Mike Across America

Today was my first visit into the environmental chamber at Sanford’s National Institute for Athletic Health and Performance. This 300 sq. foot room looks like a “meat locker” to me. The difference is instead of being a cold environment – it’s a hot environment. The staff at the Institute can manipulate the temperature and humidity from 40 to 120 degrees and 0-100% humidity. Today they simulated the desert of southern California – 105 degrees with 25% humidity. I rode at 170 watts for 1 hour. My average Heart rate was 130 and average cadence was 93. I lost 2.6 lbs while riding. After calculating my sweat loss and fluids consumed during the ride, they determined I sweated at a rate of 2.3 liters per hour. I need to drink more when riding!! The staff will analyze my sweat to determine how much sodium and electrolytes and in what proportion I lost. Then they can advise me on what I need to do to help replace the fluid and minerals to maximize my performance. I’ll be going back into the “chamber” several more times in the upcoming months with different temperatures and humidity to calculate these same factors. So on June 9, 2010 I’ll be ready to face the temperature/humidity in RAAM as efficiently as possible. Stay tuned.