Monkeypox

Today, a letter from the NY State Department of Health reminds me that I should promptly report communicable diseases and how it can make the difference between disease control and an outbreak. A list of these communicable diseases that require reporting came with the letter. It included the usual public panic-inducing infections such as SARS, anthrax, and tuberculosis along with maladies seen only in textbooks and third world countries such as cholera and plague. On the list was something I had never heard: Monkeypox.

"Is this a joke?" I thought. Do the symptoms include an overwhelming urge to eat bananas and fling one's feces? Has the CDC quarantined Magila Gorilla and the Grape Ape for this? It turns out that one does NOT catch monkeypox from monkeys but from African squirrels. It's only called monkeypox because it was first discovered in lab monkeys. Rats, mice, and rabbits can get monkeypox too. In 2003 several people in the U.S. got monkeypox from their infected pet prairie dogs. People who become infected with monkeypox face a 1-10% mortality rate.

So what's my point? A name is not always accurate or indicative of the thing it represents. It's barely a snapshot of a tiny corner of an enormous picture. I bring this up because it's that time of year for swim, bike, and run testing. I'm not debating the accuracy or necessity of testing during our training. I think that we should pay very close attention to the physiologic indicators of our athletic performance and health; and I really enjoy the anal-retentiveness of tracking data. What concerns me is that we have a picture of our triathlon selves in our minds ("I just did an Ironman. I should be Endurance goddess.") that may not match what our early season testing show ("Yes, you did just do an Ironman but a 100 year old giant tortoise could lap you in a 10K run today."). I hope that my bike test will tell me and Coach Mary of my anaerobic triumphs on the mountain bike. However, I'm quite sure that we'll both find out that I've been slacking in the Endurance arena--eventhough I did just do an Ironman this summer! I fantasize that my run test will have me hanging with Paula Radcliffe during my long runs and showing Ian Thorpe what's up in the pool...okay, okay...a girl can dream, can't she?
While my stand alone 5K run pace is wildly different from my Ironman marathon pace, that 5K pace does DICTATE what my training paces for Ironman will be. Also, I think true pace at maximum oxygen consumption to oxygen delivery (the definition of VO2 max) isn't really going to be the 5K pace for someone like me who can't run that far in less than 20 min. Most of us can sustain exertion at VO2 max for 10-12 minutes at best (Lance Armstrong probably 20 min). Nonetheless, I really shouldn't and don't worry about the absolute pace or value for my VO2 max because for long course racing I really won't need to have any sustained periods at that effort level.
What I hope for is that regardless of how terribly slow my stand alone 5K pace is (read: how crummy these first tests are going to pan out), I can sustain a somewhat respectable pace for the 13 miles or 26 miles at the end of a long day out of the water and off the bike. I would like to have a triumph of aerobic endurance and strength over anaerobic vigor and might. Until then I'll plug away with training. I suspect the picture I'll see after the testing will be similiar to my first impression of monkeypox: somewhat comical and perhaps disappointing in its lack of any apparent strength. Ah, but don't underestimate the monkeypox! ;)