Un (un) scared (skârd): The art of dealing with fear.

Throughout the week I used a heart rate monitor to keep track how my body was responding to workouts. With the heart rate monitor I was able to make sure I didn’t over do it, and hence, corrupt the experiment by over training and foregoing the positive benefits that were hypothesized.  I did this by simply monitoring how high I could get my heart rate and how long could it remain elevated.

From what I have gathered and what I have experienced, if its challenging to raise your heart rate above 90% of your max and hold it there for any period of time, its a tell tale sign that you need a break and should take the day off.

Anyways, onto results:

I strongly feel that my hypothesis was correct and I have just witnessed  the biggest single week gains in fitness since starting my
training plan for Ironman Canada back in March.

The Hypothesis was: The Neuro-Endocrine response from the weight training on Wednesday is mixing with the typical post race recovery process adding a hormonal and neurological boost to the system.   The body is not just repairing from the stresses of the race, but it is also receiving a message to get stronger and bigger ASAP.

Not unlink most post race recovery periods, I felt stronger and stronger as this week progressed. What was unique about this recovery period was the rate at which my top end speed and power returned.

After the sheer beat down my body took during the Calgary 70.3, I knew I had to monitor my body closely to prevent over training during this experiment. On Sunday, and therefore 4 days after the heavy weight workout however, I was feeling good so I went for a hard bike up Cypress Mountain with some friends.

During the climb I did 4×5 minute all out intervals with 3 minutes rest in between and managed to peg my heart rate at 96% for each of the four intervals.  I tried to do a fifth but my heart rate could no longer remain above 93% max so I called it off.

4×5 minutes at over 90 % max is a huge effort. This was never before possible, as my legs would tire quickly at such an effort and my heart rate would decrease as a result.

Two days later, I had a run workout in which I did 2x5km with 8 mins rest in between.  Once again, I was able to sustain a heart rate above 90% without any significant fatigue, and without any signs of post workout muscle soreness. In fact my second interval was faster than the first but I was going all out on both.

In conclusion my body has responded favourably to the experimental program and I have experience significant gains in endurance, and power as a result of the heavy weights and associated Neuro Endocrine response early in the recovery period.  I would not say I have seen any increase in speed, and I still believe that speed is something that takes time to develop.

Tristan”