What the hell happened to my altitude advantage?!?

86 Days to Paris.

One of the things I was really looking forward to when I headed out to Indianapolis this week was being close to sea-level. You see, Colorado Springs is at close to 7,000 feet and training in the thinner air is supposed to give you a great advantage when you get down to sea-level, where your body just swims in the extra oxygen and propels you to great athletic feats of wonder. It must be so, because the U.S. Olympic Committee has a large training center in the Springs, and we all know how many Olympic medals U.S. athletes accumulate thanks in part to their high altitude training.

Or so I thought.

Now granted, my expectations may have been a tad on the fairy-tale side. As we were on final approach for the Indy airport on Monday, I had visions of myself breaking all of my personal records: Bursting through the 50-minute mark for a 10K on the treadmill; Dominating the Hill Climb on the elliptical machine; Bench pressing 350 Lbs with one hand.

Tonight, reality hit me. Now, to be fair, I think I did a pretty good job this week with my training. While I did eat and drink a bit more than I would have liked, all-in-all I think I did better than I have in the past in the munching department. And I did work out every day I was here, starting with a 5 mile run on Monday, followed by time on the elliptical on Tuesday and Wednesday, culminating with 10K on the treadmill tonight. I have also been working out for 6 straight days now, having skipped my "off-day" on Tuesday with a 30 minute session. But honestly, tonight on the treadmill, I was feeling the pain! It was sheer will power that pushed me past the first 5K, after which I was was ready to call it a night and head to the nearest mini-bar for some over-priced cocktails. But, I kept on going, driving myself with thoughts of all the high carb food I'd eaten this week.

As I was rounding past 8K, with about 12 minutes to go, it dawned on me that I was not feeling any benefit to being at sea-level. And in fact, as I thought back on my previous three workouts, I didn't recall feeling any rush of super-oxygenation propelling my performance to elite levels. By the time I finished my 10K, over 58 minutes after starting (which was in no way a personal best) I realized that the only thing that got burst was my bubble.

Looks like I'm going to have to set more realistic expectations for how my altitude training will impact my performance in Paris.

Now, I just hope that when I get back home, I don't feel like a wheezing asthmatic.

Training update: Yesterday I did an hour on the elliptical cross-trainer. 1151 Calories burned; Playlist: U2's No Line on the Horizon.

Today: 10K run on the treadmill; 58:50; 1085 Calories burned; Playlist: U2's Live from Paris.