Going from altitude to sea-level. How do I prepare?

Well, the best thing you can do is get their a week before to get accliamated, but either than that there's nothing that I know of that will help you, but you definetely are going to run fast man, 4:12 should be easy.

800m is the "break even" point - don't expect to run any faster, but it might not hurt as much when you are done.

I know. I'm not running the 800 at sea level. I guess I kind of meant to ask do I need more speed?

The usual advice is to run shorter intervals if you're training at altitude for a sea-level race. For example, run 300-meter reps instead of 400-meter reps. But I would guess that Golden West is coming up pretty soon, so I suggest that you don't get too caught up in that kind of last-minute tinkering with your training. Suddenly changing your training program -- especially by adding faster stuff than you're used to -- may do little except give you some last-minute injuries to worry about.

Do you live in SLC?

When I lived there I would run about 10s per mile faster in training runs when I went home to visit (family lived at sea level). And I couldn't seem to get tired.

Just run your balls off at GWI and expect that you will get a good PR. 4:12 should be no problem...

Avacodo's number has it right -- don't start adding anything different to your program this close to an important race. Don't panic if you feel yourself breathing hard at sea level -- it doesn't mean you are hurting as much as you may think, just press on

Don't worry about anything. You'll come through the 800m feeling great, and then just be ready to take off. Get ready to go through the 800m a few seconds faster than you have though. You won't even feel it though.

BYU runner wrote:

Don't worry about anything. You'll come through the 800m feeling great, and then just be ready to take off. Get ready to go through the 800m a few seconds faster than you have though. You won't even feel it though.

Great advice! I live at 3500 ft. and I find you have a lot more in the tank the last 600-800m of a 1500m when you go down to sea-level. Don't be afraid to bust your ass that last 600m and you'll be fine.

I live a little higher than you, and am a miler. I've found that 1200 time trials are a pretty good way to prepare for the sea level mile, and give a good correlation as to what to expect, pace wise.

You have GOT to be joking with this thread! You do NOT have to aclimatize yourself when you are coming DOWN from a higher altitude to a lower altitude. That is what you do when you are going UP to a higher altitude.

You will feel stronger than usual. You can run out at a much faster pace and not get tired. You could SPRINT in the middle of the race (assuming you are running a longer race) and not become nearly as depleted from it as runners who live at the lower altitudes. You can show courage and strength at lower altitude that you didn't know you had at high altitude. But what you CAN'T do (assuming again that you are in a longer race) is sit and wait to see what happens. If you wait your strengths will not be utilized and you will finish regretting that you didn't try harder when you had the chance.

See you at Golden West. (I'll tell you about an on-off switch).