VO2 Max Testing...

Another tough double today that included a VO2 max test on the treadmill, courtesy of the UO Exercise and physiology department!! I've wanted to get my VO2 max tested for the past year, but it is not cheap. VO2 max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise, indicating cardiovascular efficiency...aka fitness.

I knew I was going into the test in good shape although I've had a difficult last few weeks getting over a recent sinus infection. That being said, I started to feel like myself again this past weekend so I was looking forward to the test. Being a chronic asthmatic, I was a little unsure how much of a limiter that would be as well. A lot of questions that would be answered within about 15 minutes on a treadmill. This is not me below, but gives you an idea of what the test looks like.

For those of you that haven't had this test or have no idea what it entails, you hop on a treadmill and after warming up the director of the test loads his computer with interval increments based on your top end type speed. Example, they wanted to know what my fastest 10k time was, my marathon time, and what a hard tempo run of 4 miles would be at. The goal is to increase the speed slightly each minute for 8 minutes until you are at what would be considered a very hard effort (5k or 10k) and then all the further minute adjustments are done with incline instead of speed.

So...we decided they would take me down to 6:45 pace for my top speed. I have started to consider myself a runner as of this last year after knocking out some respectable times, but I definitely lack speed so 6:45 pace is fast for me (especially on a treadmill as I hate treadmills and have a difficult time running fast on them). Ok, cut to the chase Yates, I know, I know. I made it to the stage right before we started inclines and was feeling like a million bucks!! The students there (it was part of a class) were getting excited and shouting encouragement. First incline came...piece of cake! 2nd came, ok...a little harder but still hanging in there! 3rd incline came (now at 6% grade) HOLY SH#T this is getting hard! I promised myself I would make it through this stage and into the 4th...I didn't know if it was going to happen but then I heard one of the guys start to count down to the next incline adjustment and I knew I was going to make it to 8%.

I now had these 10 students really cheering for me and I was determined to keep pushing. But I was getting to the point that I really did feel I was basically maxed out. I was having trouble getting enough oxygen in and was worried about pushing too hard with the big race less than 6 weeks ago. I shut it down and called it a day. The students quickly started going over the numbers and one of the girls yelled, "holy crap!" Ok, now I was excited to see what the results said. So the number that you might hear athletes compare against each other is a reflection of the oxygen consumption as a percentage of your body weight. My score ended up at a 63. The prof told me that a world class runner or cyclist would normally come somewhere around 70. Lance Armstrong, aka freak of nature, once measured an astounding 85! So, I will take my 63! I think with continued training I could reach that 70 mark, but a higher VO2 max score doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to race faster or slower in triathlon...it's more of an indicator of my cardiovascular engine and what is possible.

So anyways, if you are still reading...sorry for the drawn out story! It was quite the experience today. I had a great time (despite the torture) and am looking forward to doing this test again and pushing that 70 mark. Of to bed, early swim is staring me down. Thanks for reading,

-T