Altitude racing
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TriSooner posted 27 weeks ago.
If you are currently doing 5:40 for 1/2's, it sounds like you are already in peak shape. I bet you can handle the altitude with little trouble. And I suspect 10 days is enough time. I'm sure someone out there (ie, google) knows how long it takes for endurance athletes to acclimatize to altitude. I bet 10 days is enough, especially if you get in a few light days of training in Colorado. I don't know though, b/c I live in Texas (elev. 500) and have never raced at altitude. I'm doing Pikes Peak in August so I'm having the same thoughts you are. What about the hills, er, mountains? Is 5430 (which I'd love to do) mountainous?
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UFTriGator posted 27 weeks ago.
It'll take about a month to acclimate to altitude. You're going to go slower than normal, so don't kill yourself early on trying to hit your normal time. At altitude, if you elevate your heart rate it's going to be much harder to bring it back down than it is at sea level, making it very easy to get into trouble if you start out too hard.
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-Matt
Not fast enough.
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ht001 posted 27 weeks ago.
As a Denver/Breckenridge CO resident I'll chime in once again with the "altitude perspective." I've posted on other threads with similar advice so you might be able to find those posts. Everyone is impacted differently by the altitude you will have to see how you feel and respond accordingly. I see friends and relatives have a range of reactions just to being at altitude (not even working out) some minor, such as tiredness and dehydration, some a little more major including nausea. You will likely not experience anything so dramatic as the latter. Expect to feel like you need more sleep and that you're breathing harder and heavier. Give yourself the time to do some light workouts with a few race pace efforts built in and see how you feel. Then respond to how you feel by resting and hydrating appropriately. Also, be aware that alcoholic beverages can affect you much more significantly at altitude. So it might be a good idea to lay off until the post race festivities to imbibe.
I do some or all of the 5430 series races every year and will be there for the 1/2 this year as well. I can tell you that it is always really, really, really hot on the run. There isn't any tree cover on that long course run and you will feel the heat. Last year it was so hot that many runners suffered in ways that they didn't expect, so it can get ugly. Prepare for that. With good preparation you will enjoy yourself at this event....this race is a fave of mine!
TriSooner the Pikes Peak event is awesome. That's a whole other gig. While the 5430 course is not in the mountains the PP event is the mountain. You might want to take a drive to the top one day and just hang out up there for a while. Or take a long weekend out here sometime in early summer and do a hike up a 14er for the practice. One thing I was always amazed about in the 3 times I did the Ascent is that there would be guys from Arkansas who would do that race with absolutely no hint of any altitude issues. You might be one of those guys, in which case you'd have nothing to worry about.
Take it easy as you get used to the altitude and you'll be fine. You guys are no doubt well trained and should be able to assess how your bodies and minds are handling it. Ultimately though, enjoy CO...and taking your racing to a whole new level. Ha ha...sorry couldn't resist!
I am driving to Colorado from Florida then competing in the Boulder 5430 1/2. At sea level 5:40 is a typical 1/2 for me at age 48. It will be 10 days from leaving low altitude to race day. I'll do some taper as best I can enroute.
Any tips on a way to better tolerate the altitude on race day? Just shoot for 6 hours??? I just don't want to feel more tortured than neccessary..........if that's possible. Obviously heat won't be an issue and I understand high and dry hydration since living in Az.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!