Can You Train on Your Second Day in Leh? A Measured Answer From 3,302 Metres
Ladakh field log · Day 2
My blood oxygen saturation was 97%, a sea-level number. I then ran three and a half minutes per kilometre slower than my easy pace. Both of those things are true, and together they explain altitude better than anything else I can tell you.
I am in Ladakh until late September. Our residential group arrives on 16 August, and I came three weeks early to run the routes myself and test the acclimatisation protocol before anyone else follows it. I am going to publish what I measure every day, including the days that do not go well.
This is day two. The question I want to answer is one I am asked constantly and which is almost never answered with numbers: can you train when you first arrive at altitude?
The gap between those two numbers is the entire lesson: a good oxygen reading tells you your body is coping. It does not tell you it is ready to train.
The Short Answer
You should not train in your first 48 hours in Leh. The Leh district administration requires every arriving visitor to complete at least 48 hours of acclimatisation before travelling to higher areas, and rest through that window is standard advice for good reason [1].
I trained on day two because of three specific things, none of which are likely to apply to you.
- I arrived by road, over two days, with a night at intermediate altitude, rather than flying in.
- I have lived in Ladakh for four to six months a year for several years. This is not a visit for me. My body has a long working relationship with this elevation.
- I have raced here before. The Ladakh Marathon 5 km in 2023 and the 11.2 km in 2024. I am back on the start line for the 11.2 km on 13 September 2026.
On top of that, I went out with one rule: keep the heart rate under 137 bpm regardless of what that did to the pace. That is a decision made from experience about my own body. It is not a recommendation, and it is not what I will let anyone else do.
How I Got Here, and Why It Matters
Almost every article about arriving in Leh assumes you flew. Most visitors do, and flying is the higher-risk arrival: you go from near sea level to 3,500 metres in about ninety minutes, with no staging at all.
I drove.
- 24 July. Left Rishikesh, roughly 370 m. Drove to Manali, roughly 2,050 m. Slept there.
- 25 July. Manali to Leh in one day. That road crosses Baralacha La at approximately 4,890 m, Lachulung La at approximately 5,060 m, and Tanglang La at approximately 5,330 m, before descending into Leh at roughly 3,500 m. Arrived in the evening.
- 26 July. One hour easy run at 6:00 AM, heart rate capped.
That profile is why I am not surprised by a 97% reading, and it is the honest explanation for a number that would otherwise look too good.
One night at 2,050 metres is a genuine staging night. It is not much, but it is more than a flight gives you. And previous exposure to altitude is one of the factors shown to reduce the risk of acute mountain sickness [2].
My own prior exposure is not a weekend here and there. I have spent four to six months of the year in Ladakh for several years running. I have trained through the shoulder seasons here, coached groups through full programmes here, and raced the Ladakh Marathon twice: the 5 km in 2023 and the 11.2 km in 2024. I missed 2025 because my race calendar took me elsewhere, to the HR 26 Super Triathlon in Gurgaon in August and the Qatar T100 sprint triathlon in December. On 13 September this year I am back, running the 11.2 km again.
When I say my body knows this altitude, that is what I mean, and it is the single largest reason my numbers on day two look the way they do.
You will not have that. Neither will the people arriving on our programme in August. That is precisely why their protocol is stricter than mine.
What I Actually Did
Leh Golf Course loop, 6:00 AM, 8°C, no wind. One hour, continuous, with a single instruction to myself: stay under 137 bpm and let the pace be whatever it turns out to be.
That last part matters more than anything else here. I set no pace target. At altitude, in your first week, pace is an output you accept, not an input you control.
The Full File
| Metric | Reading | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 5.59 km | In one full hour of running |
| Average pace | 10'44" per km | My easy band is 6'05" to 7'14" |
| Average heart rate | 129 bpm | Comfortably easy for me |
| Maximum heart rate | 146 bpm | Never approached hard effort |
| Time below 137 bpm | 57:21, or 96% | The cap held |
| Time above aerobic endurance | Zero | No hard work was done |
| Blood oxygen saturation | 97% | A sea-level value at 3,302 m |
| Elevation | 3,250 m to 3,369 m, averaging 3,302 m | Leh town is often quoted as 3,500 m; this loop sits lower |
| Elevation gain | 121 m | About 2.2% average gradient |
| Cadence | 154 spm | A genuine shuffle, which is correct here |
| Aerobic training effect | 2.3, maintaining | Real aerobic work, no overload |
| Training load | 58, low | The watch labelled the session "very light" |
For context on what that pace gap represents: I ran the TCS World 10K Bengaluru in 55:23 this year and finished IRONMAN 5150 Chennai in 2:53:01. On day two at 3,302 metres, at a heart rate my body considers easy, I ran a ten minute forty four second kilometre.
