Sooners Train at New Heights

For many, summer is a time to kick their feet up and relax. For the University of Oklahoma cross country teams, summer is a time to hit the trails in preparation for the upcoming season. In fact, three Sooner runners took their training to new heights for them. Literally.

Over the summer, OU cross country runners Dylan Blankenbaker, Brandon Doughty, and Bryce Perry participated in altitude training in Flagstaff, Ariz. The trio dedicated one month to training on a variety of trails at 7,000-feet above sea level.

Upon their return, Perry, Blankenbaker, and Doughty noticed the difference in their bodies.

"Now that I'm back, I've done two runs and I feel amazing," Perry said. "I'm like 'oh my gosh this is what oxygen feels like.' But I'm definitely feeling really good, feeling really strong, and I'm really excited.

"When you're there, it's really hard and you're wondering, 'is it working?'" Perry added. "Now it's easier to run."

Altitude training is a popular method of training for endurance runners, particularly at the collegiate and professional levels. The amount of oxygen is lower at higher elevations, also called thin air, and it makes training more difficult. To compensate, the body creates more red blood cells. Once the athletes return to lower elevations, training becomes easier as the body is able to deliver more oxygen to the muscles through the increased number of red blood cells.

Doughty has participated in altitude training for the past four summers, a commitment that was sparked by his former Sooner teammates.

"A lot of guys used to go there my freshman year because it's one of the most popular training spots at altitude in the nation," Doughty said. "This was my first time at Flagstaff, but it was really good."

For Perry, it was seeing Doughty's success during the 2014-15 season that made her decide to try the training for the first time.

"After seeing how well all three of Brandon's seasons panned out, I was like 'clearly something's working for him," said Perry of her three-time track and field All-American teammate. "I had never done it because I'd usually stay in Texas or in Oklahoma and I thought I'd give it a shot. Hopefully, I have an advantage this season."

Blankenbaker chose to focus on his running full time during break after showing improvements during the 2014-15 track and field season. Ranked fifth on the all-time Sooner list for the 3,000-meter steeplechase after last spring, the regional qualifier is looking to have a significant impact this cross country season after he sat out last season due to injury.

"It's something that I've wanted to do for a while being in endurance running," Blankenbaker said. "It's almost like a bucket list thing that you do as a runner. After having a healthy spring and having the ability to run over the summer, I just wanted to set myself up to have a good fall.

"It got me away from a lot of my friends that don't run," Blankenbaker said, "It put me in a place where I could just relax, focus on running and be around like-minded people. We just focused on running and it was really awesome."

The threesome spent July in flagstaff where they ran a variety of trails with breathtaking views. Doughty, who has also done altitude training in Colorado, ran a trail up Mount Elden that was nearly 9,300 feet above sea level.

"They have probably the best trails and dirt roads," said Doughty, a redshirt senior in cross country. "The views and where we ran were just awesome."

But before any of the Sooners were running up to mountain peaks, it took several days for them to adjust to the lower oxygen levels.

"People adjust differently," Doughty said. "I tend to get a little bit of a stomach ache, but it goes away after like a week and it becomes normal. Then when you come back to sea level you realize how much easier it is to breathe air."

"It took about a week to where I wasn't feeling dizzy, where I wasn't out of breath doing anything," Blankenbaker said. "The whole time it took extra energy to do things and strength drills were more taxing. Even going up and down stairs was more taxing the first couple of days."

While there were not many easy days for the three, they all said that they were more than happy to focus on improving their training.

"It's not as glamorous as you'd think," Perry said. "We woke up early, but not too early, because (the temperature) was in the 60s all day every day. We'd wake up and go to a different trail every day; there were trails everywhere. You'd turn onto a road and there was a gravel road, a dirt road, and some kind of winding trail.

"We'd come back to cook breakfast and relax until we had to do the second part of our run," Perry continued. "We visited the Grand Canyon and that was amazing. For the most part, though, we tried to focus on our training more than making it a vacation."

That is music to any coach's ears, but it is especially pleasant for OU cross country associate head coach Jason Dunn. Dunn, who was a part of one of the preliminary studies of altitude training in 1997 in Park City, Utah, is pleased by the growing commitment of his athletes to train independently over the summer.

"It's something that a lot of collegiate distance runners do and I'm in favor of it," said Dunn, who is entering in his third year at OU. "Part of it, too, is that when they go to a place like Flagstaff or any place at high altitude to train, it reinforces their commitment to their running."

In the future he hopes more of his student-athletes will take the initiative to try altitude training.

"I think it's something that will continue," said Dunn. "I would honestly like to see more of them choose to do that in the summertime. We now have four athletes on our team from Colorado, from high altitudes. Hopefully, there will be even more next summer."

Redshirt senior Will Hogston also has trained at altitude in previous summers.

The cross country season opener, Sept. 1 in Stillwater to compete in the OSU Opener, is a week away. The trio's focus has shifted back to their teams. Perry, who began her collegiate career in 2013 with a team comprised of all freshmen, is now one of seven junior leaders on the team. The women hope to build upon last year's fifth place conference finish, OU's all-time best in Big 12 history.

Doughty and Blankenbaker have their sights are on nationals. The men's team fell short of qualifying for the NCAA Championship a year ago and hope to take a trip to Louisville, Ky., the site for the NCAA meet this season.

"We're a top athletic school," Blankenbaker said. "We have the staff, we have the facilities, and we have the team to do it."

With the efforts they have made over the summer, the Sooners appear have a chance to succeed this year at any level.