Do you have a race high in the mountains on your bucket list? Running at altitude is a fantastic experience and training at altitude has many benefits. Here are some things to consider before you go to make your experience a positive one:
1. You can’t train at altitude if you live at sea level so do the next best thing: train hills. The demands put on your cardiovascular system when running up hills is similar to that of having less oxygen to work with. Make sure you have a weekly hill workout on tap. Plus high-altitude locales are rarely flat, so practice running up and downhill.
2. Get to your race destination early to give your body time to acclimate and start out easy once you’re there as your body produces more red blood cells to carry oxygen. A few weeks is ideal but more often than not, unrealistic. If nothing else, sleep at altitude the night before.
3. Run by perceived exertion rather than pace. Face it, you’ll need to work harder at altitude because the air is thinner. So be smart and run according to feel, rather than a number on your Garmin.
4. If you feel light-headed, headachy, nauseous, these are symptoms of altitude. Minimize them by hydrating fully before, during and after the race. Don’t forget about electrolytes either.
5. Higher up = closer to the sun so be sure to wear sunscreen. The stunning mountain views and reduced humidity may lull you into a false calm but rest assured, the sun is strong at altitude.
Do you/have you run at altitude? Any tips?
These tips are great! We live AT sea level here in Savannah so I’ll keep these in mind if we ever run above it 😉
This is so well-timed for me! I am headed to Salt Lake City to visit a friend (a runner!) in two weeks. I’ve been fretting about how it will affect me when running. Thank you!
I’ve only run in altitude once…when we were in Vegas a couple years ago. I thought I was dying and didn’t put two and two together until after the run.
The times that I have been at higher altitude, thankfully, I haven’t had problems. Of course, I’ve never tried to race so who knows what would happen.
Great tips!
Great tips, Marcia! Training hills is always a good thing anyway, even if we don’t like them!
Altitude isn’t something that we have to worry about in Australia. Our highest mountain isn’t that high – I walked right to the top of it a few years back and it has a footpath most of the way up it.
Great tips. My 1st marathon is at 6600′. Didn’t think about that when I signed up. Just thought, ‘ooh, pretty views’. LOL. I’ve trained a couple times in the mountains. And the Xterra trail race proved my HR likes to go up quick and lower very slow due to the elevation. So, it looks like it will slow me down for the marathon. Luckily, I live in a hilly neighborhood. And have been running on them daily. So, I might just have a chance. Now, I just need to make sure I hydrate properly.
Actually, with tip #2, it is recommended that if you can’t go up 2-3 weeks early to acclimate, you should stay as low as you can until the race. The idea is that if you only have a few days, it isn’t enough to acclimate and you’ll just stress your body without any benefits and who wants to race when they’re already beat up? Better to be completely rested at a lower altitude and race high up, then go back down.
Some people also suggest taking Ginko Biloba supplements starting 2 weeks before going and while you’re there. I don’t know if it necessarily helps, but that’s what I do. I’m headed to Salt Lake City soon and have already started myself on some ginky. 🙂
I’ve never run at altitude- definitely saving these tips!
I had no idea that running hills could simulate the demands your body will face when faced with less oxygen. But it does make sense. I love hills but prefer to walk them…sono high altitude runs for me. 🙂
I wish I’d read these tips before runwiki and I went to boulder! I had no idea that hill training would help. The altitude made running so hard and I literally ran out of oxygen 2 miles into the 10k!
I live at altitude and still need all the help I can get! Good post!
I wanna train at altitude, but live low. My ultimate fantasy to blow everybody out of the water as I enter the 50+ age group! Seriously, though, after Utah, I had Lactic Acid legs for 1 week. It’s better to go a couple of days pre-race, but not a full week, ’cause the acid just keeps building up in the legs!
No altitude for me! 😉
I used to work with a guy who was doing a study on altitude training for endurance athletes and he found that there is no proven benefits to train above 6000′, BUT sleeping above 6000′ after a hard run has HUGE benefits.