I highly doubt its the "best place" to spend a month training, but as I live in Albuquerque I'll throw it out there. It fits all of your criteria, although I don't mountain bike so not too sure how those trails are but I think they're good. Its only ~5300ft so not quite the altitude you would get in flagstaff but definitely not sea level. A couple of different master's programs including a good one at the University of New Mexico, some good riding including a few great climbs in the mountains, fantastic running trails both in the foothills and a flat dirt path by the river that is ideal for tempo workouts. I'd say the one thing it might be lacking in is good family activities but there are certainly some around here (hiking, museums). On top of all that the beer scene is fantastic in my opinion and the endurance sports community is significant.

Now I would have to imagine somewhere like Boulder has all of this and does it a little better but Albuquerque isn't quite as cliche, and would probably be significantly cheaper!

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Why not go back to Breck? You’ll likely get a house or condo walking distance to restaurants and shops and there’s a bunch of activities for the family. Good access to trails to run and ride and a decent bike path to avoid cars. Good roads and climbs (vail pass, Ute pass, Loveland pass). I might be biased (lived there for a while and hoping to go back in feb).

High on the prospect list

Place I would definitely like to visit but picturing mountain town at a bit higher altitude.

Park city, Utah hits all those boxes.

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Train hard to Race harder

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift" - Pre

I would do several high altitude trips every year when I was full time training. For your list and my favorite, Lake Tahoe. That place has it all, and there are a few little towns at different spots around the lake, all with most your wish list. And the lake is not that cold at that time, and you can add all kinds of other water sports like paddling, kayaking, stand up, etc. I would just show up with my camper and all the toys, surfski, MTB, tribike, paddle board, and some good trail running shoes. Spend a couple weeks at the 6k lake elevation, and you can easily hit 10k+ on rides and runs...

You might check about altitude and recovery. If you are looking for a real fitness advantage, then Breck might be too high. Taking a nap at 9-10,000 feet above sea level is exercise, so you don’t recover as well. I think the ideal altitude is supposed to be around 6-7000, which kind of explains why the OTC is in the Springs. So Colorado Spring, Park City, Santa Fe, maybe Tahoe.

Sun Valley/Ketchum, Idaho meets most of your criteria. Town is at 5900ish, and you can get higher if you want.

There's kinda only one "real" road in town though, so keep that in mind for TT work. Would recommend getting long rides in on a gravel bike-so many routes around here! And mountain biking is absolutely stellar... 400 miles of singletrack from town.

Tahoe was not on my radar for some reason but makes total sense. Any area of the lake that you would recommend in particular ? Better start looking at VRBO now as August is probably high season there for lake accommodations.

Flagstaff. There is a reason olympians go train there. It has everything that you want.

the BEST part about training in flagstaff is that you can leave flagstaff to train. sleep/live high and train low (~30-40min drive to get down to a reasonable altitude). which is why the olympians train there.

I might like to visit there just for the mountain biking sometime. Sounds awesome.

Good point. The last time I did something similar I spent a week in Denver, several days in Boulder and then went up into Rocky Mtn National Park for a week before settling into Breck, so of the trip so was probably more of a gradual ascent.

And pay n take. Spent some time in a Flagstaff and met some good people there. Italian national swim team was visiting pool while I was dropping on with masters.

Agree. I went to NAU and wish I had never left that town. awesome place to train, if 7k isn't. And Telluride and Durango are an easy weekend trip from Flagstaff if you want some diversity in your training and some more challenging mt climbs.

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Team Zoot

Any area of the lake that you would recommend in particular ? //

All depends on what you are ultimately looking for. South Tahoe is close to a lot of stuff, including casinos. Truckee is more out there and has that mountain town feel. I think your best bet is to just get on VRBO and look around the lake for some great places, they will tell you how far you are from local eateries and such...


I used to camp there in vans and RV's, so I would be between emerald bay and Truckee at an Indian held campground, forget the name.. But I always wanted to be right on the water, to cool off, and an easy start to all my H20 activities, and of course the scenery. Something about looking at water all day, calms the body...

Flagstaff would be a good choice, but maybe not the best for road riding. You have about three good routes (Lake Mary rd.out and back, Sunset Crater, Snow Bowl rd. also out and backs), then it gets tougher. Lake Tahoe/Truckee area would be good, but more traffic than I'd prefer. Breckenridge might be too high. Durango is good, but swimming options not as good as the others. Colorado front range, possibly.

Living at 6,000 to 7,000ft and training below 5,000ft is your best, reasonable, bet.
Can you do this in Flagstaff? I'm unsure of where to go for lower elevation training.

Other places like this.
Tahoe to Reno & others
Park City & area to SLC
MT Lemmon to Tucson

Most of the low points in Colorado are over 5k, which is too high for optimal training.

