I am back in D.C. following my weekend excursion to Philadelphia to see my coach and visit the Cadence Cycling and Multisport Center in Manayunk just outside of Philly.
It turned out to be a great weekend there were highs, there were lows, there were tears and there was laughter (I might be over-egging it a bit but it wasn’t all plain sailing).
Wendy and I left D.C. at about 2.30pm hoping to beat some of the traffic but unfortunately that was a very naïve plan and we joined all the other cars parked on the Beltway. Eventually we managed to get onto the 95 heading North but by now it had started to rain. I know the UK has been hit by storms but over here everything is bigger including the weather systems and for the entire journey there was torrential rain and heavy traffic. We finally arrived at Philadelphia around 7.00pm. We crawled through to the city center and it turned out the very heavy traffic was due to the world’s largest flower show.
We found the hotel car park and as I went in I hit the bar which marked the maximum clearance. There was no way I was going to be able to reverse out of the carpark and I don’t know where else I could have parked so I carried on driving in. I tried to remove my bike rack but to take the base off you need a special allen key which was at home. I took off what I could and squeezed into one of the really tiny parking spaces. When we tried to check in they had no record of the reservation and it turned out that I had bought a room through priceline for the 8th of Feb rather than the 8th Mar. The manager was a nice guy but he was full (worlds biggest flower show) he gave me details of another hotel but it was going to cost well over twice what I had already paid through priceline.
After scraping my way out of the car park (which cost $10 for just over 30 min) we decided to head out of the city as all the hotels were full (world biggest flower show). It was now about 8.30pm and after a call to Holden and a suggestion from his girlfriend we found ourselves driving away from the city desperately looking for a room. We eventually came across a Marriott which was reasonably priced and checked in. After again banging my roof rack getting into another low roofed car park we ordered room service and passed out for the night.
The following day I had 3 options:
1. Join the 3.5 hour group ride leaving from Cadence at 0900.
2. Join Holden’s Tri class doing a track workout at 0830.
3. Arrive at Cadence fresh at 1000 for a Lactate Threshold test on the bike.
Looking out of the hotel window the skies were still very dark and there was a second wave of torrential rain forecast for later that morning. I thought the group ride would be a wash out and opted for the LT test. When I met Holden at the store I still wasn’t certain what form the test would take. It could have been a field test test similar to the one in New York during the selection weekend when you have to go b##ls out for 20 mins or it could be a blood lactate threshold test were you only have to go hard enough to get your blood lactate up over its threshold and then you can stop. Mercifully it turned out to be the second type of test and I knew that my breakfast would remain safely in my stomach.
The test was very civilized. I warmed up gently on the trainer whilst they showed 2007’s Tour of California on the big screen. An added bonus was that I was dry and warm and I could look out of the window and watch the rain coming down in sheets. Holden then set up the wattage, I think we started at about 125 and I simply had to maintain 90-95 rpm. 4 minutes later we jumped up 50 watts and then every 3 minutes thereafter another 25 watts. Just before each wattage increase I would have to say how hard I thought I was working and Holden would measure the lactate in my blood (they make a pin prick sized hole in your finger using a special mini torture machine). I think the test stopped at around 250 watts by which time my body was producing lactate that it was unable to flush from my system.
Lactic Acid is not a bad thing as I once assumed. It is a natural byproduct of energy production and is actually used as a source of energy in its own right with a large proportion of Lactic Acid being converted to glucose. You are always producing Lactic Acid and this is useful during aerobic exercise. However when you reach your Lactic threshold, in other words you start to exercise anaerobically, your muscles produce more Lactic Acid than your system can deal with and the lactic acid starts to flood into your blood which in turn interferes with your bodies ability to transport oxygen to the muscles and can rapidly cause the onset of f
atigue. In theory if your muscles are able and you have the right amount of nutrition you should be able to exercise under your Lactate Threshold indefinitely.
The test over I grabbed a shower in Cadence’s changing room and found they even supply posh shower cream, rosemary and mint, before arranging to meet Holden back at the store that afternoon so that he could take me for a swim. I also had the chance to say hello to Matt Heitmann, one of the co-founders of Cadence Cycling and Multisports Center, who I had not seen since the Cadence Kona Challenge Weekend in New York. I said hi to some of the other coaches including Todd, a retired Army Officer and Pro –triathlete, who was just joining the company when I met him last year.
If you are ever at the store in Philly you should try Le Bus across the road for lunch or a late breakfast. I had the 6 grain pancakes with banana and walnut and they were very excellent.
Still to come in part 2:
The secret to great swimming revealed.
The meaning of the cryptic Blog title.
