Kiera D'Amato use of poor man's altitude to prepare for Berlin

I disagree that altitude makes little difference, however. Altitude's much tougher than sea level. I was running 6:11 pace for 11 miles at 5000 feet elevation shortly before running 5:45 for 13.1 at sea level--and could have run faster had I realized I could hold even better pace there. I'd say that it's typically worth close to 30 seconds per mile at an altitude of a mile high. It's worth more like a minute per mile at 10k-13k altitude. All this depends on how long you've spent at altitude. Kenyan runners have gone 3:30.9-3:31 in Kenya but never faster than 3:28 at sea level (the same ones, that is, to run the top altitude times).

Running in humidity is absolutely poor man’s altitude training. I have lived in a hilly, humid climate for over 20 years (Virginia) and have run here for about a decade. I had also lived in Colo. Springs (which is at 6,008 ft, not 5,280 like Denver) for 3+ years, and all I can say is that there is nothing worse than 70+ dew point…even with a temp. of only 70F or so. Nothing. Just got back from a cloud-covered 72+70, and even with the cloud cover and relatively low air temp., it was a sweat-fest…and only eight miles. That eight felt more like 16 (yeah, 16) in nice (cool) weather. And we hope for days like today here, as 80s + 70s is real grim reaper time. Miserable.

No better term than “poor man’s” altitude. I love it. In fact, I would like to invite you Western guys and gals out to my country…our “little” hills and dew points make for a heck of a training environment. Think about it…if our humidity is a “low” 50% it is FIVE times the 10% often seen in the West…

How fast does the American record holder need to run in Berlin for you to spell her name correctly? Sub-2:19?

Incorrect. Humidity means more moisture (water molecules) in the air, which displaces the oxygen molecules in the air and creates oxygen depravation. Is this really an unknown concept?

That doesn't sound like a good training environment to me. Anything but.

The thing about the poor man's version of anything... it's always worse.

I have lived most my life in Texas on the I35 corridor. July and August is hotter and the same or higher dew points than anywhere in Florida or Houston for those 2 months Thanks to gulf humidity sitting over the entire area plus hotter western plains/desert to the west that are the buffered by that humidity before it reaches Houston/LA. (rest of the year it is a bit lower dew points than Houston to Florida)... I move to altitude to avoid the high humidity now in the summer.

The thing that hasn't been mentioned.. is if you sweat a lot once you lose a certain amount of water you are done.. your body can't function nor can you intake water fast enough. I lose about 1 gallon/hour in dew points 65 or higher. There is no way a human can drink enough fluids to keep blood volumes up while running. add on top of that your sweat coming out of your body at ~98 degress will not evaporate so that gallon of water is basically just lost with little to no cooling effect.

Take western area's at elevation: it can be 90 degrees and be easier to run if you can find shade than 65 degrees and 100% humidity in the south if you loose water like I do). Colorado/Utah/NM/AZ are extremely dry your sweat will cool you off very effectively it won't pool and fill your shoes and make them heavy. add on top of that the warmest mornings at altitude are dry and still cooler than the lows in the south plus you add tons more water vapor in the air in the south.

Another thing to consider.. is weather volatility. I am in the midwest now to be able to do the speed work I can't do at altitude. There are days here that do exceed that 65 degree dew point... but I can wait 2 days and it will be cool again.. People in the midwest and northeast don't understand that in the South you can't wait 1-2 days for better weather for a long run or workout... you have to wait 4-6 months.

The only advantage if you lose as much water as I do is in speed work less than 3 miles in length.. you can still hammer in heat and humidity as long as you still of fluid in your body.. but it becomes basically impossible for me to run more than 10 miles almost every day. it is completely draining even at a slow easy pace it feels like you just ran 20 miles at 7000 feet.

I struggle to run 2 miles at marathon pace at altitude no matter the weather. however I never struggle to run more than an hour at altitude which becomes close to impossible for me at sea level in the summer

Now I have run with people in the south that don't lose water like I do and they can get some decent training in at the poor mans version of altitude but for any race above 5K the majority of people will be better training at altitude during the summer.

as for Kiera she is a mom and has a family... It makes complete sense to have not uproot their lives and life style for her career when she can still obviously crush it staying in VA

I live outside Philadelphia. July/August conditions at 5:00 a.m. (when I run) are often 75 F and 90% humidity. It is nearly unbearable.

Keira has been public about her terrible luck with Addison’s disease, which means she has to undergo corticosteroid replacement under a doctor’s supervision.

It doesn’t much matter where you train if you are taking PED’s under the cover of a TUE. There is no such thing as a level playing field.

So true. She’s “legally” cheating.
I can’t figure out why so many people are such big fans of hers.

imo, the only benefit of running in the heat is to burn more calories and to be more comfortable in a race that is also ran in the heat

genetics is by far the biggest factor when it comes to success rate in competitive running. there is no such thing as a level playing field in the world of competitive running and there never will be. same can be said for any "sport" that solely involves speed/strength/endurance like swimming/biking/weightlifting/etc.

People on this thread never been to Boulder in July when it can hit 100. Have your cake and eat it too.

Yeah, I haven't had a run in pleasant weather since mid-May and I run near where Keira does. By pure coincidence I actually ran one of Keira's regular routes this morning which I now see she ran yesterday. The city's official weather station recorded 75°F with 94% humidity at the start of my run and 80°F with 81% humidity at the end. But it's actually worse on this route because it's adjacent to a river that averages about 100 yards wide, which increases the humidity nearby. I was soaked after 25 minutes at 2:30/mile slower than cool weather 5k race pace and still had an hour to go. Pretty much all summer my choice has either been go out early and face weather like this or go out when it's 88°F with 50% humidity and feels like it's over 100°. I've never trained at altitude, but running in weather like this for months on end seems to pay off when it gets cooler.

Public where? I was wondering if there was a TUE for something?

“Genetics”? Like the skinny asthmatic kid with various infirmity’s that can be aided with drugs?

She has Addisons? Your source? Even if she does, catabolic steroids aren't performance enhancing. You are spreading hurtful misinformation.

Here’s the source. And yes, taking adrenaline is performance enhancing.

runnersworld.com

Keira D’Amato Returns to the Roads This Fall After a Spring of Injury and Illness

She had to sit out the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June, but now she’s back to race the Chicago Marathon.

Link:www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a...

That story says not a word about adrenaline or steroids.

Nor does it say she has Addison's. It only says that a blood test showed low cortisol level, which are a "potential warning sign" of Addison's.

As noted above, the usual treatment for low cortisol -- corticosteroids -- are not PEDs in the same way as "regular steroids." That is why they are only prohibited in competition; depending on how she takes them, she may be able to avoid a TUE if she is willing to stop taking them around competitions.