If training effect is #1, these are your answers.
If you just want a vacation in the mountains, choose some place pretty.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
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Flagstaff is good. We spent 3 summers there. August might be the tail end of 'monsoon season', so there may be some showers.

Yes, road riding is somewhat limited, but you can get in good rides. There are a ton of trails for running and MTBing. For the time that you will be there, I don't think that the road rides will get overly boring. As mentioned: Lake Mary + Mormon Lake loop, Lake Mary South to Clint's Well, Snowbowl climb, Wupatki Crater, and we would do an out and back into 'The Res' depending. We did all of the rides on a tri/tt bike.

There is the NAU pool and a country club pool that you can buy a pass to, and I think that NAU will still have a Master's group. I would contact the NAU master's group since a lot of University pools have some down time in the August time frame. They have a new Natatorium there, so it may not be an issue. We only swam in the old one.

Sedona is only about 1 hour or so away, and you can also road ride there though it is a bit hillier and parts of it can be busy. There is a pool there that is really nice and a track, though I don't know the hours for the track. Sedona will be quite a bit warmer than Flag in August.

Sedona is at about 4,500 feet. Flagstaff is right around 7,000.

The difficulty can be in finding accommodation depending on your budget and whether or not NAU is in session.

Flag is also set up well since there are quite a few teams (US and Int'l) that go there. There are plenty of resources for therapy, etc. while you are there.

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Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |

If you’re looking to “unplug” Aspen, Breck, & CO Springs, may not be your best options. It can get very congested there in the summer.
Durango is more arid high desert, not as lush as Aspen, Breck, etc. It’s a cool town, but the topography of Pagosa Springs (rattier town) is prettier, and you could thrash yourself on Wolf Creek Pass, which is a safer pass to bike on than Independence Pass (Aspen), & has wide shoulders.
Steamboat Springs might be worth looking into. I’ve done a lot of road riding out there, and never felt spooked by car traffic. And the pool in town will be just fine for swim training.
Another small Colorado town area to check out may be Grand County, Its a bunch of small towns: Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash. Not as touristy, so Aspen it ain’t. There’s an indoor pool at Fraser rec center that will be just fine. Berthoud Pass will be safe with wide shoulders for epic road climbs. There’s a YMCA on an old ranch that has tons of supervised kids activities.
The towns I mentioned are high elevation. But to unplug, train on safe roads, access to trails, see pretty stuff, and have fun with the kids in cool CO mountains, Steamboat or Grand County might be worth investigating.

There are loads of tourist towns with good MTB... but road riding is tough. The roads are there, but it's just too dangerous (too much traffic, no shoulder, impatient drivers pulling trailers on winding roads). Definitely the case in Tahoe and Flagstaff. But MTB is not good training for Tri. Do really care? What is this race you speak of in Sept?

NM, AZ, and CO will be experiencing "monsoons" in Aug, with frequent afternoon showers. Would be good to avoid that. The west coast states are dry in Aug and in between it's kinda mixed. Speaking of dry, there is a good chance for forest fires on the west coast that time of year, which can really screw things up if you are stuck with a prepaid reservation.

If you don't really need altitude I'd look at Bend OR (it's 3600ft). Climate is perfect then, good amenities, clean air, chance of smoke less than CA, awesome mountains to the west and plains to the east, great MTB and road variety. If you really want to sleep at altitude for the effect, you could probably find a cabin in the mountains nearby.

I have always wanted to spend some time in Oregon. Northwest forests remind me of Jurassic world. Going to race Xterra this year again as IM training puts too much strain on the family right now. Did one road tri last year in Cleveland to nab a slot for Lausanne, Switzerland. Thought it would be fun to parlay into some touring of the alps. Would like to get altittude acclimated, more to bone up for some epic rides than the training effect for racing, although that would be a welcome bonus. I think MTB/Xterra and Oly distance road racing kind of compliment each other from an energy expenditure and training standpoint. MTB make me a better overall cyclist and something about powering uphill over obstacles adds another level of strength that seems to make pushing a 56-11 on the tri bike easier. Good advice on the rainy season as that could put a damper on the whole plan. Keep coming back to the idea of Tahoe, although I want to look more into the road and off road cycling routes there. Maybe I should just rent a jet stream and be totally mobile.

I would second the Tahoe area. Really nice location..a bit lower than Tahoe, but if you want to expand to Canada given that the Canadian $$$ is currently at 0.73 USD, consider the Canmore-Banff-Lake Louise area. Really awesome and terrific riders and trail running.

I also live in Albuquerque, but agree it may be a bit low for you. Consider Santa Fe? 2000' higher than Albuquerque, and the riding is still pretty good. If you need more road selection Albuquerque is just an hour's drive. Plenty of pool options, mountain biking, and neat cultural stuff for the family.

