Arthur Lydiard suggested the value of high altitude training in the sixties. Ron Daws, a 1968 U.S. Olympian wrote about the value of high altitude training in his book, Self-Made Olympian (1974). Frank Shorter once quipped, ” Not sure why it works, but I am training at altitude.” Seemed like the guy might know when something worked, with four wins at Fukuoka and gold and silver on the Olympic marathon courses.
Dr. Joe Vigil, with his Adams State teams, showed anecdotally, and with the precision of a scientist, that high altitude training works for many distance runners. Bob Larsen embraced high altitude training with Meb, as did Dr. Joe with Deena and Terrance Mahon with Deena and his Mammoth TC in Mammoth Lakes, California.
The following story, about one of our most liked marathoners, Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2009 ING NYCM champion, coming down from high altitude, at the right time (under 72 hours or 14-21 days), in order to be successful racing at sea level.
Special thanks to alert twitter reader Peter Abraham for finding this gem: http://online.wsj.com/article/
For more on the ING New York City Marathon, please click on:
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Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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