I have traveled to South Africa, specifically to a small village 3 hours from Johannesburg named Dullstroom. A long journey to a small town that mainly serves as a "stop" for tourists going from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park to see wild animals and go on Safari.
So why am I here with one of my good friends and elite runner Kristian?
Altitude Training - Why?
Dullstroom is situated at 2000m altitude and has become a mecca for long-distance runners seeking the positive effects of altitude training, warmer climates during winter, and a cheap and quiet area to go into "training camp mode." The latter is one of the basic elements of going to a training camp, with or without altitude - namely to get away from everyday life and many of the things that come with it and go somewhere where the entire day's structure is built around training and recovery, nothing else.
It may sound boring and it certainly can be. For me, it's extra hard this year as it means I am away from my family for 4 weeks. I have a partner and 2 children aged 2.5 years and 10 weeks - it's a huge sacrifice and the biggest sacrifice in the pursuit of becoming even better and running even faster. Facetime saves me.
I will be at altitude for 3.5 weeks, after which I go directly to Turkey to run the European Cross Country Championship with the hope of performing even better after a stay at altitude and with the adaptations that come with it. Altitude training is widely recognized by endurance athletes for several reasons.
Altitude Training – More Oxygen
When you go up in altitude, the oxygen saturation is lower and this causes extra stress on the body. A stress that can be seen in training, sleep, resting pulse, and HRV – at least for the first few days/weeks.
Thereafter, you adapt to the new climate and when you come down from altitude, where the oxygen level is higher, you can feel better running – or that's the idea.
One of the known adaptations is the increase in one's amount of red blood cells, which have the task of transporting oxygen around the body. It makes sense, more oxygen = better performance.
However, altitude training comes at a cost –The journey is long with risks of illness, and the stress on the body is greater, initially affecting training. Therefore, Kristian and I were tested before departure and will be again on return. This is to see how altitude training has affected our body composition and red blood cell count.
For me, the EM in cross-country running also serves as a test of the effect of altitude training – if I run well and feel good, the effect has been positive, and it's something to use in the future.
If the opposite is true, I must reconsider the approach to altitude training camps, and assess if it's right for me.
The first few days it's important to relax. As mentioned, the body is stressed, and this is evident in the easy runs and all the objective measures we use.
After a few days, it begins to feel better and it becomes possible to run some moderate or intense sessions as one can at home. More on this in the next article.
