Altitude questions

Training Advice/Discussion

9 years ago 06/13/2014 12:55pm EDT

I am currently training for a marathon in October and, as luck would have it, will have absolutely no responsibilities for the month of August. As such, I am considering spending August training at elevation in Colorado.

That said, I really don't know much of anything about altitude training. I am from the flat midwest and my marathon is also in the midwest. Would it be okay to go to altitude in the middle of a training season? I will be hitting 80-90mpw in August, and don't want that training to be negatively impacted as I adjust to the altitude - I have no idea how long such an adjustment would take. Is 3-4 weeks at altitude enough to make a beneficial impact? If I came back in September, would the benefits of altitude training still be with me 4-5 weeks later for the marathon? If I do decide to train at altitude, what is the ideal elevation?

Any help/thoughts/advice is appreciated!

9 years ago 06/13/2014 3:57pm EDT

re: elevate

Well you should LIVE at altitude and train closer to sea level.

Individuals vary in the altitude needed to generate a red blood cell mass increase, but living around 9000 feet is a safe bet. A problem there is it can mess up your sleep for a few days.

Then go down to a lower elevation to do high intensity training (tempo runs, interval). After 4 weeks you should be starting to feel ok although you will still not be hitting SL times (nor will you ever unless your SL training sucked). You can do this around Boulder and Colorado Springs (Woodland Park for living, COS for training).

Before you come up, make sure your iron status is solid--especially serum ferritin. If you are iron impaired, then you could be wasting your time. No sense in creating new RBCs unless they can be fully stocked with iron.

Another concern I would have is getting to altitude and being excited and training too much or trying to go too hard.

Get a hold of Randy Wilber's book on altitude training and performance. Some info is dated, but the principles are still solid.

9 years ago 06/13/2014 3:58pm EDT

re: elevate

PS: at least anecdotally, the effects of a stint at altitude probably are gone 35 days after returning to SL.

9 years ago 06/14/2014 7:37pm EDT

re: elevate

I live in CO springs i train with people who constantly come here, go race at sea level, come back for a month or 2 then go back to run at sea level they all hail Altitude training as being amazing and providing great benefit. Don't listen to half the shit you hear. Yeah it's a lil harder to train at altitude but its NOT that MUCH harder. You'll appreciate you came.

9 years ago 06/14/2014 9:17pm EDT

re: elevate

To maximize your red blood cell production, sleep at 10,000 feet plus and run at 5-7000 feet. Mix in some long runs at the high area too. All the badasses in Boulder supposedly sleep in Nederland, and train fast in Boulder, but there are a number of other choices-

Sleep in Vail, run in Glenwood-or even Eagle-Gypsum.

If you're not rich, camp on Vail Pass, and run in Gypsum. Sleep in Leadville, run in Salida. Sleep in Summit County, run in Denver.

Climb some fourteeners-Leadville is a great place to base a trip for that.

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