I did a V02 max test today in my exercise prescription class. I knew that I was going to do it so I was preparing myself for it, but when it came to actually doing it it was pretty intimidating. You had to wear a mask that was strapped to your face that you had to breath into, which was a pretty difficult task.
It reminded me of when I was in the Army. I feel like an old man when I say that, but I enjoy talking about the experiences I had when I was in the military because it made me who I am today. We had to go in gas chambers once with those masks (x10) on and I think it was one of the most intense things I have done. Being a smaller girl, those masks are huge on your face, making you very claustrophobic. I remember standing there with the masks on, not really being able to tell what was going on and I was a bunch of other soldiers that really didn't know what was going on. After a while our drill sergeants sent us into a dark room that was filled with gas. I walked into the room and instantly was sick to my stomach with the first breath of gas and I felt like I was going to pass out. But I was ushered through the dark room and was stopped at one of my drill sergants, then one I liked at least. He yelled at me "How many fingers am I holding up!?" And then started flashing his fingers in front of me, changing every few seconds, much faster then I could read them. I said what I could and kept walking through the chamber till I reached day light. I was staggering like I was drunk. When I got to the end of the line I ripped off my mask and there was snot running down my face and my eyes were watering. I was gasping of breath.
I ran faster on the treadmill as I reached an aerobic threshold, they were testing to see how fast I could go until I reached my V02 max and I thought a lot about that time that I was in the gas chamber. My V02 Max is 50.6 ml/kg/min. That's superior.
Thats what I learned today.
So after class it was 55 degrees out, and I had an hour to kill before I met my husband for happy hour, and I was already wearing my running clothes... So I parked in a park that I love near the restaurant we were meeting at and ran laps around the park.
This is the sky looking from the south west side of the park. The wind was blowing SO STRONGLY from the west and since my mileage was low today I took it as a challenge to run against the wind as strong as I could with each lap. The sky changed with every pass and it was great to watch it change. My legs were tired and tight, but the experience of being out for a few miles in that environment made the run a really great one. Then I finished the day by having a wonderful early dinner with my husband at a great place with a great happy hour.
Life was really good today.
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