Mike Across America

I was back at Sanford’s National Institute for Athletic Health and Performance on Friday, March 5. This time the 300 sq. ft. room was set at 90 degree’s and 60% humidity. After my experience at 105 degree’s I really made an effort to come into this session fully hydrated. Last week I weighed 169 lb prior to the test. This week I came in at 174 lb. So I was 5 lb “heavier” – but I assume most of this weight was water. My hour flew by with my average watts being 200 and HR 126. Last week was 170 watts and HR average of 130. I also only lost .6 lb this week compared to 2.6 lb last week during the hour. I drank 3 large bottles of water during the test this week – last week I only drank 1.5 bottles. Internal core temperature leveled off at 101.4 degrees this week. What have I learned? You need to work to keep fully hydrated! My crew will really have to track my fluid/calories during RAAM. I’ll be going back to the chamber again to ride in a cooler environment – 65 degrees, mild humidity so we can have a plan for the different temperature extremes we will face. Stay tuned.