Leadville

It sounded like DJ was pretty happy with his performance. Looking forward to hearing about it in his next pod/video etc.

Has anyone else been watching the cooldown? Keegan said he had race brain and thought he was ahead of the record despite the tough conditions and drilled it until the finish only to realize he was two minutes over. I got a good chuckle at that.
 
honestly does anyone want to do this? im a sucker for a view but man, it looks totally uninteresting, the elevation and history behind it would be the only reason to do it, right?
 
Pearl said:
honestly does anyone want to do this? im a sucker for a view but man, it looks totally uninteresting, the elevation and history behind it would be the only reason to do it, right?
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10 yrs ago, maybe. Now I'm just like, meh. I'd rather do another W101 or attempt 1 of the other NUE 100milers.
 
Everyone I know who has done Leadville with an opinion I respect thought it was an expensive race that overall had no real appeal from a mountain biking perspective. They all loved the challenge and the training with the anticipation that comes with all of that.

How good can it be if people are putting drop bars on their bikes? It's not like anyone ever says "I'm going on a trip to Colorado for biking, can't wait to hit those Leadville trails."
 
It’s definitely a bucket list race to check off. Not for me, but I’m sure there are thousands out there that want to see if they can get a buckle.

I wonder if live coverage which actually shows how boring of course it is, diminishes the draw.
 
JDurk said:
I know of 2 MASS series racers that did it. Guy from Wilmington, DE did it on a SS, just a few minutes over 12hrs. The other guy from Bucks Co has been doing some Leadville Challenge that includes riding and running. He was 50-59 age group and also finished a few minutes over 12hrs.
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Nelson Odreman who's all over the XC scene in NJ went sub 9.

Jeremy said:
It’s definitely a bucket list race to check off. Not for me, but I’m sure there are thousands out there that want to see if they can get a buckle.

I wonder if live coverage which actually shows how boring of course it is, diminishes the draw.
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My unfounded belief is I could do OK in Leadville. Elevation has never done anything to me. We were hiking at 9k feet and my wife was struggling, I barely had a slightly elevated heartrate.

I'm aware that Leadville starts at 10k and I'd probably do poorly, but I believe what I believe.
 
Cassinonorth said:
Elevation has never done anything to me.
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Let us know how that works out for you lol. It’s not really negotiable that there’s less oxygen so…

Just walking up and down flights of stairs when unpacking in Utah (~6k feet elevation) had me out of breath. You do get used to it and low intensity activities aren’t bad. But once you start pushing it becomes apparent. Especially the higher you go.
 
Cassinonorth said:
Nelson Odreman who's all over the XC scene in NJ went sub 9.
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Nelson was 8:43 on Strava, so, yeah, impressive. My first impression of him was making up 30 minutes in the second 25 miles of Mooch North to win Lucky's Revenge 2019 by 20' ( @xc62701 ).

Damn, it feels good to be a gangster.

I did notice that he acclimated to altitude for a week before race day. I have a soft spot for Leadville, cuz I won a case of beer betting on the local talent from the Land of Make Believe who raced it 16 years ago.
 
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Jeremy said:
Let us know how that works out for you lol. It’s not really negotiable that there’s less oxygen so…

Just walking up and down flights of stairs when unpacking in Utah (~6k feet elevation) had me out of breath. You do get used to it and low intensity activities aren’t bad. But once you start pushing it becomes apparent. Especially the higher you go.
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I've been up hiking and snowboarding (bonus hiking with a snowboard on my back) up to 12k with no issues. Some people respond better than others, I don't know how I'd do but I've spent more time at elevation than most people from the east coast.

My post was mostly kidding...as I qualified it with:

I'm aware that Leadville starts at 10k and I'd probably do poorly, but I believe what I believe.
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Jeremy said:
Let us know how that works out for you lol. It’s not really negotiable that there’s less oxygen so…

Just walking up and down flights of stairs when unpacking in Utah (~6k feet elevation) had me out of breath. You do get used to it and low intensity activities aren’t bad. But once you start pushing it becomes apparent. Especially the higher you go.
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I can definitely vouch for it affecting people differently. I've ridden/hiked in a few places at altitude and never really noticed that much of a difference. I'm sure that if I'd been measuring power, it would have been down somewhat, but definitely no sensation of being more out of breath than usual. I'd much rather deal with thinner air than east coast summer humidity.
 
ebarker9 said:
I can definitely vouch for it affecting people differently.
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I didn’t Google this first but I have a hard time believing this. Isn’t it just math? There’s x% less oxygen so unless you just have a much higher V02 Max….? I’ll let the people from New Jersey teach me about elevation.

I do actually think having power and HR would prove me right. But I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again.
 
Jeremy said:
I didn’t Google this first but I have a hard time believing this. Isn’t it just math? There’s x% less oxygen so unless you just have a much higher V02 Max,

I’ll let the people from New Jersey teach me about elevation.
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I've always responded well to low impact at altitude. I was just out kayaking in Summit County last month - no issues. I could ski/snowboard all day.
I tried to play basketball at the rec center in Breck and thought I was gunna die.
 
Jeremy said:
I didn’t Google this first but I have a hard time believing this. Isn’t it just math? There’s x% less oxygen so unless you just have a much higher V02 Max….? I’ll let the people from New Jersey teach me about elevation.

I do actually think having power and HR would prove me right. But I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again.
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If this were true Keegan wouldn't have 5 straight Leadville wins. He notoriously is unaffected by altitude.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Individual variation in the erythropoietic response to altitude training in elite junior swimmers - PubMed

The results of the present prospective study confirmed the wide inter-individual variability in erythropoietic response to altitude training in elite athletes. However, their erythropoietin response to acute altitude exposure might not identify those athletes who respond to altitude training...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Basically there's a very wide variety of how many red blood cells your body produces at altitude. Sherpas notoriously have fewer RBC's than the average human. It's all genetics.
 
Cassinonorth said:
If this were true Keegan wouldn't have 5 straight Leadville wins. He notoriously is unaffected by altitude.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Individual variation in the erythropoietic response to altitude training in elite junior swimmers - PubMed

The results of the present prospective study confirmed the wide inter-individual variability in erythropoietic response to altitude training in elite athletes. However, their erythropoietin response to acute altitude exposure might not identify those athletes who respond to altitude training...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Basically there's a very wide variety of how many red blood cells your body produces at altitude. Sherpas notoriously have fewer RBC's than the average human. It's all genetics.
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I think if you live at altitude, you acclimate. Which is why Keegan does well…he grew up in Utah. And Sherpas live on a Mountain. I’m still not convinced.
 
Yeah, Keegan is the only one to live at altitude in the Grand Prix.

The study you're looking for is in my post, read it or don't.
 
I was wrong. You were (probably) right

The individual response to training and competition at altitude - PMC

Performance in athletic activities that include a significant aerobic component at mild or moderate altitudes shows a large individual variation. Physiologically, a large portion of the negative effect of altitude on exercise performance can be ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov


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