Running in Thin Air

Geezer generally regards intensity as a good thing, but sometimes, infrequently, intensity can seem just a tad too, well, intense. Such is the case with high altitude runner Matt Carpenter, who, the New York Times reports, runs at least three hours every other day and an hour and a half on “rest days.”  Wait there’s more. Carpenter isn’t just unusually determined,—-he’s
biologically unusual, with a resting heart rate of
33 beats a minute and a VO2 max, a
gauge of the body’s
ability to process oxygen, of 90.2, perhaps a record high
for a runner. What’s it good for? Lots of victories in high altitude running events.
Carpenter has set records in a high-altitude flat-surface marathon, a 50-mile race and a 100-mile race. Last year, at age 43, Carpenter won six long-distance races, setting two course records.
Want to see how intense this guy is? Watch the video that accompanies this piece in the New York Times.
Read an interview with Carpenter here.