Racing in Canada! Whistler to Mont Tremblant
At the end of July I competed in Ironman Canada. Leading up to the race I was very fit. I had some great workouts and spent some time up in Mammoth Lakes, CA training at 8000 feet above sea level. Race day came and I felt prepared however my body didn't show it at all. I was evenly flat across all three disaplines. At first I thought that I just had a bad day. My first bad day while racing an Ironman. Usually I've been fairly consistent. I've raced right around 25 Ironmans in my life. Doing some research, I found out that I messed up the timing from training at altitude and coming back down to sea level. I've read that the "bad timing" is usually between day 7-14 coming down from sea level. Did I know this? I've heard of it but never really thought it would affect me that much. I raced right in the middle of the bad timing phase and unfortunately it really did affect me.
Main reasons explaining the "bad timing" phase to race after coming down from high altitude training.
1. Hematological factors: time course of the decay in red cell mass when return to sea level
2. Biomechanical / Neuromuscular: time to re-establish the neuromuslcar sensation of having coordinated turnover.
3. Ventilatory factors: time course of the decay in ventilatory acclimazation when return to sea level
The above information is gathered from: http://youtu.be/IeWXnbxNVj4
I did not have the race that I wanted to have in Whislter but no reason to dwell on a bad performance. I was happy that I stuck it out to still finish.
Moving on from Ironman Canada I knew I had 3 weeks before Ironman Mont Tremblant. Thankfully I had a very fast recovery and was able to get back to normal training immediately. My training prep for Ironman Mont Tremblant has been great and I'm looking forward to having a great race at North American Championships next weekend.
Main reasons explaining the "bad timing" phase to race after coming down from high altitude training.
1. Hematological factors: time course of the decay in red cell mass when return to sea level
2. Biomechanical / Neuromuscular: time to re-establish the neuromuslcar sensation of having coordinated turnover.
3. Ventilatory factors: time course of the decay in ventilatory acclimazation when return to sea level
The above information is gathered from: http://youtu.be/IeWXnbxNVj4
I did not have the race that I wanted to have in Whislter but no reason to dwell on a bad performance. I was happy that I stuck it out to still finish.
Moving on from Ironman Canada I knew I had 3 weeks before Ironman Mont Tremblant. Thankfully I had a very fast recovery and was able to get back to normal training immediately. My training prep for Ironman Mont Tremblant has been great and I'm looking forward to having a great race at North American Championships next weekend.