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Mark Postle
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Cory,
For reasons of space and weight like you mention almost no one carries a separate footprint in the cold alaskan environment. I have found it helpful over the years however that each member brings both a foam ridgerest type pad and and inflatable pad which helps cover the floor of the tent and insulate you well from the ground.
Hope that helps,
Mark
Jim,
I feel like you’re approaching this in the right way. Two thumbs up for aerobic fitness and diamox given your history. 10k’ catches a lot more folks than you would think given how little you read about it. The number of skiers that develop full blown AMS in Breckenridge/Telluride etc every year is huge. The “pre acclimatization” days in Leadville is a double edged sword of course and I am not sure 3 days is worth it. You may likely see some benefit but also will be more fatigued (especially with extra flying/driving) and may lose a bit in transit. With 4 nights in Quito I would think you would be able to acclimate appropriately and be set up for success (especially with some Diamox usage). I’ve seen the best results with folks being able to spend 7-10 days minimum at elevation so they can really adjust and get over the initial “fatigue hump” that seem to be worst from days 2-4. Of course thats not realistic for a lot of climbers as we have lives to lead outside of acclimatization.
This study although dealing w lower altitudes is a good reference and would indicate 7-14 days is of course optimal which mirrors my my subjective experience w athletes. Days 2 – 7 can kind of go either way.
bbarlin,
These are good questions and complex ones for sure. I have coached quite few Everest climbers and of course am always trying to related their CTL scores to their readiness and success. As you touch on here you can make some conclusions between individuals with the same TrainingPeaks metrics but there is a ton of variability. So many other factors weigh in heavily. The way I like to think about the CTL is to use it as a measure of progress and direction more than anything and as a VERY general measure of readiness. The reality is that you are going to want to train up towards the limit of what your body can absorb and RECOVER from given your individual parameters. Any more or less based on a CTL number will likely do you a disservice. All that said I would add 2 things. 1) If you’re holding 85 steadily then its likely you can ramp up to something that peaks north of 120+ over a time period for a big climb. 2) 15 months is totally sufficient IMO. If you have a reasonable training history and last 2 years have been consistent then that is plenty of time. If you use that time wisely its unlikely that an additional year is going to move the needle dramatically from a strictly fitness perspective. Hope that helps!
My guess is these paces are so far below your actual Aet that you’re just seeing the results of being finally warmed up and your body being more efficient over time. (it takes forever to warm up at sub 100 bpm HRs). Most of our athletes target something around 180-age for their initial drift as an AeT estimate if they don’t have any previous data to lean on.
Matze,
Sounds like you’ve got this figured out but yes in this example your AeT would be 135. Any aerobic capacity work should be done below this number and pace adjusted as needed. One thing that is very common for me for these 2 hour sessions is I will start out in lower Z2 (around 125 for example) and with some natural drift over the course of the 2 hours I will finish at the top of zone 2. This will result is fairly even pacing over the workout duration and not much need for slowing to keep HR in Zone 2.Kamalesh,
Welcome and thanks for posting! I read your post and reread your trip report from Everest. Firstly good for you for making a smart choice in the moment when things weren’t going right and staying safe. I have a couple of thoughts about the Everest trip having been thru that section from BC to Camp 3 a handful of time myself. Obviously as you state here you got caught out in the glacier between camp 1 and 2 late in the day. Its just so warm then and once you get that overly heated there is no way to recover at that altitude. I think 2 things are becoming very common now that didnt use to be common practice and it negatively affects some climbers. 1) Acclimatization schedules/standards get short and shorter every season. Oxygen delivery systems and pre acclimating at home in simulation tents can help with some of this but it can also come back to bite you. 10-15 years ago it was pretty normal to climb Lobuche, do an rotation to camp 2, do a 2nd rotation to camp 3 (including sleeping a night at 3 without O2) then rest and go for the summit. Now I see climber sometimes just doing 1 rotation where they may not even make it to 3 let alone sleep there. Very limited amount of time up high IMO which leaves little room for error. 2) No one stays at camp 1 any more after round 1. I think the day from BC to Camp 2 is to big for many folks and/or it leaves you out on the glacier in the heat of the day. Its horrible. Much better to consider a night at Camp1 then an easy morning the next day.
As for your recovery I am not shocked it has taken you a while. It is a longer process for almost every single person than they think. Its a two part issue where you are deeply fatigued but also lost fitness at the same time. Thats said yours seems a bit longer than most. Did you have a really comprehensive panel of blood work done with your doc? If not i would get one done and if so i would consider a second to compare values/trends. This should help rule out anything more sinister. I think as your energy returns and you can slowly get back training you’ll see things snowball in a positive directions and as you feel stronger and fitter you’ll be able to slowly rebuild aerobic capacity.
