October 26, 2010 – As we hurtle towards race season, my team mates and I have just concluded our last high volume block with a fantastic three-hour session up Highwood pass and have descended into our second week of testing for the year. It has been a treat to have near-flawless fall training weather with consistent blue skies and mild temperatures making our many hours on the roads and exploring the backcountry all the more fun!

It is always exciting when fall testing comes around! Most significant, of course, is the testing of our VO2 max in the lab. VO2 is a term that most of us, as athletes, are familiar with, but I’ve always been a little fuzzy on what is actually means! So, I did a little research. Essentially, a VO2 max test tells us (well, mostly the coaches) the maximum amount of Oxygen that our bodies can transport and use in a time interval of one minute. Theoretically, in a perfect world free of external variables such as fatigue, technical efficiency and mental factors, the person with the highest VO2 will be the fastest on a given day. And since we’ve learned a bit about the science, how about a history lesson! The highest VO2 was recorded by cross country skier, Bjourn Daehlie, who had an astonishing VO2 max of over 96, whereas most normal high performance athletes have numbers only around 70!

Needless to say, I am quite interested to see how my summer training will affect my testing results! A well as the lab testing I am also looking forward to the uphill double pole and sprint prologue test that have also been scheduled for the end of this week, as these will be the last hard efforts before I get three days off… in a row! Please note that this is an unprecedented occurrence on my training plan since I joined the academy. It will be nice to have a break before we start with our pre-season prep!

For more about the Alberta World Cup Academy visit www.albertaworldcup.com