Racing at Altitude: Tips to Elevate your Performance

Lots of OCR races take place at altitude and course designers love using mountainous terrain to elevate the challenge and adventure of their event.

These locations offer breathtaking views, both visually and physiologically! Competing at altitude layers unique variables to race-day execution, and preparing is key. 

There’s only one problem: many of us don’t live in mountain havens! 

At altitude, a reduction in barometric pressure makes  it  more difficult for your body to carry oxygen to your working muscles for aerobic metabolism. This requires you to rely more on anaerobic metabolism for energy production, producing more lactate - a limiting factor to performance. In simple terms, this is why exercise at altitude feels way more intense than the pace on your watch may ordinarily suggest.

Endurance performance begins to be affected by altitude at elevations greater than 2000 ft above sea level.

For reference, here are the base elevations of some common racing and training locations:

• Calgary 3428 ft
• Lake Tahoe 6225 ft 
• Telerude 8754 ft
• Big Bear lake 6759 ft 
• Flagstaff 6909 ft
• Breckenridge 9600 ft 
• Boulder 5430 ft

At these locations, there is no doubt that performance is affected by altitude! The effects of altitude are exponential, meaning that impact at higher locations becomes increasingly severe.

How can we prepare for a race at altitude while living at sea level?

Step 1: BE HEALTHY!
Showing up to a race optimally healthy is the lowest-hanging fruit when preparing. To perform well at altitude, your body must be functioning as well as possible. Optimize it’s abilities by:

• Eating carbs! You’ll need more at altitude, and it’s imperative that your glycogen stores are topped up prior to racing
  
  
• Hydrate well! Altitude is typically very dry, and hydration affects plasma volume, a key player in oxygen transport to muscles
  
  
• Iron binds oxygen to red blood cells, so it’s valuable to make sure you aren’t iron deficient beforehand. This can be done via blood test.PSA: don’t take an iron supplement unless you are deficient because an excess of iron is toxic. 
  
  
• Taper well - you don’t want to begin a race in a fatigued state.

After you’ve nailed health, consider these other strategies:

Heat training.
Finally, a silver lining to the sweltering workouts many of us have been doing over the last few months!  Training in the heat causes a plasma volume increase, which is one of the adaptations that is also brought on by altitude training. Introduce heat into your training by completing some of your runs during the hottest time of day and/or introduce some time in the sauna. 

Hypoxic (altitude) tent.
Rent or purchase a tent that simulates altitude by removing oxygen from the air. Most people use the tents to sleep - the more hours spent in the tent, the more effective it is. Be sure to increase simulated altitude gradually, and be aware of possible sleep disturbances. If you aren’t able to sleep and recover well, the benefits of using the tent may be negligible! 

Do an altitude camp!
If the time and financial resources are available, immerse yourself in altitude for 2-4 weeks prior to a key competition. This will maximize exposure hours and allow for your body to acclimatize by increasing plasma volume, red blood cells, and potentially lactate buffering capacity. You’ll need to mindfully adjust your training to ensure that you avoid overtraining . Remember: being at altitude is more taxing than at sea level, and you absolutely don’t want to exhaust yourself before your big event. 

Special considerations for racing at altitude

At altitude, everything is a bit more extreme, including race strategy.

When racing at high elevations, your bandwidth for “sustainable” versus “overcooked” is very narrow and it’s difficult to recover if you’ve pushed too hard too early. To avoid hitting a wall, start with a conservative pacing strategy . Don’t rely on the paces you use at sea level - you’ll always be slower, even if you’re acclimatized (acclimatization makes you less slow, not equal, compared to sea level). 

Because pace goals based on sea level calculations aren't possible, gauge effort using a rating of perceived exertion, potentially coupled with heart rate. For example, if the first half of a  “beast’ effort feels typically  like a 6-7/10 and your heart rate is typically in Zone 3, try to emulate those metrics and sensations at altitude, even though you’ll be moving slower.  

Finally, you will burn through carbohydrates quicker and are likely to become dehydrated faster while racing at altitude. Be sure to begin the race with your stores topped up, and fuel/hydrate a bit more frequently than you usually would.  

Many athletes underestimate the challenges of racing at altitude. By respecting the environment and racing smart, you can capitalize on the opportunity with great execution! 

Preparing for environmental conditions like altitude, both in training and on race day, plays a huge role in the one-on-one coaching we provide to Grit Coaching athletes. If you’re looking for guidance to thoroughly prepare for your next racing adventure, we can help! Check out our coaching options at www.gritcoaching.net . Additionally, check out our Nitty Gritty Training podcast episode on Altitude training!  

Written by Jessica O'Connell, 5000m Olympian and MSc Exercise Physiologist.

Jess is the run coach at Grit Coaching. Jess, along with OCR Star and BKin Faye Stenning, provide custom training programs and coaching guidance for OCR athletes, hybrid athletes, and runners of all levels.