Testing the limits

Today is going to be a big day. This evening I will be meeting with my coach for my first Ironman race. His name is Todd Codish. He is a great guy to work with and an indispensable asset. I will be completing metabolic testing with him tonight. Metabolic testing is a testing procedure that will gauge how my body uses fat as a fuel for exercise. Even in elite and extremely lean athletes, fat is an almost unlimited supply of fuel. Not the case with carbohydrates, your body can only hold so much carbs. The goal of the testing is to find the rate and heart rate zones at which you are currently burning fat while cycling and running, in an effort to increase that rate of fat burn. If you can push the level and burn fat better, it will take you longer to BONK or run out of fuel. In an Ironman distance race you need to be able to last close to 12 hours of continuous vigorous exercise. This takes some science and practice. I am excited to see how the results turn out because I had this testing completed last February of 2008. So almost a year later, during that year I have accomplished many new PR's and pushed myself further than I ever had in the past. I suspect that once complete all of my data will exceed that of last year. If it doesn't, then that means my training methods of the past year were ineffective. Its important to establish this baseline as it will guide my coach Todd in creating an effective program that will prepare me for the Ironman Wisconsin.  So here are some links to visit about metabolic testing. I will post the results from this year and last year for comparison when I get them. Wish me luck.

Metabolic Testing Site #1

Really good Site that describes the process