Bloodshot eyes? Pupils like pinpricks? Flushed cheeks ...?

No not Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet ...

... but all symptoms of hypoxy altitude training ...

For those of us who have been training on the hypoxy training machine, today is the last day of practicing breathing thin air before the real thing.

It has been quite an experience donning the oxygen mask for up to 90 minutes per day with 5 minutes on the machine watching our blood oxygen levels drop and then the relief of 5 minutes off as our oxygen percentages shoot back up to the high 90s again. Experiments have been done at Everest Base Camp that show brain function is impeded at altitude. Even simple puzzles such as, "If John is taller than Mark which one is shorter?" completely stump people suffering from hypoxia.

We've found that drinking lots of water makes a huge difference to performance. We wear a pulse oxygen meter whilst on the machine and can see a very clear improvement after drinking water. Gingko biloba supplements also help as does garlic.

We're hoping that despite the number of brain-cells we have lost over the past 30 days, the training will stand us in good stead. If we can maintain a 70% blood oxygen level at 6500 metres on the machine then hopefully we can withstand a few days at 5,300 m or thereabouts. That's the theory anyway!

Team photo coming soon ...

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