Saturday, April 3, 2010

VO2Max Test

Since last Thursday, I feel like a real athlete. A true one. Because that day, I passed my VO2Max test. I did what the serious athletes do. It’s further evidence that I consider the race very seriously. Already I have a nice library of books of running, I read the serious sites, I use the technology for my workouts ... I was missing only the VO2Max test.
I did the test at the Centre Peak, downtown Montreal, on Mansfield Street. I was greeted by Caroline Brunet, the greatest athlete that canoeing has known. Seventeen medals in world championships and three Olympic medals are saying enough. With equal determination and a serious approach, meticulous and with the same enthusiasm that she has demonstrated throughout his career, Caroline helps athletes like me to test their VO2Max.
How it works? Following a ten minutes warm-up, Carolina put me a mask (with a tube like the one for scuba diving) attached to a hose, and I put a clamp on the nose to completely close it. Not easy to breathe. The slope is fixed (2%). From the initial velocity, she increases the treadmill speed of 1 km/h every three minutes. And with each change of level, Caroline has struck my finger to take a few drops of blood in tiny containers. This will be used to measure my blood lactate. At a speed of 13.5 km/h and heart rate of 178, I was afraid to do too much. I decided to give up. I could, perhaps, do a little more (3-4%, not more), but my mind was not strong. Anyways, I was already very close to my maximum. The detailed results will be ready in few days and Caroline will explain them to me. For now, I know that my VO2Max is 54. Not bad for a former obese. In fact, at my age, anything more than 46 is considered as excellent. Thanks to my dad for giving me good genes :) And big thanks to Caroline Brunet for her professionalism, enthusiasm and detailed explanations she provided me before the test. She is a great lady and a great athlete. She will be inducted in the Canadian Hall of Fame of Olympians in about two weeks. She really merits this honour.

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The test looks like this (see image above)

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