So it has been 6 days since moving to 7300ft altitude and I'm running some at 5000ft but still feel like shit. Any advice? How long will it be before I start feeling better?
So it has been 6 days since moving to 7300ft altitude and I'm running some at 5000ft but still feel like shit. Any advice? How long will it be before I start feeling better?
Takes about a month before getting out of the red. Be patient.
what does "out of the red" mean? sucking wind lol?
Yeah, just be patient. Not much else you can do besides making sure you are staying hydrated.
It took me a couple months to feel good after moving to 6900 feet, especially on hills.
It takes much longer than 6 days to adjust to the altitude. Check back in another 2-3 weeks.
I hope you aren't paying attention to pace. Your equivalent sea-level paces will be about 20-30sec/mile faster than what you'll be able to do at altitude, even when you're acclimated. Wouldn't be surprised if you're running 45 sec/mile slower right now - perfectly normal. Just go by effort.
drink water, rest and dial back your pace. it will take a good ~6 weeks for your body to adjust to 7900' and potentially longer for your running to adjust.
- a guy who moved from sea level to 9700'
LOL OP is a paranoid little distance runner. Six days is nothing kid, chill the hell out.
If he's this paranoid after six days I think he's the perfect candidate for overtraining. He'd be better off staying low and training one day a week on an Alter-G, 'cause you no he's not capable of a rest day.
Your body will compensate by creating more red blood cells, but that takes time. I don't think there is any way to speed up the process. You might take an iron supplement since iron is used to make red blood cells, but that would probably only help if you are low or in the lower end of the normal range of iron levels.
Shoemacher wrote:
LOL OP is a paranoid little distance runner. Six days is nothing kid, chill the hell out.
It's not nothing. 6 days is probably the WORST time in altitude adjustment. Either get there 24-48 hours before a race or wait at least 2 weeks. 2 more weeks from now and you will start to see improvements in performances over when you got there.
You actually don't need to put any more effort to drinking water than usual. However, substituting more sport drink for water around your runs will help. Try it.
B-12 & folic acid in high doses, extra sleep, and plenty of water.
Give it six weeks. Find long downhill stretches to run fast, otherw ise go much slower than at sea level.
Take breaks during your runs. I know that's anathema to lots of folks, but if the choice is between running at a normal speed for a minute or three, then walking a bit (more to *prevent* having an oxygen debt, rather than having to pay one off)--compared to a low-speed jog-and-slog--I would definitely go with the breaks.
[In all seriousness, I also recommend doing some 100s, probably at not much faster than mile pace. They'll give you a chance to get some turnover, and you can build pretty quickly--if they're *really* not faster than mile pace--to the classic 10 x 10 x 100 workout. With that one you'll get 10k of faster running in, which is tough at altitude otherwise.
[Recoveries? Whatever you need to *prevent* building an oxygen deficit. If you're not doing the 100s as sprints, but rather with a middle-distance type speed and stride, you won't need a terribly long recovery; but initially it may seem somewhat long, particularly before you catch the rhythm of the workout.]
And yeah, you're likely to feel crappier (at least while running) a *week* after the move, than you are a *day* after.
My daughter lives higher than you and has given birth to my two beautiful granddaughters without anybody feeling crappy. 10's of thousands of people live higher than you and it's utterly irrelevant to them. Whatever your elevation, running hard pays more than anything else.
Advice: Wait!
Rtype wrote:
Whatever your elevation, running hard pays more than anything else.
Advice: Wait!
Agree on the "wait."
Disagree (now) with the "running hard." Until you feel more comfortable, I would strenuously urge you not to do much of anything that feels "hard." (Ron Clarke comes to mind.) Try to get some variety, but don't really push anything for a while; "wait" for that kind of stuff.
1. Start taking EPO
2. Start blood doping
3. Start taking some steroids
4. Sleep in an altitude tent
5. Be patient for about six months
Crazy! you should be running faster!
Something must be wrong. I suggest giving up running.