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ASI Team Reports 97/98

Report 2 - Mora, Sweden, October 31

To correct some dates from the first report: The first two races in Norway are on the 15th and 16th of November, not the 11th and 12th as was listed.

Now the search for snow begins. The first training camp was to have been in Kiruna in the far north of Sweden, however, the snow conditions there were considered not good enough to warrant the 10 hr journey and the few scant hours of daylight. Other places which received early snow, such as Våladalen, Bruksvalarna, and Trondheim, proceeded to lose it rapidly to rain and warm weather. It has been decided instead to head to Idre Fjäll and its 7 1/2 km track of man-made snow. Other factors influencing this decision were the proximity of Idre to Mora, good indoor facilities, and the remote prospect of meeting up with the US women's biathlon team.

After 6 days in Mora, Paul Gray and Finn Marsland did the same maximum test on the treadmill that they have done previously. The test is performed on rollerskis on a treadmill, with the protocol as follows:

Speed remains constant at 10 km/hr. Elevation starts at 4 degrees and is increased every 5 minutes to 6, 8, 10, 11.5, up to 13 degrees. No skier has ever gone past 13 degrees. The heart rate and lactate are recorded after each stage, taking approximately 30 seconds. When the skier can not go any further, the elevation is dropped back to 4 degrees and skis for 10 minutes to test lactate removal.

The results were generally very positive. Finn reached the end of 11.5 degrees, equalling his best from last season. He opted not to go start on 13 degrees. Lactates were lower on the early stages, indicating a better endurance base than before. Lactate removal was slow on the recovery stage, however this should improve as more intensity is introduced to the training over the next month.

Paul's test produced some very strange results. On 8 degrees, he reached the highest heart rate he had on any test last year. He then went on to complete 10, 11.5, and went 2 minutes on 13 degrees and posted a new maximum heart rate of 205 beats/minute. This was checked with three HR monitors on the last two stages.

According to this test, Paul's 4 mmol lactate threshold is now at approximately 185 b/min, as opposed to 170 b/min 8 months ago. As yet, no theory*(see below) has been found for this incredible change. Physiologists in Australia, Sweden, and Norway are being consulted. One thing, however is certain. Paul went two minutes further on the test than he ever has before and is psyched up for a big season.

Paul Gray's Lactate curve

This next week of training at Idre will include a lot of volume, up to 20 hours on snow. This will be followed by a week of intensity back in Mora.

The next report will be before the ASI team leaves for Norway.

* Okay, there's one theory. It has been postulated that his stroke volume has decreased for some reason and his heart rate has consequently increased to produce the same output as before. This decreased stroke volume could be due to decreased available heart area, or to put it more simply, part of his heart has been stolen away.


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