Is 4900 feet high enough to impact training/racing?

Live low, train high? Aw man I think you got it in reverse, like backwards you know?

I don't understand what the OP is asking so I'll just relay personal experiences.

I trained at 500 ft and raced the 800m at 5,300 feet. Other than a dry cough after the race, I saw no effects. A year later, I raced at 7,250 feet. I was maybe 10 seconds slower on the 800m and it wiped me out so badly that I had to DNS the 200m a couple of hours later.

fisky wrote:

I don't understand what the OP is asking so I'll just relay personal experiences.

I trained at 500 ft and raced the 800m at 5,300 feet. Other than a dry cough after the race, I saw no effects. A year later, I raced at 7,250 feet. I was maybe 10 seconds slower on the 800m and it wiped me out so badly that I had to DNS the 200m a couple of hours later.

But that's just an effort that takes less than 2 minutes. I'm talking about hours of running per week. Im vacationing at 4900 for a few weeks

how high wrote:

fisky wrote:

I don't understand what the OP is asking so I'll just relay personal experiences.

I trained at 500 ft and raced the 800m at 5,300 feet. Other than a dry cough after the race, I saw no effects. A year later, I raced at 7,250 feet. I was maybe 10 seconds slower on the 800m and it wiped me out so badly that I had to DNS the 200m a couple of hours later.

But that's just an effort that takes less than 2 minutes. I'm talking about hours of running per week. Im vacationing at 4900 for a few weeks

At 4900ft you will feel it a little bit. But it shouldn't be a big deal. Just enjoy your vacation.

Your original question was vague. Now we have a bit more information. Seasoned altitude runner here, not a one-off like the poster you quote.

You'll be affected by the altitude at 4900'. The first 4-5 days you'll feel somewhat miserable on your runs, especially on the hills. It gets better each day after that. Joe Vigil's book has a protocol for altitude adaptation although implicitly he's probably talking more about 7,000' +/-. First couple weeks he suggest cutting back on miles some and doing mostly easy work. If you want to keep up a little speed training then do that on a slight (even 1% or 2% grade) downhill.

It's better to live at altitude and train at altitude. NAU and BYU do this as Flagstaff is 7,000ft and Provo is 4,600ft.

People from Nepal, highlands in Mexico, Central America, South America and Ethiopia have gene mutations that make them the most resistant to chronic and acute altitude sickness. Training at altitude for a brief time is inferior to living at altitude and moving to an altitude location as an adult is inferior to being carried in womb and born at altitude. Many big fat 300 plus pound college football player can manage to play football at or about 5000ft. in cities in SW U.S. Four-thousand-something to 5000ft. elevation is not that tough to handle.

I've run at around 5000 feet in Wyoming and Montana many tines with no issues. It takes about a week to acclimate. However at 7000 feet and above I definitely felt the effects and never felt like I had enough oxygen. I could run but at reduced intensity and would not try a race.

Grew up at sea level and got married in Australia went on honeymoon to Thredbo 1360m (about 4400ft) and was gasping for air. So yea from my perspective it will make a difference. Any racing over 1,00m elevation if you aren't ready will be difficult.

Yes -- 4900 feet is real altitude. Pull up a conversion chart to see what your easy days + workouts should be at. It will take 1-2 weeks to adjust if you're coming from sea level. I wouldn't do any workouts or races in the 1st week. Easy runs + strides until you get used to it.

If you were training for the 800 & under then it wouldn't matter as much. Distance runners take a bigger hit.

how high wrote:

fisky wrote:

I don't understand what the OP is asking so I'll just relay personal experiences.

I trained at 500 ft and raced the 800m at 5,300 feet. Other than a dry cough after the race, I saw no effects. A year later, I raced at 7,250 feet. I was maybe 10 seconds slower on the 800m and it wiped me out so badly that I had to DNS the 200m a couple of hours later.

But that's just an effort that takes less than 2 minutes. I'm talking about hours of running per week. Im vacationing at 4900 for a few weeks

You begin to see effects at around 3000-3500'. So yes, you may notice a benefit for a few weeks when you come back to sea level.