High Altitude For Dummies

So basically we sea level runners can just keep on side of our mouth closed while running.

So, Dr. Science, then an altitude tent system that changes the mixture to 15%vodka/84%Orange juice and 1% other at sea level means that you have to drink a bigger volume of the cocktail through the 7/11 straw to ingest the same quantity of vodka. This means more work also. Is it the same "more work" as using the little straw? Deep stuff ..... very deep.....

You don't high-altitude train at sea-level like that. Instead, you hold your breath in between every other light pole. You'll know you've trained at a real high altitude when you "come to" on the side of the street.

WARNING: Drinking a Slurpee real fast at sea-level has the same effect as at altitude: aahhhh-ooooowwwwww!!!!

...but he's not a doctor, he's got a Masters degree...In Science! "There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance," he says, "and only I have managed to erase that line."

http://www.ducksbreath.com/

Yes, Sherman. The tent does not reproduce the "high-altitude recipe", it only simulates the smaller straw by altering the vodka content. Just as the PlayStation only "simulates" interaction with the outside world.

Now the magnets, that's another story. I believe, and this is only an opinion, that the magnets are somewhat analogous to a night of Tequila, cocaine and your boss's daughter. Seemed like a good idea during - a nightmare afterwards.

...but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

Don't mean to be a smartypants, but what happens if you sleep in an altitude tent at high altitude? You know with the altered vodka mix and all. Will this give you even more benefit or will you just get a big headache until your brain explodes?

What happens when you run just under threshold with your mouth closed and your nostrils sucking like your lungs depended on it. Sounds like running at altitude. Prove me wrong before I blackout on my next run?

Groovy, that's a very good question! You're right, using an altitude tent AT altitude is just like drinking a Slurpee real fast on a hot Summer day.

If you do your daily easy runs at 6:30 pace at sea level but can only manage 7:00 pace at altitude, then what's the difference, besides slower runs.

Would altitude only come into play if you are comparing the exact same pace at different altitudes? In other words, running faster at sea level creates the same oxygen debt as running slower at altitude......Hmmmmmmm?

PO2.PPO2.

The Nike Oregon Project - "Molecular filters inside the

house remove oxygen creating the thin air found at 12,000

feet"

The altitude beds increase nitrogen and reduce the % of

oxygen.

Do either of these really duplicate the partial pressure

of oxygen at 6,000 feet? I run a hose from the hypoxic bed

to my treadmill will I simulate the conditions exactly

duplicating running at 6,000 feet with reduced pressure?

Thanks Malmo. That's science we can use!

Side question: What brand of vodka gives you more training effect? Grey Goose, Skyy, Stolichnaya Cristal, or Absolut?

I grew up in armpit of the midwest (OH), where freeway onramps sometimes constitute hill training (in some parts of the state).

Moved to CO and now routinely run at 10k and up, including 14teeners. Even at a slower pace the difference is still noticable, you definitely have to suck it in. This really develops your diaphram (sucking muscle - OK now I'm wide open for the juvenile slams so have at it), and I find training this every bit as important as training the legs. In addition, mountain running/racing is like a fartlek workout on steroids (sorry for the bad phrase there). The terrain varys so much that you can almost black out in a matter of ten meters or less due to severe undulations, and it takes time to get used to this extreme variation in stress/hypoxic levels. In short, very strong lungs and the ability to call them up instantaneously is supreme.

I never really had large lungs and always had to breathe harder than my teammates back in the day. This hasn't seemed to hurt much at altitude like you (and I) would have expected, bottom line is I already sucked hard for my O2 anyway and simply learned to suck harder (wide open here again).

As far as more traditional running, the 5-6k level in Boulder is somewhat noticable compared to lowland, but not extreme. Over time you can get back to running paces very similar to what you were doing before the move, only now you are getting stronger lungs. Things seem to start slowing down at 7k and up. The number one thing you notice is how much effort is going into breathing vs. how much going into the legs. It's different, but for me, more fun.

Diffusion of O2 from your lungs to your blood is based upon pressure differentials. When you change the partial pressure of the atmosphere (go to altitude), you change the pressure differentials. This makes it harder for the O2 to diffuse across into the blood stream. When you spend time at altitude, your body will adapt (amazing thing, the human body) and will eventually become more efficient at extracting the O2 with a smaller gradient. When you go back to sea-level, the gradient becomes larger (this means more diffusion without more work). Your body is now adept at extracting the O2 with a low gradient. The new high gradient serves to give an extra "push" to the diffusion of O2. This means that you almost an extra abundance of O2 going into the blood stream when you go to sea-level. This is just like increasing blood O2 content through "blood doping" drugs, but it is done "naturally."

Hey now! I grew up in Ohio.

That's why I live in Oregon now.

Exactly

So you are saying that the "lung-power" thing or whatever it is called really DOES work?

Ironically, football player is about the only one who knows anything about altitude training. The decreased partial pressure of oxygen at altitide causes your body to make more Red Blood Cells, in response to the chronic oxygen deficiency. So if you are up in altitude long enough the effects of altitude are lessened in comparison to someone who just went to altitude. When the person who is acclimatized to altitude (Jorge Torres and the Colorado guys) come down to sea level they have extra red blood cells to spare. The problem is these guys have to train at high altitudes so they are not able to work their muscles at such a high intensity, because they are limited by oxygen consumption. So when they get down to sea level their muscles are not used to running at such high speeds. This is why you see them even-pace their races, because their legs aren't physically capable of going out in a cross race in 4:20, even though they have the oxygen-carrying capacity for it. This is why it is most advantageous to live at high altitudes to get the added red blood cells (make sure you're taking Iron to make RBC), and then to train at sea level to train your muscles efficiently. Breathing less oxygen while you run will not help you. It may work your anaerobic system, but have no effect on your oxygen-carrying capacity. It is the chronic result of decreased pressure of 02, that will give you more RBC. People who go up to Boulder to train for a week or a summer will have no effect, by the time the championship races come along your RBC will return to their normal level. You need to maintain the altitude training to get the result, it is gone in a week unless you grew up in the himalayan mts and that is your normal RBC level.