dunked

so much since the last time i wrote and i'm not sure where to even start. let's go with this and the rest will follow in a later post...

first up: i got dunked last Thursday and really, it was a great experience. it all started at 1030 with me arriving at Iris' very sheik and inviting office where the walls are a warm cocoa with framed quotes of inspiration welcoming you from the hall, into the changing room and finally over to the dunk tank where you slowly submerge into the calming warm waters and wait for instruction on how to perform the test accurately. i weighed in at 120.2lbs - higher than i'd like but what did i really expect with the way i've been eating everything in sight and NOT working it off with killer training days? i also found out that i really am only 5'3" which makes me sad because i do so love saying "5'3" and a half thank you very much" when i am teased about my short stature. oh well, so much for wishful thinking - it clearly cannot make you grow. so we do the test three times - the first two seem more of a practice round with the last, a final test of all that you had learned in regards to trying not to drown yourself in 2 feet of water :) i did feel very safe though and not at all freaked out like some people say. Iris was right beside me the whole time and offered plenty of encouraging words along the way. in the end i only ended up being one percent off what i thought i was in the body fat percentage and don't have all that far to go to reach my goal weight and leanness factor. it will take work, but its definitely on the spectrum towards the achievable end and not the impossible end.

next up: VO2 Max testing. now this is a tricky one - you have to decide to do either A) the run test or B) the cycle test. Iris prefers the run test as i thought i would too, but MPC wasn't going for it - he has me on strict orders: under no circumstances am i allowed to run until my IT's are fully healed. ugh -so bike it is - against my will. in the end it was a smart idea because the next day my knees (where the IT inserts onto the condyle) was expressing some major anger management issues in regards to my all out effort, but that's jumping ahead...so i strap on this funky little mask - and i say little because we tried on two others that were too big and this being the smallest was even to big for my little face - and finally get it to suction onto my skin with such force that i feel like my cheeks are being vacuumed up with each of my breaths. oh, and i have a trunk. like an elephant. i big, plastic "holy hell, what the eff is strapped to your face" trunk that just so happens to be hooked up to the machine of torturous death - sucking and capturing and analyzing your every exhalation and inhalation. Iris started me at a nice warm up pace, heart rate monitor just a beepin and then every two minutes or so she'd tell me to shift down or pick up my cadence and off i went until the next command. it went on like this until i was really hunkering down - eyes closed, Iris' encouragement blocked out, me and the front cyclist of my imagination duking it out to the finish - gasping, clawing screaming for air...and then it was over and i started to cool down. hmpf. that wasn't so bad. now, keep in mind that in this particular test you're supposed to feel like your gong to die without actually dying - that is the point and that point was made achingly clear as i hit the 8/9 out of 10 mark. of course, when its all said and done you think "hmmm. that wasn't terrible, i think i could have done more" but that's only because its hard to recall the massive discomfort you just experienced after its over. you must recall that was not the case just 2 very short minutes ago, when you were in the midst of level 9 pain and effort while your cussing and screaming at the top of you mind's lungs to get you out of the death trap you had set for yourself! but all in all, it was a fantastic experience and i am excited to go back and retest when the time comes.

here's the official breakdown:

BODY FAT Test
good for women 20-29 = 17-20%, excellent = 16%
goal weight = 116lbs
real weight = 120.2 lbs
goal body fat = 16%
real body fat = 19%
meaning i must lose 4.2lbs of pure body fat to reach my goal - it is so on...

VO2 MAX Test
i hit the "superior" range = exceeding 41mg O2/kg/min
Zone1 = 88-150
Zone2 = 150-161
Zone3 = 161-178
Zone4 = 178-184
there is no goal here except to increase it, which i hear is really sort of nonsensical because it isn't really a variable that can change much but hey - i'm willing to try...

so, go see Iris. it is well worth the time and money to get these tests done to add to your arsenal for optimal training. i can't wait to go back and get my RMR tested - that should be interesting :)