For those of you who were counting on a new post this past weekend, my apologies. I was camping all weekend with my son, and somewhat far away from internet access. For the past several weeks, I have been focusing on what it takes to run to win. I wrote about how, for many of us, we will never be able to actually win a race, but in Christ we can win at life. I have also followed that up by writing about the physical and spiritual implications of proper fuel, hydration, recovery, and training. Along the vein of training, I spent some time going over the whys and hows of Aerobic Base Training and Lactate Threshold training, and their correlations in our spiritual race of life. To wrap up this series on running to win, I want to take take a look at the last major form of training: the VO2Max workout.
What is VO2Max, you ask? If you can harken back to your High School chemestry class, you will remember that O2 is Oxygen. VO2Max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during exercise. When you inhale air, the air goes into the lungs. Once inside the lungs, a certain amount of the oxygen within the air is transported into the blood stream, and carbon dioxide within the blood stream is tranported to the air in the lungs. Then you exhale. This process is called respiration. A person's VO2Max is determined by measuring the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide withing the inhaled and exhaled air. As the intensity of exercise is increased, oxygen consumption increases. The point at which exercise intensity continues to increase, but oxygen consumption stops increasing is the VO2Max.
VO2Max is a very good indicator of an athlete's level of conditioning and ability to perform. If you have been reading these posts for the past few weeks, you have learned the very important role oxygen plays in efficiently converting fuel into energy. The more oxygen you can consume, the more efficient your body can process fuel to create energy, and the faster and farther you can run before hitting the aerobic/anaerobic threshold. For the most part, a person's VO2Max is determined by heredity and genetics, but through proper training, a person's VO2Max can be increased. Here is a short article in Runner's World about How to Improve Your vo2 Max.
VO2Max workouts are pretty intense, for in them, you push your body to the point of maximum oxygen consumption. One way to determine the pace at which to run your VO2Max workouts is to look at your pace during a recent 5k race. VO2Max pace is about 15-30 seconds faster than your 5k race pace. If you have a heart rate monitor, you should try running your VO2Max workouts in the 85-95% zone (that's 85-95% of your maximum heart rate). If you don't have a heart rate monitor and you haven't actually raced any 5Ks in a while, then a VO2Max interval should feel like an 85-90% effort…not an all-out sprint, but a strenuous enough pace where conversation is near impossible. Are you getting the picture? You are going to be huffing and puffing. You are going to be pushing your body to the point that it is desperate for air. Thankfully, VO2Max sessions are not long... just intense. The idea behind a VO2Max workout is to have several short intervals of intense exercise followed by a short period of recovery. You never want to start a VO2Max workout cold. You should first start out with an easy warm-up mile, followed by a few minutes of stretching. Once you have warmed up, initially try running 3-4 intervals that are 800 meters long (2 times around a track) at your VO2Max pace. As you progress over the weeks, work up to 5-8 intervals. Between each interval, Take a 3-4 minute recovery walk/jog. Once your workout is complete, follow it up with a 1/2 mile to a mile cool down run... then stretch some more. Because of the intensity of the workouts and your body’s need to recover & rebuild, be sure that you limit VO2Max workouts to once per week. If you stay consistant with these workouts, over time you will not only see improvements in fitness and speed, but you will be able to go longer, faster.
Through out our lives, if we are truly walking in obedience to the will and purposes of God, He will lead is through some spiritual VO2Max workouts... times when we are completely in over our head... where there is no possible way that we can do what He is calling us to do in our own strength... where we have no choice but to rely on His grace... where we are completely and utterly desperate for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Those times are incredibly intense. Thankfully, they are usually relatively short, but they aren't easy... but through the challenge, our faith grows exponentially and our capacity for walking fully in the Spirit increases: we learn what it truly means to walk by faith and not by sight. Throughout the Bible, we see story after story where God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things through His equipping. Just before Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said this to Peter:
"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Luke 22:31-32If you know much about the Apostle Peter, you know that he was sifted like wheat... but after the sifting, he walked in faith and obedience even unto a torturous death.
In the book of 2nd Corinthians, Paul writes about one such trying time:
"So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthans 12:7-10Throughout his ministry life, Paul was ridiculed, beaten and stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake, sentenced to death, and eventually beheaded. Toward the end of His ministry, while being imprisoned, he wrote this:
"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13Our intense trials of faith may not be as intense as Peter's or Paul's... but they can be pretty scary. One of my such trials was around the birth of my first child. At that time, my wife and I both worked, and my wife's salary was slightly higher and more consistent than mine - but even with 2 incomes, we were living paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet. After our daughter was born, my wife and I really sensed God calling us to become a single income family so that Lea (my wife) could stay at home and care for and raise our daughter. At that time, that was an absolutely ludicrous idea. My wages were some $400 - $500 dollars a month short of our bills, much less our necessities like food and clothing. Talk about an intense testing of our faith. But God told us that if we trusted in Him and obeyed, He would provide for our needs... so we went against all sound reason, and Lea quit her job. For the next 3 - 4 months, we watch miracle after miracle as God provided for us until I was blessed with a job (that I wasn't qualified for) that paid me more than Lea and I were both making before. Our daughter is now 14 years old, and we have a 10 year-old son. We are still a single income family... and we have yet to go without the things we need. My life is full of stories like this: where God called me out in the deep water... where I was in way over my head, but He was faithful to provide. His faithfulness has never failed. Because of times like these, my faith is solid and strong... through the intense times, I learned to "consume" the work of His Holy Spirit in me and through me, and because of His sufficient grace, I can go long and endure. Whenever God leads us into something where there seems to be no way, God says, "Way." Whatever God calls us to do or go through - they are all possible through Him.
Let's run the race and learn to breathe deep, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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