. One of greatest things though about having an extended period of time with bad weather (which you western jokers would know nothing about) is how great it is when it finally gets sunny. This is what us Vermont locals call “the buzz” and this year the buzz came just in time for Memorial Day Weekend. Its called the buzz because after working all week in bad weather everyone in the whole town is in a bad mood, and then just like that it clears up and gets warm and everyone’s got somewhere to go and something to do so everybody is buzzing around. It’s a truly amazing thing when the buzz strikes Londonderry Vermont. You can hear it, smell it, and taste it in the air. People start fueling up the rigs, girls put on tank tops instead of sweatshirts, rednecks start buying Budweiser like it’s their job, and everyone starts rallying the back roads so fast it gives all the stupid flat-Landers heart attacks.
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\r\nThe crew and I started our weekend off with some 'shoes and a sauna at the Fosters' house. One of our buddies was having a weekend-long fiesta at his house and everyone in town was talking about it. Now these guys aren’t afraid to go big and invite all of southern Vermont to their house and blow their weeks pay just to have a good time. Last year this dude hired flame throwing strippers at his 4th of July bash…yeah, no joke. So this year there was a talk of a killer Sabbath cover band, pig roast, mud bog, and just complete chaos all weekend long.
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\r\nWe started off Saturday by heading over there right after training. When we pulled in there was a solid amount of people there and several rigs ready to go on a mud bog trail ride. Just like that the party moved to the trails and we had a blast. My Blazer made its one trail run of the year, and in a frantic hurry we wrenched off the hard top (which is not an easy task) so we could cruse convertible style for the day. Blame it on “the buzz” I guess. There was some good mudding throughout the afternoon including some major hang-ups and a Samurai rolling over while trying to cross a river. The BBQ and pig roast topped off the Day. Our buddy had connections to a great pig roaster and member of the Hell's Angels biker gang, Goat-man. Goat-man looked exactly how you might imagine he would and could roast a mean pig and had lots of good stories to go along with it. By the time the food was ready there were a lot of people there. Ross “the boss” Powers and his bro were destroying anyone who took them on in horseshoes and muddy rigs and four wheelers were rallying everywhere. The party raged on late with a bon fire, where someone ended up burning a couch. Once again the buzz might have had a little something to do with that one too.
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\r\nBy the next day most of southern Vermont had settled down and the buzz was fading from the air. One thing you can always count on around here though is that there will be some more crappy weather coming and the whole process will just start over.
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\r\nAll for now.
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\r\nSki on!
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\r\nNewell
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Newell. Back in Vermont, we have to try and tan every chance we get...
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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: anewellDate Posted: 6/3/2004Number of Views: 345
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