If you run and train at basically sea level (1000-3000ft) how is your body effected if you race at altitude? I am thinking of running the boulder boulder in colorado....but I am not sure if its worth it if I will suffer needlessly. I have heard that if you get there the day of the race the altitude has almost 0 effect.
1) Everyone adjusts to a given altitude differently. Studies show that well-trained athletes can be affected as low as ~3000 feet in terms of decrease in VO2max.
2) Generally speaking, expect a 3 to 5% decrease in aerobic performance at moderate altitudes like Boulder compared to sea level times. Some people will have more and some maybe less (although they are rare).
3) Arriving the day before is one strategy however consider the issues of the stress of travel, not eating well that day, not hydrating well, etc. Also, what happens if you have flight troubles (travel tips: A) NEVER get the last flight out of a city or the last flight into a city--you then have fewer alternatives if something happens; B) the first flight of the day is the least likely to get cancelled for mechanical reasons anyway--also, it often gives you the rest of the day to get another flight). Driving presents its own problems.
4) Arriving 3 days before the race is about the worst thing you can do, generally speaking the third day is the crappiest day.
Hope this helps. You will probably suffer some, but unless you are making a living by running, all races could be considered "needless" suffering :)
Hey DK, I am from Indianapolis, but I travel to Denver frequently. I can attest that the day I arrive in Denver, I feel almost no difference on the flats, and just a little on the hills. However, the next day I typically feel that I struggle. I've not yet tried racing there, but I've done tempo runs 3 hours after getting off the plane and felt fine. So I assume racing would be similar...
I live and train at sea level and I've raced and trained in and around Denver. I'm sure someone can back up the actual science behind this but I know of 2 theories about arriving at altitude before a race. 1) arrive 5 days before the race so that your body goes through the cycle of breaking down and then rebuilding and has the neccessary time to fully adjust to the altitude and hydrate etc. 2) arrive 24 hours before the race before your body has a chance to break down... if anyone knows the actual physical adaptation that takes place I'd like to hear it again...
a general rule I was told while out there, you will slow down about 15 sec. per mile (10 - 20 seconds depending on the distance) but if you live and train at altitude you can only expect to have an advantage of about 10 seconds per mile racing at sea level. I imagine this is far from an exact science because everyone will handle altitude differently and adapt differently
Altitude does not DECREASE ones VO2max.
Training hard at altitude INCREASES it.
You have received good advice from several people. First day you do feel pretty good (doesn't mean yo will run as fast as SL, but you may feel better doing it). Then it does go down for a few days and gradually returns to where after about a week or so you feel almost as good as the first day. In 2 weeks you will clearly outperform your time upon acute exposure. I suspect the daily rise in stress hormones (that aren't obvious the first day), plus gradual dehydration (with blood volume loss) and change in sleep habits all contribute to feeling bad after 3-5 days exposure. Then as you truly acclimatize you feel better. Definitely you lose about 10% VO2max at 6000feet, but only bout 5% performance because the cost of running (running economy) is better at altitude than at SL. Fully acclimatized runners gain only about 3% when going to SL (unless in a marathon in humid warm conditions, then you may not gain any time going to SL because you are not used to heat and humidity.
DK wrote:
If you run and train at basically sea level (1000-3000ft) how is your body effected if you race at altitude? I am thinking of running the boulder boulder in colorado....but I am not sure if its worth it if I will suffer needlessly. I have heard that if you get there the day of the race the altitude has almost 0 effect.
That is probably the best way to have a shot at feeling "almost 0 effect." It's no guarantee, though. Just be sure to hydrate and rest enough.
JasonInKunming wrote:
Altitude does not DECREASE ones VO2max.
Training hard at altitude INCREASES it.
So if an athlete gets tested in say, Miami, FL and then gets tested in Colorado Springs (6100 feet), there will be no difference in VO2max?
Not everyone gets a VO2max boost from a given altitude by training there. In fact, training at altitude probably is not really THE way to go because of the reduced intensity in the faster paced training.
VO2max at altitude will be less than at SL. Spending some time training at altitude may increase both AL and SL VO2max, but SL max will always be less than it will be at AL
Is your VO2max changed because your physiology changes, though, or just because there is less oxygen to actually take in? I always thought that was the bigger problem, not the change in your actual VO2 max ... maybe I'm just misreading what you guys are saying.
Just so you know when you are thinking about altitude, VO2 max etc, the Bolder Boulder is pretty hilly and generally a bitch of a course, last 1400m is all up hill including a beast of a hill into Folsom Field. I hope to see you there. Another tip, get registered soon, the A wave fills up pretty quick. Good luck.
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