November Testing Camp

Gearing up for West Yellowstone

The Continental Cup Team has been in Park City for over a week now. For many of the CC Team athletes this camp serves as an acclimatization camp before the Super Tour races kick off in West Yellowstone, MT. Since most of the races this fall will be at altitude we took advantage of the elevation in Park City to start the acclimatization early.

Some key steps to adjusting to altitude:

1. Intensity- Pay close attention to intensity during easy distance and Intervals alike. Ease into intervals and make sure that the intensity progresses through the workout. Perceived effort and HR will be lower if you go the right pace for these interval workouts.

2. Diet and hydration- Make sure that diet and hydration keep up with the altitude change. More fluids are needed due to increased respiration and lower humidity at altitude. More iron is usually needed in order to keep up with red blood cell production. More calories are also needed because your body works harder just to maintain homeostasis at higher altitude.

3. Reduced Recovery Rate- Reduced recovery rate (both acutely between reps and chronically for several hours after a training session) as there is simply less oxygen available to recover as quickly! Keep your first 7-10 days at altitude under wraps until you can figure out your new pacing and recovery rates.

Utah Utes and USST skiers in Big Cottonwood Canyon on a classic OD workout... (11 women single file)