High School Altitude Training

The answer is yes, 5 weeks at altitude will be enough to get the benefits. However the main benefit of this trip is that you will get 5 weeks of solid training done. The altitude is really a 1%er and won't be very noticeable over 5k when you're running 18:15, you might take off a few seconds if that.

The real benefit would be in just getting away and getting some solid training done.

I agree but she really doesn't have a problem getting solid training at home. The different (better) running locations in that area would be nice though.

The effects likely would be gone in a month, maybe less after she returns. First Denver (and that can cover a huge area) itself is maybe not enough high enough to trigger a big red blood cell response.

In short, don't expect something even noticeable aside from her first week of runs being back might feel easier (although that could be offset by midwest humidity).

The benefit will be the change of scenery. Altitude is overrated for performance gain. Also make sure to understand where in Denver you are staying. Denver is still in the Plains. The Rocky Mountains start just past Denver to the west and driving into the mountains can be a nightmare.

i second "it will wear off." i spent a week in colorado before one of my college soccer seasons, training then preparing to play in an early august select tournament there. i thought it paid off during the early weeks of the season. i felt super fit and sharp. but it wears off.

if you think about it this has implications for when you go there. a trip in june will be gone by august/september. you would want it fairly close to the season.

side point but don't overdo it. the tendency on some of these training camp ideas is to over- or under-cook. either undisciplined and distracted; or bored and overdoing it to alleviate boredom, which then shows up as body breakdown or burnout. have a rough idea what the work will be each day, do the work, shut it down, enjoy playing tourist.

put differently, the mere fact you are practicing or playing at altitude, in a normal amount, does the trick. if anything it should be harder to get through normal practices. leave it at that. if you freak out like woah dude i really have to take advantage of this, run more than usual, i think that shows up later physically or mentally.

last point but is the daughter in on this? she may have her own plans for her last HS summer. the next one they graduate, kids start taking jobs, the college kids start pivoting to getting ready for school. is she on board with 1/2 the summer out of town? i used to love lengthy sports trips or vacations, but some folks are wired more as social beasts.

whoops i missed the sophomore part. but still. some kids want to be social. some kids are achievement driven or like travel. the same idea might receive different receptions from different kids.

Just to be clear, my daughter is driving this and wants to do it. Really more than me but I think it could be a good experience. We would be staying in the northwest Denver, near Arvada.

We used to take a trip to Colorado with our HS XC team every summer, and the first week back was always terrible.

And you won't notice any improvements from the altitude. Not saying it won't benefit or help, but you won't notice any difference. The only thing you will notice is that it is harder to run at altitude if you have never done it and that the humidity feels awful when you come back to it after time away from it.

Then do it. It won't hurt her. It will be a good experience to have. It is not a make it or break it thing. The possible benefits from the altitude are so small, I wouldn't base the decision on that. But it would be a fun experience, so why not?

How long was your Colorado trip?

There will be no meaningful altitude-specific benefits to the trip, mostly because the altitude adaptations will be long gone by the important part of the season.

The real benefit is that it's a good change of scenery and an opportunity to get some good training done. That alone justifies the trip.

Important consideration: Don't let the altitude make training worse. Would be good to get bloodwork done ahead of time (VitD, Iron, Ferritin, CBC) to make sure the body is ready to handle the challenge of altitude. Often people can be borderline on these and handling training at lower elevations just fine but get exposed pretty badly when they head into thin air. Make sure your daughter is well tuned-in to running on effort rather than pace -obviously it's natural that paces will slow down a fair bit at altitude but many people struggle to do this correctly if they aren't good at judging their internal sense of effort. Given that a lot of kids' whole running careers have been done with GPS watches many are lacking this skillset.

Concur with the posters that say that the performance boosting elements of altitude (the increased volume of red blood cells) will be gone by the end of the XC season.

However, I think your daughter can still benefit from the fitness boosting element of an altitude stint. Everything she does at altitude will be more stressful on her aerobic system (beyond just red blood cells), and that kind of fitness is the kind of thing that lasts and she can build upon even after she is back in the midwest.

I know a HS kid that did a month at altitude last summer, and he definitely came back to sea level with lasting fitness (because he built upon it with subsequent training) beyond the short-term red-blood-cell benefits.

Your daughter is actually running very well based upon her 3200 time. It will be a good change of scenery to stay out in Colorado for 3-5 weeks. She should be able to get in some good training while there. However, the benefits that one gains from training at altitude will be long gone by the important XC meets at the end of the season. What is going to benefit her the most is the training, not the altitude.