I didn’t see Mammmoth Lakes California in any of the posts. Not the easiest place to get too but has most of what you’re looking for.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

https://soundcloud.com/user-198147103/faster-podcast-by-flo-episode-18-how-to-train-and-race-at-altitude

Worth a listen as you are thinking through where to stay.

Surprised no one's mentioned Leadville. Highest incorporated town in US at 10,200 ft. Enough to do and see in and around town so your family won't be bored.

If you want to unplug, I’d go to Mammoth Lakes!

How is the off road/single track there ?

Another vote for Mammoth: sleep at 9000ft and 30 mins drive away train at 4500ft. Beautiful trails and roads. All you need in town.

Mammmoth running.

http://monicaprelle.com/...th-lakes-california/

Cycling
https://www.visitmammoth.com/...s/top-rides-eastside

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Train safe & smart
Bob

Mammoth is pretty good, and it looks like they have a decent outdoor pool: https://www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov/493/Whitmore-Pool

My first thought before finishing your post was Breckenridge but that might be too high for me to do effective training.

When you were there how were the roads?

Dillion, Co, is in the same general vicinity as Breck, but won't be as crowded & hectic. Condos are pretty cheap in the summer off-season. The biking in the area is phenomenal; whether you want to ride road, gravel, or trail. If you want long climbing rides, that's the place. Want single-track trails that go on forever? That's the place. It's a bikers heaven. Last two times I was there on vacation, I swam laps at the Silverthorne Rec Center pool. It was never crowded; usually had my own lane the whole time. There's supposedly a Masters group at Breck, but I never swam with them. There's a track at Summit Middle School in nearby Frisco. The bike path goes right past it, and I don't think there's any impediment to access.....as long as it's not being used by the kids, anyway.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Most of our trips to Breck have been in the winter, but we were there September 2015 as part of a self/slowtwitch guided ‘tour of Colorado’ encompassing Denver/Boulder/Estes Park/Grand Lake/Breckenridge/Colorado Springs.

I got several rides/runs in but can’t remember how the road quality was.

I think the only road I questioned myself on during the trip was riding on the highway to get to Pikes Peak from our hotel in Co Springs.

Based on the podcast, Park City seems to be the perfect location for getting a training adaptation from altitude. On top of that, PC is a beautiful place. I've been spending a lot of time there lately and would gladly call it home.

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Chris Thornham
Co-Founder And Previous Owner Of FLO Cycling

Park City does look like a good bet.

Good info, thanks for sharing. I could definitely consider park city/salt lake. Will check into weather pattern there in August.

Looks like tour of Utah will come through PC in August, which would be cool to catch part of.

Let me know if you know anyone that will be based out there in August of 2019. Would be nice to have a crew to link up with.

 
Spend two weeks at Philmont with a 60 pound pack hiking up Baldy at 11,000 feet. When I came back, I was setting all kinds of PR's.

Never actually did any "training" during the trip, just the backpacking which was o-plenty.

What limited our rate of ascent was our breathing, not heart rate. At one point we stopped to rest for about 5 minutes because we were all breathing so hard. Checked our pulses, and mine was only 86.

I’ll second Winter Park/ Grand County if you want to be that high.

The mountain biking is world class - 2 lift served areas and hundreds/ thousands? of miles of amazing single track. To be honest I have never brought my road bike - but I assume it’s good. The gravel riding would be crazy if you just want to spin up crazy long forest service roads.

There’s a good lap pool.

It is very unplugged (like don’t forget to pack your underwear - there are not many options to backfill)

There are more playgrounds than anywhere else I’ve been. The kids could go to a different one every day of the week. They could go horse riding or mini golfing at the mountain. There are good beginner mountain bike trails to get them out on too.

Grand lake is just down the road for paddling around and great hikes into Rocky MountainNational Park.

I'd suggest looking at Salida Colorado. Cheaper and way less crowded than the Dillon area. There is a pool, and great roads. Plenty of cycling in the area so you can ride with about any type of rider and any terrain you want.

The pool has good lap swim available, and there are several breweries in town. Tough to beat.

Any ski town would fit the bill really. Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes, Sun Valley, etc...

Evergreen, Colorado is my first pick for altitude. Find a place around or just above 8,000ft, take the first week easy and then start to ramp it over over the next 3 weeks. If you go too hard week one, you will put yourself into a hole that you won’t like climbing out of.

https://www.53x12.com/training-at-altitude you can thank me later for this one but take it with a grain of salt because it was written by an infamous mad scientist who is now banned from the sport. Scroll to the bottom for the important points.

Good stuff, thanks for posting. Consistent with what others mention 7-8k ft. My plan is for one month with some rest/pure fun days built into program. Will hydrate and acclimate week one.

Interesting comment about Evergreen, I live down the road in Conifer, at 8300' and go every day down into Denver !

