Is it possible?
Is it possible?
No, I can't.
Altitude is really a 1%er, it won't make a ton of difference unless you're already one of the best.
2:20 is of course not easy, but you do not need altitude to run 2:20. You won't even need altitude to run sub 2:10, but of course it will help.
Absolutely YES. You can even do most at the treadmill. See Hendrik Pfeiffer
Most guys who raced in Orlando don't train at altitude.
Nope, never been done before
Yes, it has been done many times.
However, the guys who won in Orlando do
Ya I did it. I could rattle off some 2:10 or faster guys who never train at altitude. I could also name some guys who were D1 All-Americans in track, moved to altitude, and then were bad at the marathon. Training at altitude vs not training at altitude is not a make or break decision at all.
It's obviously possible -most of the 200+ guys who ran at the US Olympic trials do not train at altitude. I'd even bet there's a few in that list that have literally never ran at altitude.
I'd even argue that altitude is pointless/detrimental for a lot of non-pro/elite athletes. If you are a regular dude trying to run sub-2:20 alongside a regular life you may not be in a position to benefit from the additional stressor of altitude and are better served optimizing the more boring fundamental aspects of training (sleep better, eat better, manage life stress, run more, good strength training, etc).