Why My Oxygen Looked Fine and My Pace Did Not
This is the part almost nobody explains properly.
Oxygen saturation tells you what percentage of your haemoglobin is currently carrying oxygen. It is a useful safety signal, and a falling reading alongside symptoms is one of the things we screen for. But a good saturation number does not mean your performance is unaffected.
The percentage of oxygen in air is roughly the same everywhere, about 20.9%. What falls with altitude is barometric pressure, and therefore the partial pressure of oxygen. At around 3,600 metres, barometric pressure is roughly 480 mmHg against roughly 760 at sea level, so each breath delivers approximately 40% fewer oxygen molecules [3].
Your body works hard to hold saturation up against that. You breathe more, your heart rate rises, and over days your blood chemistry begins to shift. Saturation can look excellent while the oxygen actually delivered to your working muscles, minute by minute, has dropped substantially. A collapsed pace at a normal heart rate is what that looks like from the inside.
- Do not use my 97% as your benchmark. It is higher than most people record on day two, and it reflects a staged road ascent and years of prior exposure.
- Readings in the high 80s and low 90s are common in the first days at this altitude and are not by themselves a cause for alarm.
- The trend matters far more than any single number. Watch it across several days.
- A falling reading alongside headache, nausea, or breathlessness at rest is a reason to stop, descend if you can, and seek medical help.
- Device matters. A fingertip pulse oximeter at rest is more reliable than a wrist sensor, particularly in the cold when blood flow to the hands drops.
What This Means for You
Your pace will collapse, and that is not a problem to solve
Most people arriving in Ladakh make the same mistake. They see a pace they have not run in years, feel embarrassed, and push harder to fix it. That decision is how acclimatisation goes wrong. Heart rate is the honest signal at altitude. Pace is simply what that heart rate costs you today.
Effort is preserved even when output is not
My heart rate was completely normal for an easy aerobic session, and the aerobic training effect was 2.3, meaning real aerobic work was done. The engine was doing familiar work. It simply had far less oxygen available, so the same effort bought less than half the speed.
Fitness does not protect you from altitude
Being fast at sea level does not make you acclimatise faster. It only means you have further to fall and more ego invested in not falling. Some of the hardest first weeks I have coached belonged to the strongest athletes in the group.
What Our Group Does Instead
Our residential group arrives in Leh on 16 August. Their first days look nothing like my 26 July.
- Day 1. No training. Arrival, hydration, a slow walk at most, and a full set of baseline readings.
- Day 2. No running. Rest, monitoring, and gentle mobility only.
- Day 3. First movement session. Short, and capped by heart rate rather than pace.
- Every morning throughout. Resting heart rate, oxygen saturation, sleep quality, and a symptom check before anything else happens.
- Anyone showing symptoms does not train. That decision is ours, not theirs, and it is not open to negotiation on the day.
I ran on day two. They will not. If you are planning your own trip to Ladakh, follow the group protocol rather than mine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you exercise on your first day in Leh?
No. Rest on day one. Walking slowly around town is fine, but no training and nothing that leaves you breathless. The Leh district administration requires at least 48 hours of acclimatisation for all arriving visitors before travelling to higher areas, and that window is not the time to train.
Is driving to Leh better than flying for acclimatisation?
A staged road journey with a night at intermediate altitude gives you something a direct flight does not, and previous altitude exposure is associated with reduced acute mountain sickness risk. But the Manali to Leh road crosses three passes above 4,800 metres in a single day, which is a significant acute exposure in itself, and the Leh administration's health advisory states plainly that arriving by road does not remove the need for acclimatisation. Treat the road as a modest advantage, not an exemption.