Based on wanting to unplug, ride MTB, and run trails and that you really enjoyed Breck and Aspen one my absolute favorite towns is Crested Butte. Absolutely beautiful, smaller town that makes it feel less touristy than Breck or Aspen and the trails for bike and run are tough to beat. Local high school track is open. Not sure about a pool. I spent a week there last summer and my brother was there for 6 weeks. Very, very tough to beat.
Enjoy wherever you end up.

https://www.53x12.com/training-at-altitude you can thank me later for this one but take it with a grain of salt because it was written by an infamous mad scientist who is now banned from the sport. Scroll to the bottom for the important points.

Too funny, most of the athletes he is touting were notorious dopers, so using high altitude training and their most probable EPO programs, well there is nothing to be gained there, unless that is your program too..

And what he actually discovered, but probably did not realize, is that people are very different when it comes to altitude. From what I have read lately, there are 3 groups, those that get worse, those that stay even, and those that benefit. And far as I can tell, the only way to know which group you are in, is to go and do the work up high and see what happens. I'm one of the lucky benefiters, and it only takes about a week for me to start seeing gains. I did bloodwork one year before and after a 10 day trip to boulder, and it was drastic what happened. My own bodies EPO production went up around 35%, so concurrently I was also getting a lot more red blood cells. My HCT% also went over 50%, but I have a normal range of 46 to 49% at sea level, so what one would expect, small gains.

And I have always thought that training high for me, and sleeping low was the best formula. I think it got into the lexicon that sleeping high was somehow good for you, probably a spill over from the marketing of altitude tent makers. This guy in this study did find out that sleeping too high is not good for you, unless you actually live at that altitude and it is normal. But this is about training camps, not folks that live high all the time..

I guess that is why we get so many varied theories and stories about training high, it is all about the point of view of the writers, of which, we can not be sure what group they fall into for our comparisons..

You're welcome. Like I said, the source is shady, but there is a lot of good things to learn on that website.


In my Jelly Belly days, there were a couple of us that stayed around Evergreen, with fans of the team, as much as possible during the summer. You will find a lot of talent lower in elevation along the front range, between COS and Fort Collins, typically where housing is "affordable".

I loved riding around that area. I'll trade riding in Phoenix for that area any day. Most rides I would drop down into Morrison or Littleton and climb back up or I would head up Squaw Pass for some extra fun.

This...
Camp Verde is only 35 min down the hill...
There is also the NAU pool... Above 6500ft you aren't going to find a comparable pool...

My first thought is Nederland Colorado. 8200 ft with possibility of finding accommodation above 9000. Lots of great road and MTB riding round there. Roll down to Boulder at 5200 ft for your higher intensity stuff and take the bus back up, or go an extra bit to Longmont at 5000 ft or Greeley area at 4700 ft for that couple extra % of oxygen for those weekly VO2max intervals.

Aldo Sfalcin runs cycling camps there, might be a good first contact.

Just saw this - Flagstaff is a pretty good and inexpensive place (though the biking routes aren't great). About five years ago, I drove up there from PHX after a conference and trained for a few days. I loved it and have been going up there in the spring ever since. The NAU Wall Aquatic center is state of the art (I think the Brazilian team was there when I was) and Buffalo Park has a nice track to run. I will usually hike Mt. Humphreys at least once a visit and just hang out. It's a blue collar college town and fairly cheap. Not for everyone, but if you're trying to simplify things and get some training in, I highly recommend.

Park City pools would be @7k ft with an extensive trail network. Long Course pools at 5kft are also available.

Drop down into SLC/Draper, and you can sleep at 4500ft. Draper also has 50+ miles of trails.

Little and Big Cottonwood, Empire Pass, Guardsman's are all 3500ft climbs within an hour.

Hello rmg and All,

As previously mentioned the Mammoth/Owens Valley area looks good and it is easy to get to high altitude .....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Whitney 14,505 ft

https://en.wikipedia.org/...untains_(California) 14,252 ft



Kids might like https://en.wikipedia.org/...ey_Radio_Observatory



And ..... http://mavensphotoblog.com/...ing-things-on-earth/

https://www.mammothmountain.com/winter



http://www.eachtown.com/...us=75&unit=miles

https://www.mammothmountain.com/...do/summer-activities

My nephew took his kids (teen age boys and a girl) up to that area last summer for about 2 weeks and they had a great time dirt biking (motorcycles) and camping.

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Nealhe
Driving up to Mammmoth tomorrow for a week of skiing. On our Spring trips we generally ski mornings and hike in the afternoons but with the amount of snow this year and top half of the mountain in winter conditions looks like we’ll be mostly skiing.

I’m sure there will be cycling and running groups out in the Owens Valley.

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Train safe & smart
Bob

This was my thought - ticks all the boxes. Did some training for IM Canada up there last year including 100 milers