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So There I am...
So There I am...
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\r\nBy Torin Koos
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\r\nSo there I am, plunging waist deep into the fifty-two degree water of a cold whirlpool at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista. I’m in search of relief. While the Southern California sun may be welcomed by the bronzed bodies of Laguna Beach, it can be a relentless companion during a three hour training session. The whirlpool’s action whisks away the morning’s dried paste of salts and desert dirt, and rejuvenates some tired muscles.
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\r\nThe purpose of this three week training set was particularly hard, intense work. It will be followed by a week of testing in the Human Performance Laboratory to gauge our individual abilities to absorb, and recover from, training stress. The training camp has lived up to its advance billing. Today’s was the twelfth interval training session in the past 11 days. Intermixed there have been ten other over-distance and strength training sessions.
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\r\nInterval sessions are designed to be uncomfortable. Resting, as I am now, my lungs require about six liters of fresh oxygen a minute and my heart beats 42 times a minute. At training pace a half hour ago, the oxygen requirement was 150 liters a minute and my heart rate was fluttering above 173 beats a minute. At the end of each five minute (one mile) run we enjoyed a three minute respite of easy running, just enough time to allow our heart rate to recover to 120 beats per minute. Then it was time to repeat the process, ten times in all.
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\r\nInterval training was formalized in the 1930’s. The idea is to do repeated bouts of work at one’s oxygen threshold, just below the level where the work effort gets really uncomfortable and stressful. When the body is moderately uncomfortable and moderately stressed, it adapts. It builds more oxygen transport capillaries to the working muscles, the heart pumps more blood volume with each beat, and the lungs work to take up more oxygen with each inspiration. The training concept is gradual overload, adequate rest and recovery, followed by adaptation and development. It is a recurring cycle, one that gets repeated in 650 training sessions a year.
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\r\nWhile we utilize interval training year-round, this year we are trying to accelerate the development process with compressed training camps like the one in Chula Vista. It is a process we will repeat several times this year; aiming for peak performances at the World Championships next February in Oberstdorf, Germany.
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\r\nAs this camp comes to an end, I am satisfied. While there are some sore muscles and tendons, I’ve been able to handle the work load. Spirit on the team is strong. As we return to Park City, we will be anticipating early snowfall and the opportunity to get back on skis. All systems are go.
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Torin Koos in July's Soldier Hollow time trial.
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Written By: TKoosDate Posted: 10/11/2004Number of Views: 282
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