Two weeks after that first camp in Fuerteventura, Andy put me through a full day of testing - a VO2 max test in the lab, a bike fit, a basic movement screen, and a sweat sodium test. This is the honest starting point all of it was measured against.
VO2 max
First a lung function test, which I'd never done before - came back a bit lower than expected, though I'd never noticed any breathlessness training, so Andy's chalking it up as a possibly poor single test rather than a real issue for now. Blood and red cell count came back normal.
Then the actual test: a mask on, a slow ramp protocol, 15 watts every minute. We already had a rough number from an earlier 5-minute test - around 260 watts - and I went past it, hitting 257 watts at VO2 max and not stopping there. I kept pushing until I failed at 317 watts. Andy's read on that was that it says more about my ability to dig in than it does about my engine - the ceiling itself is low for my age, but I can empty the tank against it.
The actual number that matters most is my threshold - 220 watts, sitting at about 69% of VO2 max. There's not much to gain by improving threshold on its own; the real lever is raising the VO2 max ceiling itself, which pulls everything else up with it. My fat-burning capacity came out low too, 0.5 grams a minute against a realistic target closer to 1 - more metabolic flexibility to build.
Bike fit
The fit itself needed work: saddle too narrow for my sit bones (143mm is what I actually need), a crank length worth questioning, and - the bit that stood out most - real instability through my pelvis on the bike, probably coming from how little range I've got through my posterior chain. We're revisiting the fit in 8 to 12 weeks once some of that's been addressed, before even touching the TT bike or aerodynamics. Building the foundation first.
Movement and the sweat test
The movement screen (squats, lunges, a single-leg balance test) threw up a genuine surprise - my balance was poor for someone who's actually a decent runner. Thoracic mobility needs work too, which feeds into shoulder extension, which feeds into the swim. None of this was really on my radar before this day.
Then the sweat sodium test - 1,310mg of sodium per litre of sweat, which puts me well up the scale (people range from around 250mg up past 2,000). It doesn't mean I lose that much every hour, it's a concentration, not a rate - but it does mean I'm a salty sweater, and that's now shaping how we think about electrolytes heading into a hotter European race and eventually Kona.
Where it leaves things
The plan from here: 6 to 8 weeks building aerobic tolerance before any real VO2 max work, a physio assessment to dig into the flexibility and stability side, and running testing still to come in the next episode. It's a lot to take in from one day, but it's the first time I've actually had numbers behind the things I only had a feeling about before.