How long before you can train normally at altitude?
Light structured training is usually reasonable from around day three, with effort capped by heart rate rather than pace. Normal training loads take considerably longer. For most people the first two weeks are about adapting, not performing.
Why is running pace so much slower in Ladakh?
Barometric pressure falls with altitude, so each breath delivers fewer oxygen molecules even though the percentage of oxygen in air is unchanged. Your body cannot supply working muscles at its usual rate, so your heart rate reaches its normal training range at a much slower pace. Expect a large drop in the first week and gradual improvement after that.
What is a normal oxygen saturation level in Leh?
It varies widely between individuals and between devices. Many visitors record values in the high 80s or low 90s during their first days at this altitude, and that range is common. Mine was 97% on day two, which is higher than most and reflects a staged road ascent and prior altitude exposure. Watch the trend across several days rather than reacting to any single reading.
Should I use heart rate or pace to guide training at altitude?
Heart rate. Pace at altitude tells you about the air, not about your effort. If you train to pace targets in your first weeks at altitude, you will almost certainly train far too hard.
Is it safe to run at high altitude at all?
For most healthy people, yes, once properly acclimatised and with effort managed by heart rate. Altitude illness is a medical matter and it does not respect fitness. If you have any cardiac, respiratory, or blood condition, are pregnant, or have a history of altitude illness, speak with your doctor before travelling.
- Health advisory, District Administration Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh. All arriving tourists must complete at least 48 hours of acclimatisation before travelling to higher altitude areas such as Khardung La and Pangong. The advisory also states that arriving by road does not remove the requirement. leh.nic.in
- Acute mountain sickness among tourists visiting the high-altitude city of Lhasa at 3,658 m above sea level: a cross-sectional study. Reports rapid ascent, poorer general health, and age under 55 as independent risk factors, and previous altitude exposure as protective. PMC
- Barometric pressure at altitude. At roughly 3,600 m, barometric pressure is approximately 480 mmHg compared with approximately 760 mmHg at sea level, giving roughly 40% fewer oxygen molecules per breath. The fractional concentration of oxygen in air remains approximately 20.9% at all altitudes.
- All training figures in this log are taken from the author's own device file recorded on 26 July 2026: COROS PACE 3 with POD 2 and a chest heart rate monitor. The raw activity screenshot is published alongside this article.
Niraj Kumar Borah
Founder and head coach of Fitness Bootcamp, a residential health transformation programme running in Rishikesh, Ladakh, Manali, and the north east. Since 2020 he has guided more than 4,600 guests through structured, fully supported transformations.
He has spent four to six months of each year in Ladakh for several years, and has raced the Ladakh Marathon in 2023 and 2024. He is here from July to September 2026, running the routes and testing the acclimatisation protocol our residential group will follow from 16 August, and racing the 11.2 km on 13 September. He publishes his own training data daily, including the sessions that go badly.
- VDOT Certified Distance Running Coach · VDOT O2
- Certified Heart Rate Performance Specialist · NESTA
- Precision Nutrition Level 1 · Precision Nutrition
- Affiliated HYROX Performance Coach · verify on the HYROX register
- Mountaineering, Adventure Course · Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering, J&K
- Ladakh Marathon · 5 km 2023, 11.2 km 2024, racing the 11.2 km on 13 September 2026
- Full background and competition record · read here
The 4-week high altitude endurance programme
28 nights across Leh, Basgo and Nubra Valley. Structured heart rate training, safe acclimatisation, cooked vegetarian meals, and daily tracking. There is no payment to apply, and we speak with everyone before confirming a place.
See the programmeThis log is general educational information about the physiology of altitude and is not medical advice. Ascent to high altitude carries real medical risk, including acute mountain sickness and, rarely, high altitude pulmonary or cerebral oedema, which are emergencies. If you have any cardiovascular, respiratory, or haematological condition, are pregnant, or have a history of altitude illness, please speak with your doctor before travelling to altitude. Individual responses vary considerably, and the readings published here are one person's and should not be used as a benchmark for your own. Figures were recorded on 26 July 2026. If you believe any figure here is inaccurate, please contact us with the source and we will correct it.
