My first bit of research on living at elevation has led to an alarming conclusion...The human body functions best at sea level and no where else. The first 18 years of my life were spent at 1,000 feet. The next 3 at about 200 with a few intermittent bouts of actually living at sea level on boats or at coastal campsites. And now I'm moving to 7,000 feet, and I'm getting a dehyrdation headache just thinking about it.
The concentration of oxygen in sea level air is 20%. By 16,000 feet it has dropped to 10% and by 29,000 feet it is only a third of what it was at sea level. The highest altitude longer term human survival was 2 years at 19,000 feet. At altitude the body acclimatizes by increasing heart rate, respiratory rate, and limiting what the body considers non essential functions like food digestion(which to be quite frank is actually essestial). Full acclimatization is a process considered to take days or weeks, I'm budgeting months.
At the very least, I suppose I can be pleased to know that in the not so distant future I could potentially be a human who's in shape at elevation, thereby making me a super human at sea level and capable of personal record breaking 5k times. That and I can finally follow the high elevation directions when baking.
GROOVY.
Lizbert-
ReplyDeleteI like your high altitude blog...If you want some advice on living the "high life" talk to Meg about her altitude "sickness" that she got in Albequerque. It was on our way up to Sandia Peak and she was a freak show. Highly entertaing. P.S. Your blog is awesome. P.P.S. It's fun to move and only know one person sometimes. P.P.P.S. Love you! You're going to do great!
I learned in Colorado that one drink in Denver is = 3 at sea level. Be careful up there, it hits you harder!
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