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What an Altitude Tent Looks Like

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:30:37 +0000

I get a lot of questions about the altitude tent and altitude training in general- I mostly hear “what’s an altitude tent?!” Altitude training in an oxygen-deprived tent is common among elite athletes.

So here’s an inside peek at what an altitude tent looks like. I do, fortunately, get to sleep on my mattress still!

Aiming for the Peachtree Road Race

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:22:53 +0000

I’ve had to re-adjust my days… I’m not used to having this much time to myself (I typically have two workouts a day). Because the tent inhibits my recovery and I am so over trained, I’m taking off 6 months from the tent which again will inhibit my ability to train but will increase my chances of recovering as quickly as possible.

I’ve cut my miles back to 45 miles/week just to get my body and hormones back in balance from over-training that I did between September and December. Bermuda’s race in January was over the top for me.

The plan is for me to carry a little more fat, giving me little more estrogen in my body which allows my body to stabilize so I’m not training quite so hard. The negative is that I had to pull out of the elite races I had planned for this winter/early spring season so I’m now shooting for the April time frame hoping that if things in the next month come together, that would be a realistic time to get going again. If I can be back into good running mode in the next month or so, then I can start putting a good base together in being ready to go for races.

Worst case scenario, I really want to be ready for the Peachtree Road Race- it’s a race my kids can go to, it in my back yard, and it’s the largest 10k in the nation…10ks are my favorite races. It’s the race I ran well at 2 years ago, and I know most of the people involved in it, and sponsoring it so it’s a great opportunity to be with friends and people I know as well as the elite running community that comes in not only nationally, but internationally.

I also see Heart of the Summer (the Minneapolis road race) as one of the best races for me to hit a record in for a few reasons:
-I’m from Minneapolis and I have a lot of local support at that race
-it’s a nice, flat course that I’m familiar with

Some of the elites from the Minneapolis pro runners are there like Katie McGregor who is one of the best 10k runners in the nation, so she’s a great person to pace with and try to make a record with.

It’s Goodbye to the Altitude Tent

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:09:57 +0000

I have my long run today, even though I haven’t been feeling right and all my hormones are off… then I’m going to Daniel’s school to help out with the lunch shift, then go back to help out with the Teacher’s luncheon. Then people are coming to take the altitude tent out of our bedroom- which is fine with me because Jim hates it and I can’t sleep in it for 6 months because of my hormones… although my kids are quite entertained by it.

4 Keys to Healing My Over-Trained Body

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:43:43 +0000

I’ve spent the past few days reducing my mileage- It went from about 80 miles last week to about 45 miles this week, it is a huge hardship to reduce my miles because the whole premise of dropping from 100 to 85 was consistency in being able to have long stretches at 85. Instead, I think it has completely backfired. I don’t think the reduction in mileage has made much of a difference and clearly the intensity of workouts are the problem and at this point I’m over-trained. Just too many intense workouts at one time, and I think that my blood levels are indicating over training. Unfortunately, now, I have to jump way the other way and it’s almost like an injury- I have to wait until my body heals itself and my hormones level out so that I can go back to training.

I’ve talked to several people about what to do and how long its going to take…recovery could be anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. Here’s what I’m doing to recover and get back on track with running:

-Keep my mileage low
-Workout once a day
-Take off Sundays
-Eliminate the altitude tent

This week I’ve been running 9 miles a day at an 8:30 pace and it seems hard- which is once again an indication of how over-trained I am. It affects everything-attitude, feelings, hormones…every aspect of my life.

I’m just hoping that I can get things in order and back on track as quickly as possible.

Bad Night in the Altitude Tent

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:26:17 +0000

Got up early this morning after a bad nights sleep in the tent, ran 9 miles on the treadmill at home. I started out at about an 8 min. pace, ran most of it at about a 7:18 pace, and part of it at a 6:40 pace…. I only have about a mile and a half for the rest of the week, so that’s my plan for tomorrow!

Altitude Tent Hindering My Recovery?

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:17:37 +0000

Its been another rough day for running, I did my run out at Westminster on the soft surface, and my legs aren’t substantially improving…beginning to wonder if the oxygen deprivation at night is becoming too substantial for me. I either have to change my altitude number or forgo the tent altogether so my legs can properly heal enough to get my workouts in…which reminds me I need to text my coach about that.

I ran 11 miles this morning, had a doctor appointment immediately after to figure out what to do about my estrogen levels- another big concern for me. The older I get, the harder it is to keep lower body fat levels (because estrogen is held in body fat and in the absence of estrogen, your body doesn’t thrive in a healthy manner). I just saw my 3rd doctor today, he’s suggesting I go on a combination of estrogen/progesterone but there’s a problem- progesterone is a form of steroid and probably a prohibited substance with the U.S. track/field anti-doping policy.

Next thing I’ll need to do is talk with my coach about what to do…. Not sure if I can get around that or not. Maybe some type of hormone replacement that will keep me running at a healthy body fat level.

We’ve already made a few changes to help with my estrogen levels:
-reduced my mileage substantially
-increased calorie intake
-running heavier than I’ve ever run before
….so far so good, but I need more of a long-term solution as to what we can do.

Pilates,Tetrazzini and Much Needed Relaxation

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:49 +0000

I did pilates today, which I’m a HUGE believer in. As usual, I was late and only got the last half of the class in. The first half is mostly abs, which is what I really go for…but there’s just never enough time!

After class I ran 3 miles, showered, and ran errands. I somehow ended up at Target every day this week (am I the only one?!) now I’m rushing to the school to pick up Daniel from school for his orthodontist appointment- he’s managed to break his THIRD expander so he’s getting a new one today. He’s got a basketball game tonight then its back home for a (hopefully) relaxing evening together with the family. I made chicken tetrazzini and am really looking forward to it. I have just 2 days left this week in the altitude tent- I’m very tired and dreary and will probably fall apart tonight, so I’m looking forward to a decent night’s sleep in the tent.

Tomorrow’s my long run which is difficult on tired, weary legs…I run harder in the latter part- I always get my workouts in at a halfway decent level, but it’s a huge difference when my legs aren’t fully recovered. We’ll see what Scott (my trainer) says about the altitude tent.