Author: Marius

(rest !) and some easy days back in Norway. I have heared from home that it has been snowing lately, so I am mentally adjusting to it 🙂

We did a great training session on the Moi University track Thursday, knocking off hard repeats. With a very FAST end to it….shows that I am getting in shape.

If we sum up the training stay here in numbers, it includes 2-4 training sessions daily, 3 hours of wait for the food in the restaurant daily, 180 dry toasts with butter, 32 breasts of chicken steak, 10 hours of sleep each night….and another two in the sun by the pool during the day, 16 days with sun, one rainy evening, 2200 meters altitude, 204 times hearing “How are you mzungo” (white man) – 4 times each run 3 times daily for 17 days… and finally 25 dead mosquitos on the wall 🙂

So all in all a great training stay down here !

Marius

qualities you have as a runner. So I am preparing for it. We will have to run it very early in the morning because of the hot weather we have had recently.

Today we did a long sub-hard session on the mud roads. On parts of it we were joined by Julius Korir, a 43 year old athlete of Frank who did 61 in the half marathon age 39. With the shape he is in now I believe he could do from 2.10 to 2.15 in the marathon. He was a great athlete in the beginning of the 1990s winning several of the major 5000 meter Grand Prix races beating runners like Khalid Skah. Even though he is old now, the running conditions (prevents injury), altitude and climate up here makes it possible for him to continue his career…almost twice my age :))

We have had a relaxing day today between the sessions. Just spent the time at the beautiful colonial style outside restaurant of the hotel we are staying at. Those days makes you want to stay here forever….

All well from Eldoret,
Marius

straight down over 1500 meters. A group of runners that are coached by Frank have camp up there. Quite good ones, a couple around 13.15 5000 meters in Europe last year. One of them, Joseph Kosgei is 1.74 meters tall and only 47 kiloes (!!). I think he will break 13 minutes next years. He has a nice, smooth stride and a good head. And plenty of running talent. He started running at the age of 30 and has now run for only two years. And his second year (this summer) he did 13.15 at Bislett Games.
So we met with him and the others guys up there and had a relaxing evening with them.

Then we brought three of them down to Eldoret today for an extreme intervall session this morning. It is 12 hours ago, but I still have trouble walking straight…..we got up at 6 o clock and ran to the Platue above the city. It was pitch dark when we started but the sun came up around 6.30. Fresh air and perfect temperature. We did the looooong, hard session pushing eachother. The Kenyans are strong up here, being 100 % acclimatized to altitude. But with the right training and talent it is still possible to follow them.

A new record was set today. The famously slow service at the hotel reached new heights….we waited for 2 hours for some toast, bacon and eggs 🙂 It was almost like we wondered if they actually killed the pig and chicken before making it. But this is Kenya, and time is time. No worries, no stress. So instead of eating we just sat around and talked….and talked some more…:)

All well from Kenya.

Marius

into a relaxing life at 2200 meters altitude and you can understand why we are here….

Tomorrow is another hard day. Henrik and I have had real problems getting out of bed lately, due to the hard workouts. Your head says yes but your legs say no…..we are therefore considering getting up even earier, at 6.30 just to get a kick start of the day. We have done it before and the eyesight is incredible. You run out just before the sun comes up and reach the Platue (Savannah) just when the red sun is on its way up. It is so quiet, and as you are running the intervalls you can see how life is starting to form around you. People on the way to town, washing of clothes and the little kids getting up. So we will see…

Our favourite taxi driver, George, is out of town at the moment, so we have found another one. Who has the strangest comments on things. A true example of the cultural clash you find sometimes. Today we discussed the weather in Norway with him and he simply refused to believe that is could be below 0 degrees celsius in Norway. His argument was simple : “You need cows to survive. If it is that cold you have to keep your cows inside your house and no one has space enough to do that” Argument closed :))

Time to relax. Long away from the rain and stress of Norway…..

Marius

30 km of total morning running (including warmups and cooldown), but will be fine for the evening session after some sleep.

I find it strange that so many athletes take up to a week to “acclimatize” to altitude. Yes, it is true that you need time for your body to adjust to the 2200 meters down here TO RUN FAST, but the question is what one should do in that acclimatization time. It is sort of like, if you are out of shape. Then you need time to get going again. But you will find that if you use that time to run somewhat harder (instead of just building on easy runs) you will gain strength much faster. I find the same with altitude training. There is no need to take it easy the first week (unless it is your first altitude stay ever-that is a different story) You just have to adjust the intensity in accordance to the lactate acid levels and the subjective feeling you have. If you do that, you will not “lose” a week of training, plus the acclimatization is actually going faster because of a better adaption to hard running.

