We have a few spots remaining for pro’s/elite/elite amateurs to apply to join an Altitude Training Camp in Denver, CO from Jan. 21-28. This is a great opportunity to train with some fellow top triathletes, learn from a great coach tune your skills, and build a pre-season base training at 5280 feet. This is an elite-level training camp. Interested athletes must be pro/elite card holders or working towards earning their elite license this next season.
The camp will be led by 2010 USAT coach of the year Melissa Mantak (USAT level 3 coach, USA Cycling level 1 coach, and coach of several top pros including Matt Chrabot, Brian Fleischmann & Jillian Petersen)
-Athletes will have home stays (with myself (Ryan Borger) & coach Melissa) in Denver, CO
-Athletes must hold elite status or be top age group competitors working toward earning their pro/elite license
-Athletes do not have to be coached by Melissa Mantak or Ryan Borger
-Expenses: athletes will be responsible for food, transportation to/from Denver, and a few fees such as pool/facility use fees, and possible rental car split fees. Estimated fees should be around $200 not including travel to Denver.
-Swimming will take place at the Univ. of Denver (50m). We will also have the opportunity to utilize underwater cameras for technique/skill work.
-Cycling & Running will take place on Denver roads, parks, & trails. We will also utilize cycling trainers as well (weather dependent)
-Plan to arrive on Friday, January 20 with all tri gear. We will train Saturday, January 21 to Saturday, January 28. Fly out on Saturday the 28th in the afternoon or Sunday, January 29th.
-Coach Melissa (www.empoweredathlete.com) is largely donating her time. This is an excellent and rare opportunity to train with top athletes & a top coach.
-We are looking for approx. 10 elite athletes for camp #1 in Denver. Additional camps will likely be held in other locations in the future.
If interested in applying for the camp or with questions, please email me at ryanborger@gmail.com. Applicants, please send me a very brief bio (include age, race results, PRs, etc) about yourself as well. Thank You.
Damn, I’d be all over this, but I can’t run at the moment. Just got a cortisone shot today so we’ll see if that helps. What’s the deadline for letting you/Melissa know?
Damn, I’d be all over this, but I can’t run at the moment. Just got a cortisone shot today so we’ll see if that helps. What’s the deadline for letting you/Melissa know?
Zack, we are trying to finalize things in the next few weeks. Depending on additional athletes interest/amount of slots we have, this will determine when commitments will need to be made. Thanks
Wow this looks exciting, is it all at altitude?
Yes. at 5280 ft. Rain, snow, sleet, or shine. in Denver, CO. There will likely be additional camps in other locations throughout the year as well.
Hope to get in some training sessions with you when I get up there in a few weeks but it’ll probably be another year of hard training before I can hang for all the sessions with the guys you’ll have at these camps.
Dang yeah school is definitely an issue. I didn’t really even think about that. I’d have to miss all of week 2 or 3 of classes to do that. I only have 11 hrs next semester (and class 3 days a week), but still…is there any chance of ya’ll hosting a training camp over spring break to sharpen up for Nationals?
I also won’t know (within the next 7-10 days) whether my run will be up to snuff in January. (Just got a cortisone shot in the hip, and I’m not supposed to even try to run on land for another 2 weeks… who knows how long it will be before I can throw down real workouts again…)
Interesting that the camp is being advertised as an “altitude” camp, yet it only lasts one week. Won’t this just make the workouts at the camp harder without getting any of the physiological benefits of training at altitude (ie. workouts will hurt more, possibly making you mentally stronger, but no increased red blood cells and such)? Then again maybe the altitude component is just to scare athletes into being in good shape heading into the camp…
Regardless, sounds like fun going to a camp with a bunch of elites. Coming down from 7,000 feet might give me a chance in the pool! But unfortunately I echo the comments from some of the others that it conflicts with the beginning of my semester.
**Interesting that the camp is being advertised as an “altitude” camp, yet it only lasts one week. Won’t this just make the workouts at the camp harder without getting any of the physiological benefits of training at altitude (ie. workouts will hurt more, possibly making you mentally stronger, but no increased red blood cells and such)? Then again maybe the altitude component is just to scare athletes into being in good shape heading into the camp… **
Regardless, sounds like fun going to a camp with a bunch of elites. Coming down from 7,000 feet might give me a chance in the pool! But unfortunately I echo the comments from some of the others that it conflicts with the beginning of my semester.
I agree. The effect of any gains wouldn’t last long enough into the season for it to be worth being at altitude I’d think. Still, cool idea.
The effects of altitude training on performance at sea level are kinda questionable for sure. I think it just depends on the person too, because you could go up to altitude and your body might adapt some “behind the scenes things” like red blood cells or whatever metabolic changes actually happen during short-term trips to altitude, while your overall fitness goes backward because you’re too sick/dehydrated to get in proper workouts. Whether it’s “worth it” depends not only on those behind the scenes things that people are expecting to get out of altitude training/living, but also how the actual training goes.
Classical altitude training
B. Friedmann-Bette
Internal Medicine VII (Sports Medicine), University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, Germany
Corresponding author: Birgit Friedmann-Bette, Internal Medicine VII (Sports Medicine), University Hospital Heidelberg,
Im Neuenheimer Feld 710, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Tel: 149 6221 568 252, Fax: 149 6221 565 363, E-mail: Birgit.FriedmannBette@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Accepted for publication 30 April 2008
For more than 40 years, the effects of classical altitude
training on sea-level performance have been the subject of
many scientific investigations in individual endurance
sports. To our knowledge, no studies have been performed
in team sports like football. Two well-controlled studies
showed that living and training at an altitude of 1800–
2700 m for 3–4 weeks is superior to equivalent training at
sea level in well-trained athletes. Most of the controlled
studies with elite athletes did not reveal such an effect.
However, the results of some uncontrolled studies indicate
that sea-level performance might be enhanced after altitude
training also in elite athletes. Whether hypoxia provides an
additional stimulus for muscular adaptation, when training
is performed with equal intensity compared with sea-level
training is not known. There is some evidence for an
augmentation of total hemoglobin mass after classical
altitude training with duration 3 weeks at an altitude
2000 m due to altitude acclimatization. Considerable
individual variation is observed in the erythropoietic response to hypoxia and in the hypoxia-induced reduction of
aerobic performance capacity during training at altitude,
both of which are thought to contribute to inter-individual
variation in the improvement of sea-level performance after
altitude training.
The purpose of having the camp in Denver is not because of the altitude. That’s where coach Melissa and myself live. Just happens to be a place where you can get an extra good workout
