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Altitude Adjustment

RunDMC | Profile
August 13, 2009


I ran a 10K here in Mammoth over the weekend and suggested to a friend that the altitude was probably worth about 2 minutes. He had the genius idea of looking it up in the NCAA Altitude Adjustment Table.

The closest approximation is Gunnison, CO (7703 ft). Mammoth races are ~7900. For the 10K, the adjustment is 6.38%. 10K D1 Men gets 114 seconds, however the closest to my time of 38:14 is DIII Women at 38:10 for altitude which is a 142.4 second adjustment. So I think my 2min estimate is reasonable, maybe even conservative especially considering hills. The tables are meant for track races.

My 5:06 in the Mammoth Freedom Mile gets about a 13 second adjustment or ~4.2%. Shorter races require less time in O2 Debt so the adjustment is less.

Now I have some proof, hopefully based on scientific data, that my running times here can be converted to a meaningful sea level time.

Now I need to work on an Attitude Adjustment…

Videos

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MammothLongRun8_12_09

Living in Mammoth Lakes and running at altitude is a pleasure and tough. I chose "Intruder" by Van Halen because it sounds like Eddie is ripping his guitar apart while it screams in pain, all to a smooth rhythm. I thought it fitting for a video of a long run on trails and hills at 8000ft.


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#5
T Mountain   August 17 at 5:30pm
Nice video....great sound track. Ran with Trevor, Dan and Sean this weekend. Trevor at 19 plus miles, Dan at 17 and I had 16. Sean with 6ish. Trevor is looking good for a fall marathon. Way to represent the Hokies in Mammoth!
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#4
E-dogg   August 15 at 3:14am
Nice soundtrack! Really didn't know this tune-it's good.
Started running again this week after about 4 weeks off for bad achilles behavior. Ugh! There goes my potential fall race ambitions.
I did a race at Brianhead Utah ~9600 ft in just over 17 minutes. Came in second. It was my worse 5k up to that time. This altitude adjustment makes me feel somewhat redeemed.
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#3
JK   August 14 at 11:22am
Yup, didn't realize that was Van Halen until the very end; nice.
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#2
Sean Smith   August 13 at 6:49pm
Darren...I have always wondered exactly HOW MUCH...does altitude affect the racing and running times...my son was in Big Bear three weeks ago and is now reaping the benefits or the altitude training...he told me yesterday (after keeping up with the Varsity on their 7 mile out & back run)...that he was surprised at how hard he worked and did NOT feel winded!!!
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#1
Jk   August 13 at 2:56pm
...and does BMI play a roll? ;)
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