We will go to a race tomorrow will all the best Kenyan athletes. Is is fun to watch those, because you find new talents every time. We had a discussion yesterday whether or not we could make the waiters at the hotel down here run under 14 minutes in the 5000 meters with 6 months of training at altitude (with the physical characteristics of a Kenyan altitude person). I believe you could with the right training. Take a waiter in Norway and try to do the same, and he might be able to RUN those 5000 meters but not very fast…

Time for some rest and a nap 🙂

Marius

nice.

Every time we come down here, we see new changes going on. Eldoret is getting more “modern” every single time. Most of it for the best, but you also have some other things that comes with it…for example, some of the excellent mud/cinder roads around have been closed because of the expanding city and investments going on. Where you could run long, quiet runs a year ago, you now have fences. But mostly, all the training places are there.

It is hot here, abound 30 degrees C in the middle of the day, but we enjoy the extremely fresh mountain/altitude air. So it is not that bad. But we will have to run early in the morning and late in the evening on most of the quality work, and then add in some mid-day runs but they have to be easy. Otherwise it will be a bit too hot for optimal training.

Marius

all day. Packing to Kenya is a little different then other places. About half of the times we have been down there, we have lost some of our bags. And sometimes it take almost a week to get it up to Eldoret. So you have to be clever when you do the packing. In the handluggage you need to have all necessary clothes for running, and you should travel in running shoes. Then in the other bags, pack 50/50 running and regular clothes, so that if you lose one bag you still have clothes.

Training down there will be hard. With perfect running conditions there is no need to relax. Recoveries is also faster because of the nice climate.

Just a short message before I leave. Next time, from Kenya.

Marius

limited because of the conditions. I usually run on a treadmill when it is icy outside, but I only like to run of the Woodway Treadmills as they are WAY better for your legs then other ones. They are special designed and are soft for your feet. I do not like regular treadmills, the impact on your legs can cause injuries.

But I will probably leave in a couple of days and take a day in Oslo just to get some work done. One of those things you just have to do. Then I will leave pretty early back to Oslo after new years to continue the training there before leaving for Kenya the 9th.

My training partner, Henrik, now has his own Webpage. It is in Norwegian, but visit it at http://www.aktorg.com/sandstad

Wish you all a Merry Christmas,

Marius

January is one of the hardest training months of the year. You need to be sharp and train hard, but at the same time the weather is cold, the roads are icy and it is hard to focus. In Kenya that time a year, you have no rain and sun, 25-30 degrees C every day. Nothing but excellent for long distance running.

We are also preparing all the little details for the next year. It looks like an agreement with the Olympic Committee (and the Federation) will make Franks (coach/consultant) work situation much easier. So far this year he has paid everything from his own pocket (including 3 trips to Kenya, one to St.Moritz, one to Park City and one to Edmonton). I have never heard about another coach who has done that. He has done it because I have not had financial backing to pay for a coach. So all thanks to him for keeping the shop open 🙂

Sprint session tomorrow and some weights. Then back to the good, old trainingroads in Sandefjord where I have been running since I was a kid.

Marius

degrees C warmer down there then up here by Sognsvann even though it only takes 15 minutes to drive down there.

We did a really long AT session on Saturday. Just easy, floating and striding. No pushing at all. But long intervalls, short recoveries and many repetitions..

Now it is under a month until I leave for Kenya ! Frank will actually go down there tomorrow and stay for five days. He has a group of Kenyan athletes (about 13.10-15 5000 meters) that he takes care of and has to look after teh camp he has set up. He has had many great athletes in his camps throughout the last 8 years, but unfortunately most of them “disappear” to the main agents when they start to run fast – even though they are under contract. Frank knows this, and now his work is mostly for fun. Among the runners he “found” when they were really young (13-14 years old) and took care of for several years was Sammy Kipketer (12.54 5000 meter), John Kibowen (7.29 3000 meter about 13.00 5000 meter, bronze this years World Champs) and Vivian Cheryiout (15.15 5000 meter and winner of the World Junior Cross as a 15 year old).

A fast sprint session tomorrow, so time to rest. A good recovery is extremely important in this hard buildup phase.

Marius