V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mountainpedalscoaching80903
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
V-Club member Ray Middleton is our 45th winner of a $20 VeloWear gift certificate! His question follows...
Age & Training at Altitude
Hello Coach,
I’m looking forward to another season of racing. Any suggestions of how to deal with race jitters before I get to the start line?
Thanks,
Ray
Retired from work but not from life.
Ray,
Let me first say that you are in a situation that cyclists dream about with living in an environment that would naturally make a cyclist stronger with even the simplest training approach. Heading in any direction, there is some sort of climb with Trail Ridge Road being the ultimate. For the benefit of our readers, this road climbs for 25 miles, traverses Rocky Mountain National Park, crosses the Continental Divide and reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet. The fear of climbing would definitely be put to rest to have this “training partner” in a cyclist’s backyard.
Secondly, I want to shake your hand and commend you for your love of the outdoors. Although you didn’t use those words, I know this to be true since you are out in the fresh air “as much as possible” in the colder months. Although many athletes may not have a choice in the matter of training outdoors during the winter due to work schedule, lack of daylight hours, lifestyle…, as a coach I encourage my athletes to get a dose of sunshine and fresh air whenever possible. Vitamin D has been shown to be an antidote for many ills and sunshine is an inexpensive and refreshing, natural way to boost our system. I would bet that you don’t lose many training days due to illness.
Moving on to your questions…
Living and Training at 7,500-9,500 feet
The effect of altitude training on endurance performance is a very important area of study for the Athlete Performance Laboratory of the US Olympic Training Center and certainly, for any sports science department around the globe. There are three Altitude/Hypoxic Training Models: Live High/Train High, Live High/Train Low and Live Low/Train High.
The elite Kenyan athletes who live in the Great Rift Valley, fall into the category of LH/TH. At first it was thought that the athletes lived at the top of the Valley (LH) and ran down the mountain paths (TL). In fact, the athletes live high, train high, and run extremely challenging, tough, mountain paths at a tremendous pace. Their philosophy is simple, “Train hard, win easy.” Studies have shown that the Kenyan runners altitude adaptation and, specifically, high intensity training at altitude, has had a significant impact on their endurance performance success.
Altitude and Speedwork
The LH/TL model has been studied with particular attention to training the neuromuscular system: speed work. The premise is that living high is beneficial for an increase in Red Blood Cell mass with 6,560-8,200 feet being optimal, and training low allows the athlete to work harder due to the increase in oxygen concentration.
At this point, sport science would say that these three altitude models are “still under study” and summarize their findings* more in relationship to how an athlete can better perform at altitude or sea level.
- “Live high – train low” (LHTL) appears to be an effective method of altitude training in terms of enhancing sea level performance.
- For most athletes, it is necessary to live at an altitude of 2000 m (6,560 ft) to 2500 m (8,200 ft) for at least 3-4 weeks in order to increase RBC mass.
- Based on current research, it is not clear whether intermittent hypoxic exposure or intermittent hypoxic training enhance RBC mass (or other physiological parameters) or improve endurance performance. However, it appears to be an effective strategy for competition at altitude.
*Wilber RL, Live High + Train Low: Thinking in Terms of an Optimal Hypoxic Dose. Int J Sports Physio Perform. 2007;2:223-238
Age Factor
I have left this until the end for that’s where I feel it needs to be. A footnote. A “by the way” bit of information. Is it important? Very much so. Indeed there are changes to us as we age, but I believe with every ounce of my being that much of the “slowing down”, say, after 50, is NOT due to age but to choices an individual makes. I like Joel Friel’s Rule #7, “Don’t slow down. Aging need not be characterized by poor health and rapidly decreasing fitness. Vigor and high energy are strong medicine. Take them regularly.” There’s a good chance that a person’s lack of fitness at 50 or 60 started years before.
My thoughts…
OK, saying that, you probably know what I’ll say about training where you live at your age. Enjoy it! When you feel good, give the intervals a bit more gas. When you feel tired, listen to your body and tone things down. If you have to do an errand in the lowlands of Lyons or Boulder, take along your bike and do some speed work. Just for fun, do a personal experiment and check out your speed, heart rate, power numbers and RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and compare them to the same workout from your mountain town.
All the best,
Marilyn
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