Advice needed for high altitude 10 miler

Sandy, I have lived on and off for about ten years around Denver, Colorado elev 5280. Altitude definitely slows you down and has a noticeable effect on your ability to swim at "cruising" or lactate threshhold levels. The website at Colorado Swimming states that an all-out effort over 1500 meters at 4500-6000 ft is equal to a performance 23 seconds faster at sea level. www.csi.org/conversions.aspx Realize that this table is intended to predict the performance of altitude-trained athletes at sea level. In all likelihood, sea level athletes will experience a greater drop off when competing at altitude. For all intents and purposes, 2400 feet is sea level so do not expect your current altitude to offer any significant benefits at 5500 feet. As a ballpark guess, I would expect to lose at least 30-40 secs per mile over the course of a ten mile race. I would not be shocked if many sea-level athletes lost more due to mental frustration or over-exertion at the beginning of the race. An important concept to realize is that altitude not only slows you down, but it makes it more difficult for you to sustain a certain level of perceived effort over a given distance. By this I mean, even without a stopwatch as a reference, a non-acclimated athlete will rapidly feel exhausted and out of breath if they attempt to give the same sort of effort they are accustomed to for a given distance. In essence, your legs and arms try to go at the same rate but your heart and lungs simply can't give them the oxygen to do so, so you are forced to back off your intensity. I would highly recommend traveling to the race site 2-3 days in advance to give yourself time to do at least one decent length open water swim to mentally prepare for how swimming at altitude feels. It really isn't that bad, but it is different and worthwhile getting a feel for if you want to make a competitive effort rather than just swim the event to finish. As far as nutrition goes, drink tons of water. At altitude you lose a great deal of H2O just by breathing so it is important to constantly hydrate. Water is all you need. Training is difficult to simulate. Swimming long intervals with a snorkel might mentally prepare you to deal with less oxygen. The key to competing at altitude is learning how maximize efficiency at a low intensity. Be conservative, have fun and do not set too narrow a time goal as different people respond and perform at altitude in different ways. Hope this answer wasn't too long and gives you some guidelines Good luck, c

Sandy, I have lived on and off for about ten years around Denver, Colorado elev 5280. Altitude definitely slows you down and has a noticeable effect on your ability to swim at "cruising" or lactate threshhold levels. The website at Colorado Swimming states that an all-out effort over 1500 meters at 4500-6000 ft is equal to a performance 23 seconds faster at sea level. www.csi.org/conversions.aspx Realize that this table is intended to predict the performance of altitude-trained athletes at sea level. In all likelihood, sea level athletes will experience a greater drop off when competing at altitude. For all intents and purposes, 2400 feet is sea level so do not expect your current altitude to offer any significant benefits at 5500 feet. As a ballpark guess, I would expect to lose at least 30-40 secs per mile over the course of a ten mile race. I would not be shocked if many sea-level athletes lost more due to mental frustration or over-exertion at the beginning of the race. An important concept to realize is that altitude not only slows you down, but it makes it more difficult for you to sustain a certain level of perceived effort over a given distance. By this I mean, even without a stopwatch as a reference, a non-acclimated athlete will rapidly feel exhausted and out of breath if they attempt to give the same sort of effort they are accustomed to for a given distance. In essence, your legs and arms try to go at the same rate but your heart and lungs simply can't give them the oxygen to do so, so you are forced to back off your intensity. I would highly recommend traveling to the race site 2-3 days in advance to give yourself time to do at least one decent length open water swim to mentally prepare for how swimming at altitude feels. It really isn't that bad, but it is different and worthwhile getting a feel for if you want to make a competitive effort rather than just swim the event to finish. As far as nutrition goes, drink tons of water. At altitude you lose a great deal of H2O just by breathing so it is important to constantly hydrate. Water is all you need. Training is difficult to simulate. Swimming long intervals with a snorkel might mentally prepare you to deal with less oxygen. The key to competing at altitude is learning how maximize efficiency at a low intensity. Be conservative, have fun and do not set too narrow a time goal as different people respond and perform at altitude in different ways. Hope this answer wasn't too long and gives you some guidelines Good luck, c