mr b's comeback

[Mike T]

According to 'The Oxygen Advantage' program as outlined on the book, over breathing washes out CO2 which needs to be in, not out. He says haemoglobin requires CO2 in order to offload O2 to be used for energy production. If you overbreath you can find yourself with not enough CO2 to facilitate O2 usage; this is what he reckons.

I was surprised to find that my SPo2 can be up at 98 after a 2min flat out hill rep of Carr Bridge Drive. I don't think it should be that high, and i've always noticed that i breathe more than anyone else racing around me. Based on that i'm going to test the idea that i'm a racing over-breather and see what happens if i commit to the program in the book. I'm reluctant to cherrypick the bits that have no opposing research out there, i'm just going to commit to all of it and see what happens.

I'm a firm believer in experiencing things, even if they are ridiculed as snake oil by others. If i hadn't taken Chinese Acupuncture seriously i'd never have gotten over the fasciitis in my right hip. Something is wrong with my racing performance anyway, something hidden to me, i'm far too slow on climbs and far too fast downhill. There is a white crow in my performance.

If you just let your breathing do its thing, the CO2 level in the lungs and blood is about 40 mmHg. If you hyperventilate at rest it will go down to the mid 20s - so still lots left; during exercise more is being made of course, and that is why we breathe more - to get rid of it.

Unless you are supremely fit, and/or at altitude, you will not drop your O2 saturation during exercise no matter how hard you try - that is not the limiting factor, despite the term "going anaerobic" suggesting that it is. The limiting factor is the enzymes in the mitochondria not being able to use more than a given amount of the O2 that is available - VO2 max.

[mr brightside]

8.8m/1800' over Barden moor and Laund plantation today. All my gadgets and gizmos were playing up; the watch had my HR at never below 160, but the oxymeter said around 90-100...and kept losing its marbles and not giving a reading. I didn't really know whether i was coming or going, so just had as much fun in wind, rain and hail as i could. The HR reading on the oxymeter seems more reliable than on the watch, but it would appear not too fond of the great outdoors. I've got a good mind to chalk it up to experience and run as i feel.

I came across a lost muslim man on barden moor, he was on one of the 'off the beaten track' trails and i'm not sure how he ended up there. I gave him directions to bolton abbey and sent him on his way.

[mr brightside]

If you just let your breathing do its thing, the CO2 level in the lungs and blood is about 40 mmHg. If you hyperventilate at rest it will go down to the mid 20s - so still lots left; during exercise more is being made of course, and that is why we breathe more - to get rid of it.

Unless you are supremely fit, and/or at altitude, you will not drop your O2 saturation during exercise no matter how hard you try - that is not the limiting factor, despite the term "going anaerobic" suggesting that it is. The limiting factor is the enzymes in the mitochondria not being able to use more than a given amount of the O2 that is available - VO2 max.

He talks in the book quite a lot about your BOLT score, and makes a definite connection between this and your athletic performance. i'm around 25-30s at the moment, but the exercises raise it up to around 40s in most people. Once i'm at 35-40 and running well i'm just going to attempt to break one of my long standing records and see what happens. There is always method in what may seem to be madness.

[mr brightside]

Speed session with Horsforth Harriers tonight. The woman i have a bit of a crush on was there.

1x450 tempo
8x450 fast, all times in the bracket 89-94s
1x450 cool down

The total here is 5k, but it felt worse than a parkrun. Got a physio appt. on monday to have my burstits looked at.

[Travs]

Nice... I did similar last Tuesday. 12 x reps of 450-460mtrs with 1 minute rests. 92-94secs throughout.

[mr brightside]

Breathing was wheezy again, but i'm learning to control it a bit more and not let it get out of hand. I tried for more consistency, i can get round in 85, but they decay quite fast.

[Travs]

Yes... far better to run them consistent, otherwise it defeats the object of a rep session.

[mr brightside]

150 good form squats, followed straight up by pressing 140 to failure on the inclined leg press. Called it failure at 30, which is 5 more than 2wks ago so an improvement. Might try this weekly.

[mr brightside]

Steady 2.9m/350' in the woods tonight, with one uphill effort. Look at me, second session today, I'm living like 'twice in one day' Travs now. Just made it in daylight.

[Marco]

I promised last month that I would do some Garmin forerunner 35 v Polar FT1 (with chest strap) tests and here they are.

I thought through the issues with sprinting on a bike, in winter, on public roads and then stopping to view two watch screens side by side, and realised it wasn't such a good idea. Instead I did a short session this afternoon on my turbo trainer with the Polar watch fastened to the 'bars, so I could hold my Garmin to the side to read both as below. My Garmin was fastened tightly, as was the Polar chest strap which had the chest side liberally covered in water.


Side by side monitoring. Note the celeste strap, Graham


I have formulated the results in a graph form, so it's easier to see what's going on (hopefully). I have also annotated the graph to show what was going on and also to include some peak values.




I was surprised to see how accurate the Garmin was, although the graph clearly shows it wasn't good at dealing with high numbers. I would have liked to go above 171, and that was my aim, but it is very difficult getting the big numbers on a turbo trainer - especially when you are over 55!