RunningAboveTheClouds wrote:
Has any of you trained at 10500 or around?
I was a jogger at sea altitute once a week couple of laps a small park.
I started running this year at 10500 feet and the max i did was around 64 miles in a week and i get tired at regular 30-35 week miles. I run hilly courses always cause there are no long plain courses around.
how much slower at 10500? is it true you get more fatigued?
Will I get really faster at sea level and be able to do much more milage and faster?
Thank you
The only place I can think of that you can do this, in the USA at least, would be Leadville, CO. Am I close?
So I grew up in OH, moved to Denver after college, and have been running/racing for 35+ years. 5K's at sea level, mountain/trail racing up CO's highest peaks, and everything in between. In fact I routinely train around Leadville on the weekends. My observations with altitude:
* Of course no matter how hard you push you will be running slower. But who cares, I'll take the mountains over the beach any day. That's just me.
* When you begin to fatigue at altitude, it's sort of a "turbo-bonk" of sorts. Ergo, not only is there less oxygen content, there's also less atmospheric pressure. In short, you have to actively breathe, and when you start losing energy, there is a tendency to breathe less rather than more (because it takes energy). Result: you go from feeling just fine to bonking/walking in a heartbeat, much quicker than at sea level where the tendency is to slowly start slowing down.
* If you go to sea level from such altitude you won't even have to think about breathing, oxygen is aplenty. It doesn't necessarily mean you will run significantly faster immediately, as your muscles haven't trained to go faster. But everything will feel much easier, and you'll also likely be able to go farther before feeling any fatigue.