Amateur MTB Marathon: Computer says... yes!

I'm off to see Cyclist No.1's expert nutritionist and contributor Jamie Richards this week to see how well I'm eating and what needs to change. As part of this process, Jamie required me to go and see sports science guru Jon Riley of TrueZone Training for a metabolic test.

I was quite nervous at the prospect of a computer telling me through various graphs and spreadsheets precisely how fit I was (or more worryingly wasn't). But Jon quickly put my mind at ease and reassured me that it's not a test, more an assessment. And the info I'll get from it will tell me where I am, at what levels I should be training at and how I should train. For Jamie, it tells him how my body works in terms of calorie usage. From that we can work out what I need to eat day-to-day, while I'm training, and critically, on race day!

For those who don't know, Metabolic testing basically involves wearing a mask with Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide sensors in it, and then performing a ramp test (exercise intensity increases with time) until you get close to your absolute maximum effort (specifically when you hit your anaerobic threshold). It's a 'submaximal' test, meaning you don't have to ride to your total peak. However, you can continue into the realms of total pain and physical punishment if you want to know your VO2 max!

I elected not to totally max out although I wasn't far off (the graph shows a couple of second wind moments so good for me I say!). Hearing Jon tell me we've got some great data, and that it's up to me if I want to keep pedalling, was all I needed to hear to back right off. I can see psychology is going to be a big part of things when the twentyfour12 comes round. In Jon's test, I hit the point where I'd normally be reaching for the granny ring a good two minutes before we hit the end of the ramp test. I was hurting, but more importantly somehow still going. The strength that left my legs the second Jon told me we could stop was quite staggering. Simply knowing I wasn't allowed to stop was enough to keep me going.

I think working with my soon to be announced 'support crew' on psychology is going to be a really big factor. I've chosen some of the closest people I know and the hardest part is going to be getting them prepared for having to force me to keep going. But confidence is a potent thing. I'll be honest, I have had a couple of early-hours-of-the-morning moments waking up worrying about what I've got myself into. And I'd started to let some of the negativity and doubts from some others, as well as my own, creep in. But the ball is rolling and the work I'm doing with Jon and Jamie is reinforcing and rekindling that fighting spirit that decided I can actually do this in the first place. Bring it on!