I thought I would give a review of my experience with the Altium.
I read Jordan's review a few months ago and was already signed up for Boulder. I live at 800ft.
Im 47 and have taken approx 6 trips to Colorado in the last 8 years.
Most of the trips we were at 7500+ feet. I always had difficulty falling asleep. My resting HR is usually 40-45 and just before I would be "out" I would have an agonal breath and wake up having to take a few deep breaths. After a few hours I would eventually fall asleep. Normally I am asleep within 2 minutes of putting my head down.
During exercise on the trips, anything that was long and slow I was fine, any swimming or hill running was tough, but that is expected for anyone new to altitude.
May 1st I started the 15 day loading. I did the 15 sessions in 16 days. It was tough for the 1st two sessions to get the breathing pattern and my O2 sats to hit the sweet spot but it got better each day.
During this time the only thing I really noted was that my run sessions with 800 or mile repeats seemed easier. I was also starving the whole time and lost a few pounds.
After the 15 day load I was off for 15 days. I did the 5 day maintenance June 1-June 5th.
My daughter and I drove the RV to Colorado and spent June 5th and 6th in Estes Park 7500ish ft. I feel asleep normally in Estes Park. I was really surprised. No unusual breathing, right to sleep. We ran and rode easy in Estes Park and any uphill running I was winded as per normal (I wasnt really expecting anything else). For what its worth my daughter who races in the Junior Elite USAT series struggled with her breathing more than me.
We arrived in Boulder Wed morning. The rest of the time in Boulder and the race I didnt feel anything in terms of altitude problems.
I think there is something to the Altium, if anything I would say it helped with getting ready for an "altitude" race. Not sure on the performance other than the speed work because of bit of bad luck on the hydration. During the race my torhans mount broke on the 1st loop of the bike just after aid station 3. It would not hold the hydration unit and I had to ditch it. I was using it for my water. I had a super concentrated infinit solution in my other bottle. I went about an hour with no water and only the concentrated infinit. By the end of the bike I was really bloated and hit the portajon every aid station though mile 6 on the run and could not take much in for the rest of the way. It was disappointing.
I will likely continue using it. I initially bought enough of the canisters for about 3 months of sessions. If anything changes I will report back.
I read Jordan's review a few months ago and was already signed up for Boulder. I live at 800ft.
Im 47 and have taken approx 6 trips to Colorado in the last 8 years.
Most of the trips we were at 7500+ feet. I always had difficulty falling asleep. My resting HR is usually 40-45 and just before I would be "out" I would have an agonal breath and wake up having to take a few deep breaths. After a few hours I would eventually fall asleep. Normally I am asleep within 2 minutes of putting my head down.
During exercise on the trips, anything that was long and slow I was fine, any swimming or hill running was tough, but that is expected for anyone new to altitude.
May 1st I started the 15 day loading. I did the 15 sessions in 16 days. It was tough for the 1st two sessions to get the breathing pattern and my O2 sats to hit the sweet spot but it got better each day.
During this time the only thing I really noted was that my run sessions with 800 or mile repeats seemed easier. I was also starving the whole time and lost a few pounds.
After the 15 day load I was off for 15 days. I did the 5 day maintenance June 1-June 5th.
My daughter and I drove the RV to Colorado and spent June 5th and 6th in Estes Park 7500ish ft. I feel asleep normally in Estes Park. I was really surprised. No unusual breathing, right to sleep. We ran and rode easy in Estes Park and any uphill running I was winded as per normal (I wasnt really expecting anything else). For what its worth my daughter who races in the Junior Elite USAT series struggled with her breathing more than me.
We arrived in Boulder Wed morning. The rest of the time in Boulder and the race I didnt feel anything in terms of altitude problems.
I think there is something to the Altium, if anything I would say it helped with getting ready for an "altitude" race. Not sure on the performance other than the speed work because of bit of bad luck on the hydration. During the race my torhans mount broke on the 1st loop of the bike just after aid station 3. It would not hold the hydration unit and I had to ditch it. I was using it for my water. I had a super concentrated infinit solution in my other bottle. I went about an hour with no water and only the concentrated infinit. By the end of the bike I was really bloated and hit the portajon every aid station though mile 6 on the run and could not take much in for the rest of the way. It was disappointing.
I will likely continue using it. I initially bought enough of the canisters for about 3 months of sessions. If anything changes I will report back.