Originally Posted by
jareed58
When I was training to Elk hunt in Colorado people suggested those mask that limit the Oxygen, but they cost quite a bit. Another person suggested breathing thru 2 straws as you train. I know when I first stepped out of the truck at 11,000 feet and satarted hiking, my lungs said "no way" for the first 30 minutes. But as I pushed thru that, as if I found the oxygen, the lungs quit hurting and I was able to hike and climb without anymore trouble. I guess what I am saying, train the best you can and then when you get there try to push thru the hurt and see if it smooths out. Some people need to arrive a day or two early to acclimate.
I've actually spent a fair amount of time researching both of those points.
I live at 15 feet above Sea level, and have the lack of judgment to do thing like Everest Challenge (29,000 feet of climbing, with a good amount of it above 10,000 feet) US Pro Challenge (six consecutive 100 mile plus days with climbs topping out at 12,000 feet) and this year the Leadville 100 MTB race (12,000 feet of climbing between 9,000 and 12,000 feet).
The mask to limit oxygen while trianing, is that exact opposite of the sleep high/train low approach. You want to take in as much oxygen as you can to train harder, push yourself harder, and get more training effect. The breath through a straw approach limits how much you can put out, and thereby limits the value of your training. And it isn't long enough to get the adaptive effects of living at altitude.
As for arriving a day or two early to acclimate, this is also likely a bad idea. To get any real acclimation, you need 2 weeks or more.
2 days is not going to give you any positive benefits, but its long enough for altitude related problems to start setting in. So the current consensus seems to be in traveling to events at Altitude that you get to altitude more than 2 weeks in advance. If that's not possible, the next best approach is to "helicopter" in as close as possible to start of the event.