Nairobi which lies at a lower altitude and for the first time in my life, felt the joy of running! It was an exhilarating feeling which I had never felt before. Other athletes who had not been training on a high altitude were panting for breath while I on the other hand was feeling great, even able to engage in a conversation while running and still managing to run a time of 29 min- utes! Another thing, the race ended seemingly earlier than I had expected. Training at a high altitude helps trigger the body to produce more red blood cells that assist in the transportation of oxygen from the lungs to the mus- cles. It also increases the amount of hemoglobin in the red blood cells that help bind the oxygen molecules. Lungs also adapt to the thinner air and hence maximize their ability to absorb oxygen. In order to transport oxygen more conveniently, blood vessels intensify around the muscles and not only does this aid the aerobic system, but also assists in the detoxification of the body, because the same vessels will help eliminate waste products faster out of the body. A very critical aerobic enzyme called citrate synthase, which helps the leg muscles use oxygen at high rates, becomes more con- centrated in the muscles when an athlete trains at a high altitude.
The topography of these elevations should also be considered. The trails here are often mountainous and hence offer perfect training for endurance and strength. Despite the fact that most of the training camps in Kenya are situated in ar- eas of high altitude, athletes would travel to lower altitudes for their speed workouts once or twice every week. However, not all athletes can afford these travels. Sports managements, notably Gianni Demadonna’s, Dr. Gabriele Rosa’s, Pace Sports, among others, have assisted a lot in orga- nizing such travels for their elite and upcoming athletes in and around their camps. Kenya is not the only country in the world that has areas of altitudes lying above 7000ft and their success in long distance running should not be at- tributed solely to their altitude training, but also to their hard training, which has so far brought a new vocabulary to training, namely; “training the Ken- yan way”. As more athletes begin to adapt the Kenyan style of training, we wait to see whether this will work for everyone across the globe. Perhaps the only real advantage which the Kenyan athletes have over the rest of the athletes in some parts of the world is the weather that supports training outdoors throughout the year.
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