More Lactate threshold testing this time on the treadmill.
To be continued ……………………..
It turned out to be a great weekend there were highs, there were lows, there were tears and there was laughter (I might be over-egging it a bit but it wasn’t all plain sailing).
Wendy and I left D.C. at about 2.30pm hoping to beat some of the traffic but unfortunately that was a very naïve plan and we joined all the other cars parked on the Beltway. Eventually we managed to get onto the 95 heading North but by now it had started to rain. I know the UK has been hit by storms but over here everything is bigger including the weather systems and for the entire journey there was torrential rain and heavy traffic. We finally arrived at Philadelphia around 7.00pm. We crawled through to the city center and it turned out the very heavy traffic was due to the world’s largest flower show.
We found the hotel car park and as I went in I hit the bar which marked the maximum clearance. There was no way I was going to be able to reverse out of the carpark and I don’t know where else I could have parked so I carried on driving in. I tried to remove my bike rack but to take the base off you need a special allen key which was at home. I took off what I could and squeezed into one of the really tiny parking spaces. When we tried to check in they had no record of the reservation and it turned out that I had bought a room through priceline for the 8th of Feb rather than the 8th Mar. The manager was a nice guy but he was full (worlds biggest flower show) he gave me details of another hotel but it was going to cost well over twice what I had already paid through priceline.
After scraping my way out of the car park (which cost $10 for just over 30 min) we decided to head out of the city as all the hotels were full (world biggest flower show). It was now about 8.30pm and after a call to Holden and a suggestion from his girlfriend we found ourselves driving away from the city desperately looking for a room. We eventually came across a Marriott which was reasonably priced and checked in. After again banging my roof rack getting into another low roofed car park we ordered room service and passed out for the night.
The following day I had 3 options:
1. Join the 3.5 hour group ride leaving from Cadence at 0900.
2. Join Holden’s Tri class doing a track workout at 0830.
3. Arrive at Cadence fresh at 1000 for a Lactate Threshold test on the bike.
Looking out of the hotel window the skies were still very dark and there was a second wave of torrential rain forecast for later that morning. I thought the group ride would be a wash out and opted for the LT test. When I met Holden at the store I still wasn’t certain what form the test would take. It could have been a field test test similar to the one in New York during the selection weekend when you have to go b##ls out for 20 mins or it could be a blood lactate threshold test were you only have to go hard enough to get your blood lactate up over its threshold and then you can stop. Mercifully it turned out to be the second type of test and I knew that my breakfast would remain safely in my stomach.
The test was very civilized. I warmed up gently on the trainer whilst they showed 2007’s Tour of California on the big screen. An added bonus was that I was dry and warm and I could look out of the window and watch the rain coming down in sheets. Holden then set up the wattage, I think we started at about 125 and I simply had to maintain 90-95 rpm. 4 minutes later we jumped up 50 watts and then every 3 minutes thereafter another 25 watts. Just before each wattage increase I would have to say how hard I thought I was working and Holden would measure the lactate in my blood (they make a pin prick sized hole in your finger using a special mini torture machine). I think the test stopped at around 250 watts by which time my body was producing lactate that it was unable to flush from my system.
Lactic Acid is not a bad thing as I once assumed. It is a natural byproduct of energy production and is actually used as a source of energy in its own right with a large proportion of Lactic Acid being converted to glucose. You are always producing Lactic Acid and this is useful during aerobic exercise. However when you reach your Lactic threshold, in other words you start to exercise anaerobically, your muscles produce more Lactic Acid than your system can deal with and the lactic acid starts to flood into your blood which in turn interferes with your bodies ability to transport oxygen to the muscles and can rapidly cause the onset of f
atigue. In theory if your muscles are able and you have the right amount of nutrition you should be able to exercise under your Lactate Threshold indefinitely.The test over I grabbed a shower in Cadence’s changing room and found they even supply posh shower cream, rosemary and mint, before arranging to meet Holden back at the store that afternoon so that he could take me for a swim. I also had the chance to say hello to Matt Heitmann, one of the co-founders of Cadence Cycling and Multisports Center, who I had not seen since the Cadence Kona Challenge Weekend in New York. I said hi to some of the other coaches including Todd, a retired Army Officer and Pro –triathlete, who was just joining the company when I met him last year.
If you are ever at the store in Philly you should try Le Bus across the road for lunch or a late breakfast. I had the 6 grain pancakes with banana and walnut and they were very excellent.
Still to come in part 2:
The secret to great swimming revealed.
The meaning of the cryptic Blog title.
More Lactate threshold testing this time on the treadmill.
To be continued ……………………..
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