Karen Darke | Athlete | Speaker | Author

After a block of training, its good to find out if progress has been made. So, this week has been one of resting and testing, with the British Cycling physiologist in Manchester, and then with the Scottish Institute of Sport team in Inverness.

First was the lactate and VO2 test, a brutally painful experience, ramping up the power on the bike every 4 minutes until my arm muscles turn to jelly and my chest felt tight to rip. Meanwhile, blood is siphoned from the ear and tested for lactic acid, and the air breathed in and out is monitored to show oxygen uptake. Ouch. A few days of driving and back-ache later (how come it seems to hurt more when I stop training) I was back in Inverness for the ‘muscle-lab test’. In the gym, on the bench press, measuring my power with some gadgetry that I’m happy someone else is operating; it looks kind of delicate with wires tied to weights bar.

I feel a bit nervous now waiting for the results. What if I haven’t improved? What if the months of training haven’t had any affect? I tell myself that’s impossible. At least I hope it is. But one of the SIS guys told me that it took Chris Hoy 10 years just to increase a weight he was working on in the gym by a really small increment. No wonder I’ve been stuck on the same bench press weight for a few months now. Any ideas on how to progress it welcome…

Back to cold Highland weather now, three layers of clothing for every ride, even three pairs of gloves today! Joy… (but the white powder mountains look stunning).