Kinesiology Research at the University

A friend asked if I could help them with a Kinesiology research project and of course I said yes before really even knowing what I was getting into. The research is to find out if a few high output short interval training sessions at least 48hrs apart will improve a trained cyclists endurance.

The first day (Thursday Nov. 10) I had to do a Vo2 Max test and my body can do 75.8 ml/kg/min and 500+ watts followed by a 10mile TT on a stationary bike to get a base reading.

The second day (Tuesday Nov. 15) I did not realize how intense 4 windgates would be on my body so I ate 20 minutes prior to the workout and was told to wait until the following week, was a good decision.

The third day (Thursday Nov. 17) I had to do 4 windgate workouts, if you have never done them you do not know how hard it is until you do it.  5 minute warm up, followed by getting your cadence up as high as you possibly can with no resistance and then resistance. You pedal as hard as you can against this magnetic resistance for 30 seconds and cool down for 5 minutes and repeat. Each windgate was producing more than 1600 kilojoules which is more than 380 calories in 30 seconds.  More than 1500 calories are burned over the 4 workouts

The forth day (Tuesday Nov. 22) I had to do 5 windgates, which by the end feels like I am going to pass out. For 15 minutes after I am super light headed and for a few hours after my ears are ringing.

On Tuesday the 29th I will have to do 6 windgates and then on Thursday I will have a final 10 mile TT on the stationary bike to see if I have improved. I can't decide if I am more excited for this to be over because of how hard these are on the body or to see the results since they are not showing us numbers until the end.

6hrs of Temecula

The original plan was to do a 3 person 12hr race but with the race approaching a team member had bike issues that had him without a bike and could no longer race. The other teammate is a lifeguard and with a large storm coming on shore he had to be on call and could not race either so I had to decide whether to race or not. I decided to do the 6hr solo race.


Going into the race I felt awesome and finished the first lap in 2nd.  Keeping the pace up I passed the rider in front of me at the beginning of the 3rd lap. All of a sudden I hit a wall and had realized I had a bad nutrition plan, which was none. Pushing down all the Gu's I had and eating part of a Nutella sandwich I could not gain what I have lost and the cramping was kicking in. I stepped it down a notch and had no energy when 2nd place passed me 10 minutes into the 6th lap. Then a few minutes later 2 more passed me and I could do nothing but tell them to hammer it and catch the guy in front of them. Finished the race in 4th out of the 50 6hr solo racers. 


What I have learned is to have a nutrition plan and stick to it or I will regret it.

Huge thanks to the Phoenix Patriot foundation for allowing me to pit in their tent since I had not planned that one out either. And thank you Matty at Ride Cyclery in Encinitas for hooking me up with the connections to Guy from the Phoenix Patriot foundation.


Results

Race Data: