VAST 3--OK, now we're talking!

I went down to Shenandoah for my 3rd Vertical Ascent Speed Test (VAST) from the Panorama Parking Lot to the summit of Mary's Rock--This is a 3.6 mile roundtrip with 1,210 feet up and down per lap.  VAST 3 was very similar to VAST 2 in that I was on the road before 4am and hitting the climbs before 8am and that I did 5 repeats (bringing my 3-test total to 14).

However, right from the get-go I could tell I was a lot stronger.  The strength, flexibility and balance work I've invested in seems to have really paid dividends in that I was able to power up a more direct line taking big step ups as opposed to working around them.  That plus the improving cardio fitness that I would expect to see, the recent experience on that specific trail (and really learning its nuances) and switching from my hiking boots to my Hoka Speed Goats (which I've concluded will be my go-to for both Hadrian and 29,029) also contributed.

The net was a BIG step forward:

As you can see from the above, I was able to average nearly 1,700 vertical feet/hour, which was a whopping ~15% better than VAST 2 and over 19% better than the baseline I set in VAST 1!

I'm really pleased with this--no two ways about it.  This was a real confidence builder.  I expected to be faster and was hoping to go sub 48 (my prior record was 48:36) and maybe even get under 47.  Frankly I was shocked when I submitted for the first time and saw 42:28!  Hot damn!

I didn't expect to be able to hold that but in fact was able to pretty much stay on the effort for all 5 repeats over the 8:45 it took me to complete the workout.  Awesomeness!!

You can also see that my average HR was up about 5 bpm which given that I added nearly 100 calories/hour more in work output (+15%) is not really a surprise.  While, you hope to see greater output at the same Cardio stress I'm actually net/net pleased with the fact I could average 133bpm over such an extended timeframe--it means I'm able to access a higher % of my threshold power as well as increasing my power headroom!  All good.

Now whether or not this is good enough is still not knowable and really won't be known until game time on 8/1 but a 15% jump in ascent speed means if I'm still not yet strong enough, at least I'm closer!  

16 weeks to go as of this morning!  Onwards and Upwards!

ps--I also did two more days of training and in total put in 42.6 miles of hiking/climbing over 18:40 with about 22,000 total vertical (11,00 each way)