Monday, April 03, 2006
Road to CDA 06: The Hypoxic Tent
Mon 4/3
Supposed to Swim and Weights. Feel tired. Will take day off. Got massage.
Body Weight, 160.2
Body Fat 5.0 %
Morning HR 42
*Have been sleeping in hypoxic, altitude simulation tent for about 4 weeks now. Started at 8ooo ft, to 10k third week, and 13k last 2 nights. Alot of trouble adapting. I have been waking up each night about 2am and cant get back to sleep because of difficulty breathing.
On last friday and saturday, had to move to a different room to get back to sleep.
HR is also much higher than typical because of the hypoxic conditions. I have had to urinate at least once, sometimes twice during the night, probably due to increased metabolism as a consequence of the hypoxia. I have taken my HR over the past week in the middle of the night, at 48-60 beats (typical is 36-40).
The past 2 nights, I have slept decent, and morning HR is coming down. This morning 42.
I have taken Ambien the past 2 nights to help get me through without insomnia due the the low oxygen and its has worked fairly well. Will continue this for another week or so in hopes that I will naturally adapt to the conditions.
There is a reasonable chance I will not be a good responder (may not produce higher blood counts as adaptation to the hypoxia) My hematocrit last fall was 38, and in January was 40. These are both low normal. I hope to get up to high normal of 45 but this may not happen.
Responders tend to have an increase about 5%, and that's with 12 hours of use a day. I am only using about 7-8, So a 3% gain is more likely. This would put me at about a 41-42 hematocrit, which is right in the middle for the average person. I will take this, since I am naturally already low. To put it into perspective, Epo users will typically have hematocrits over 50 and sometimes 55-60 (normal being around 38-45). Even if my native hematocrit was high normal at 45, and I used the tent 12 hours a day and responded maximally, I would only see a jump to 47-48.
If it can get me 10 minutes on the bike, and 5 minutes on the run...it will be worth it.
Supposed to Swim and Weights. Feel tired. Will take day off. Got massage.
Body Weight, 160.2
Body Fat 5.0 %
Morning HR 42
*Have been sleeping in hypoxic, altitude simulation tent for about 4 weeks now. Started at 8ooo ft, to 10k third week, and 13k last 2 nights. Alot of trouble adapting. I have been waking up each night about 2am and cant get back to sleep because of difficulty breathing.
On last friday and saturday, had to move to a different room to get back to sleep.
HR is also much higher than typical because of the hypoxic conditions. I have had to urinate at least once, sometimes twice during the night, probably due to increased metabolism as a consequence of the hypoxia. I have taken my HR over the past week in the middle of the night, at 48-60 beats (typical is 36-40).
The past 2 nights, I have slept decent, and morning HR is coming down. This morning 42.
I have taken Ambien the past 2 nights to help get me through without insomnia due the the low oxygen and its has worked fairly well. Will continue this for another week or so in hopes that I will naturally adapt to the conditions.
There is a reasonable chance I will not be a good responder (may not produce higher blood counts as adaptation to the hypoxia) My hematocrit last fall was 38, and in January was 40. These are both low normal. I hope to get up to high normal of 45 but this may not happen.
Responders tend to have an increase about 5%, and that's with 12 hours of use a day. I am only using about 7-8, So a 3% gain is more likely. This would put me at about a 41-42 hematocrit, which is right in the middle for the average person. I will take this, since I am naturally already low. To put it into perspective, Epo users will typically have hematocrits over 50 and sometimes 55-60 (normal being around 38-45). Even if my native hematocrit was high normal at 45, and I used the tent 12 hours a day and responded maximally, I would only see a jump to 47-48.
If it can get me 10 minutes on the bike, and 5 minutes on the run...it will be worth it.
