The machine that I was hooked up to monitored my breathing and CO2 output and created a gentle buzzing/humming sound that would change in pitch with every breath. These sounds were so hypnotic and soothing, I found myself on the verge of a deep sleep over the course of the next 10 minutes. Once that test was concluded, it was time to get on the bike. Enter Ron Arroyo of Arroyo Racing.
Ron entered the room reminiscent of an executioner leading the condemned to their ultimate destination. After the relaxing RMR test, this is the only way I could perceive him knowing what was next. He methodically set up my bike on the trainer and wheeled a cart with a laptop on it over beside it. Next to the laptop was the same doohickey that was monitoring my breathing in the RMR test. He didn’t really say much except to let me know that it was time to warm up. After some beads of sweat started to appear on my forehead, he told me to get the mph up to 25 and then let everything coast to a stop. It was go time. After securing my mask on again and making sure it wasn’t leaking, Ron told me to keep my cadence between 85 and 90 RPM throughout the whole test. We started off fairly easy. I’m not sure what wattage he had me at or what the increments were, but I was in a comfortable zone to begin. Once in a while, he would tap the buttons on the display he mounted on my bars to increase the resistance. The increases were hardly noticeable and I was able to keep my cadence exactly where it needed to be. In fact, the first thing that became uncomfortable wasn’t my back, it wasn’t my legs, and it wasn’t even my breathing. Nope, the first thing that became uncomfortable was my mask. The plastic part that was connected to the hose was rubbing on my lips and kind of interfering with the way I kept my mouth open to exhale. Nothing I could do about it now, so I just tried to ignore it. The problem was, the more I ignored it, the more it became a source of irritation. Just when I was going to tug on it, Ron increased the resistance again and my focus shifted to the work at hand. It was getting tougher now. Sweat was starting to drip, my breathing became heavier, and I could tell there was a load being put on my legs. Ron stepped it up again. We were probably 28 minutes into the test when he started to take my pulse manually. I thought that it was kind of weird, but didn’t make much of it. Ron stepped it up again, but this time I was only able to hang on for a few more minutes before my cadence was too erratic and the test was over. As I sat up and settled into a 70 RPM warm down, both Ron and Eric told me that the heart rate monitor must have had bad batteries, because it quit with 4 minutes to go in the test. What?!? What did that mean? I was hoping that they got the necessary data they were looking for, but I was told that they didn’t. You see, while the test, in its entirety, is important, it’s the last few minutes that are crucial. There are certain levels that needed to be attained and without the data that derived from attaining said levels, the test is basically useless. I climbed off my bike and sat down on the trainer’s table at the back of the room. Eric grabbed me a bottle of cold water and told me to drink up. As I twisted open the top, Ron asked, “So, are you available to come back next Monday to do this again?” Hey, no problems there, whatever it takes to get it done is fine by me. Next Monday it was. I polished off the water and then quickly eyeballed the fridge full of Muscle Milk protein shakes and asked if I could have one. Since I had to fast for 12 hours before these tests, this was the first thing I had to eat in a while. When I reminded Eric about this, he quickly gave me a banana too.
As I was enjoying my shake, we started to go over a few things that both Eric and Ron noticed during my tests. First up, Eric told me that the results of my RMR showed that my body burns 1485 calories by itself during the course of the day. This is the MINIMUM amount of calories that I need for my vital organs to function properly. My “lifestyle” is considered “very light” in that I have a desk job (as opposed to a heavy lifestyle of spending the day in heavy physical labor ~ construction). This burns an additional estimated 445 calories. Assuming I do a 600 calorie workout every day (some days will be more and some will be less), I need 2530 calories to maintain my current weight. Further results of the RMR showed that my body burns 50% fat and 50% carbohydrates for its fuel source. Some people, for example, may burn 70% fat and 30% carbs. Enter the meal plan. Eric put together a one day sample that has me consuming the 2500 calories needed along with about 95g of “good fat” in the form of flax oil, peanut butter, almonds, etc. Once I get everything figured out (where to buy protein powders, what type, how to cook meals, etc) the plan will become weekly and more diverse.
As for the bike, other than the “scientific” numbers, Ron noticed that my left side (the glute area) was dropping when I was pedaling. He had Eric take a video of me to show what was going on. Apparently, I need to massage, stretch, and strengthen those particular muscles to become more balanced when I ride. Once I start seriously strength training, I don’t think this will be a problem. As for those scientific numbers, I didn’t get the full results until my second go at it today:
Heart Rate Zones:
ZONE 1 = 132 - 141
ZONE 2 = 142 – 160
ZONE 3 = 161 – 179
THRESHOLD
ZONE 4 = 180 – 189
ZONE 5 = 190 - 200
Before I go any further, let’s compare those zones to the ones I obtained in October of 2010:
ZONE 2 = 145 – 162
ZONE 3 = 162 - 171
ZONE 4 = 171 – 182
ZONE 5 = 182 – 187
I really can’t comment as to why the difference other than this test was completely different than the one I did in October and the one in October also came almost immediately after my 10 minute run test as well. That being said, I will use this data, and these zones, as base for my training this year. Ron sent me some info about zone training and how Joel Friel calculates them. Essentially, he uses a percentage of the results listed above to derive more training specific zones. I’ll read up on it and have some conversations with Ron as the season progresses. Ultimately, it was discovered that my sweet spot HR is around 174bpm (I have the corresponding watts, but since I don’t use a power meter….yet….no need for me to list that data). At 174bpm, my body stops utilizing fat (most efficient energy source) as a source of energy and starts using carbohydrates (less effective). Hopefully this knowledge, along with Eric’s meal plans, will have my Ironman fitness completely dialed in this summer and for the race itself. Oh, one more note about Eric, he doesn’t want me using gels on the bike anymore. No more Gu and no more PowerBar gels. He wants me to use natural, whole, foods like bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, raisins, and/or almonds for my on bike fuel. Of all the things I’m going to begin incorporating this season, this will probably be the toughest.
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