ultra marathon at altitude

Train at altitude if you can. If you can't and don't have money to spend on altitude tents and stuff then get to the race two weeks early or the day of to lessen the effects of the altitude.

Run more at altitude.

tommo617 wrote:

I attempted the Grand to Grand 270km ultra marathon in Sept this year, managed to get 60kms in before the altitude got me (8300ft) and had to pull out.

Will be attempting it again this year (redemption) and would like to know best bits of advice for adjusting to the altitude.

Any foods / meds can take to boost red blood cells. And any other tips. TIA.

How did the altitude get to you? It can be really easy to get dehydrated at altitude, so were you drinking enough? Taking in enough electrolytes? Taking in enough calories? Did you adjust your pace to account for altitude or try to run too fast? Did you have GI issues and get sick? You would need to give more details on exactly what your issues were for people really to be able to provide guidance. If you are having altitude sickness then you might want to see if your doctor will give you a prescription for Diamox to prevent altitude sickness.

tommo617 wrote:

I attempted the Grand to Grand 270km ultra marathon in Sept this year, managed to get 60kms in before the altitude got me (8300ft) and had to pull out.

Will be attempting it again this year (redemption) and would like to know best bits of advice for adjusting to the altitude.

Any foods / meds can take to boost red blood cells. And any other tips. TIA.

Find Alex Hutchinson's piece at Outside that he just put up about adjusting to altitude.

Is that really 270K? 162 miles?

It also sounds like you might have gone out too fast. But then I cannot imagine running or hiking that far...

Well, there is this hormone that you might have heard of that does a great job boosting red blood cells...

8300ft makes you may be a little bit slower but not too much.

Only training in altitude helps getting used to it. I would think you can do this race, if you are fit without training in altitude but you have to start slow enough and expect that everything is just a little bit harder in that altitude. It's just a stage race so it should be manageable. But you would have to have decent ultrarunning experience in order to pace yourself right.

(I lived and trained in that altitude for a long time)

So what actually happened at your race?

I think I would do well in this kind of race and get a podium.

Banana Bread wrote:

I think I would do well in this kind of race and get a podium.

No, you wouldn't.

First of all you could not afford the insane amount of $3550 for the entry fee.

Second, since you have only done 5k's you would have no clue how to pace yourself over 6 days.

You would be out latest on day 3 with blisters and injuries.

Forest Gump again wrote:

8300ft makes you may be a little bit slower but not too much.

Only training in altitude helps getting used to it. I would think you can do this race, if you are fit without training in altitude but you have to start slow enough and expect that everything is just a little bit harder in that altitude. It's just a stage race so it should be manageable. But you would have to have decent ultrarunning experience in order to pace yourself right.

(I lived and trained in that altitude for a long time)

Define "not too much".

Taking into account everyone is different, I am going with a pretty dramatic (>5% and probably close to 8%) drop in performance relative to sea level for a sea level dweller. Someone living at say 6500 feet going to 8300 feet would likely see a small drop.

Of course it would be pretty challenging to compare results of a race such as this with one at sea level.

Luv2Run wrote:

Define "not too much".

Taking into account everyone is different, I am going with a pretty dramatic (>5% and probably close to 8%) drop in performance relative to sea level for a sea level dweller. Someone living at say 6500 feet going to 8300 feet would likely see a small drop.

Of course it would be pretty challenging to compare results of a race such as this with one at sea level.

Sounds about right. My personal guess would be 10% slower in 8000 ft compare to sea level. From my experience, you only learn to cope with the smaller amount of oxygen and you don't get headaches if you go up to let say 14000 feet. You are not getting faster in altitude just because you live there. Again this is my educated opinion from living, training and racing in altitude for a decade.

tommo617 hasn't answered yet.

What happened at the Grand to Grand stage race?