Compensating for lower altitude.

kjanracing

There is a lot of dicussion regarding power and pace adjustments for going to a higher altitude, but what about training at a higher alt. and racing lower.  I've lived in the foothills and Denver area of Co. all my life.  Any thoughts on adjusting for lower alt., or just stick to me power and paces until mile 18 and go from there?

 

Al Truscott

Kurt - In all my reading about altitude training, I haven't found a specific answer to this question. But based on my own experience, and a sneaky little theory I never see mentioned, I suspect there will be no difference for you as far as what running pace you should go at. But with cycling, the funny thing is, despite (as we've learned) one's FTP at altitude will be lower than than at sea level (in your case, about 7%), one's *speed* may not be any different.

Here's what I experience, consdiering that I've done RRs three weeks before an IM both at altitude (6-7700'), and at home at sea level: after a couple of weeks at altitude, I do my final race rehearsal. My NP is lower than I expect based on my sea level FTP, right on target if I adjust the FTP for altitude. But even with the lower power output, my total time for the RR is the same as when I do it at sea level. What I think is going on is: there's less air to move out of the way at altitude, so I get an aero advantage at altitude which almost exactly compensates for my loss of power.

But how would that apply in reverse? Would your FTP be automatically higher in Tempe? In other words, should you increase your planned NP for the race by, say, 5% (Tempe is as about 1000', I think.) There's no research that I've found yet that answers this specific question. But that doesn't stop me from suggesting a test: If you're arriving early enough to try riding on the Beeline Highway on Thursday or Friday before the race, use your HR, RPE, and speed to go a loop on that stretch (about 22 miles, or approx. 1 hour) at Ironman cycling pace. Ignore your watts until after the test, just use speed, HR, and RPE to hold yourself at IM race pace. Then check the NP for that hour to see how it compares to your mile high NP for the same effort level.

kjanracing

Thanks Al. I'll probably just stick with my numbers as they are and feel better at mile 18 and then tap into my awsome altitude trained red blood cell count till the finish!