Playing at elevation

S

SyracuseHorn

500+ Posts
We've got a game in El Paso (elevation 3695 ft) a few weeks before our game in Boulder (elevation 5400 ft). Will the experience at UTEP help prepare us for the conference opener? With all the young players who've probably never played in the thin air, I think the experiene in El Paso will be very important.

Is this a legitmate issue, or just a "when is the season going to start" distraction?
 
They might get somewhat used to being more out of breath than usual, but getting really used to working out in thinner air takes a couple of days at least (for me at least, but I am certainly not a world class athlete). So hopefully for them it won't be a big issue.
 
IMHO elevation is a funny thing...

I used to live in EP (was raised in Dallas) and I never found the elevation to be an issue on short windedness. I think that there is a HUGE difference between 3,500 ft above sea level and 5,000 feet. I could tell the difference whenever I travelled from EP to Albuquerque, which is 5,000.

For reference, EP is not much higher than Lubbock, which is 3,250 feet above sea level and we have never had any problems there. In sum, I don't see any tremendous benefit to the EP game preparing us for Boulder.
 
I also noticed a huge difference when I briefly lived in ABQ (coming from Austin). I was in great cardio shape at the time, but I would get light headed after playing basketball outside for 10 minutes. It got better after a while, but those first few days were awful.
 
Does anyone know if, in the past, did Mack take the team up there earlier (thursday?) in order to give them a day extra to acclimate? Seems like a good idea, and we know they have the cash to pay for another night in the hotel.
 
I am currently visiting friends a few miles from Boulder but in the mountains at 7,500'. Usually takes me three to four days to feel comfortable. Here is why.
Altitude effects the young and old, fit or feeble. High altitude is defined as 5,000 -11,500 ft in elevation. Acclimation is a slow process and could take as long as two weeks to become fully acclimatized, but normally the process of acclimation is 1 - 3 days. During this acclimation process a number of changes take place to allow the body to operate with the decreased oxygen and they are: Depth of respiration increases.
Pressure in pulmonary arteries is increased, " forcing" blood into portions of the lung which are normally not used during sea level breathing.
The body produces more red blood cells to carry oxygen, along with a particular enzyme that facilitates the release of oxygen from hemoglobin to the body tissues.

One day might help and would certainly be better than none.
 
Austin is 621' above sea level. So physical exertion at 3695 and 5400 when you're accustomed to 621', you're going to get tired sooner. So look for more rotations and don't be alarmed when you see oxygen on the sidelines.
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Wesser, I look forward to your posts because I love your sig. If we ever play below sea level, those girls will never drown!
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haha I hope so! UT has some huge players, I saw one on the news the other day... boy you guys must be feeding them pure grains or something...
 
I imagine they'll be pretty similar. Both a littler higher and dryer. Probably won't make a huge difference for football, especially if we still have good depth for CU.

When I was young, we'd go from Houston (~50 ft) to a place in Colorado (10k ft) every summer. That was pretty drastic. You'd get winded just walking around the first day. Also got altitude sickness one time. It's not as bad now that I'm older, but it still sucks sometimes. Or maybe I just run around less now.
 
The altitude didn't seem to slow down Texas much during our last couple of trips to Boulder. If we lose there this year, it will be because CU played better than our team did, and not because of the altitude.

While it may be a bit of a factor, this is where depth and conditioning come in. I think we will be just fine for UTEP.
 
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