[Scott Johnston]

Nick;

Very interesting dilemma you are presenting us with.  I can’t say with any certainty why your lactates were so high in the first test.  You have thought of all the factors that might have influenced it:  A stay at sea level and a sugar water drink during the test could both impact the reading.  Another could have been dehydration.  Since we are measuring the concentration of lactate mMol/liter of plasma volume, if plasma volume drops due to dehydration, lactate levels will be higher.

Hopefully, all your subsequent tests will be more like the second one you just performed.

Scott