On Saturday I will race a 5000 meters in the Grand Prix race in Heusden, Belgium. I am looking forward to this race, on a very nice track down there and great atmosphere at the “Nigh of Athletics” meeting. I ran there two years ago (only ran 13.35)…
and got a good feel for the meeting so I wished to come back there.
Short track session this afternoon right in between some very heavy rain. Good timing, leaving for Belgium already three days before the race. That way I will get good training down there and not just empty “travel days” Plus the weather being more stable there, will be helpful for the running muscles that needs plenty of recovery between the faster stuff in this tapering period.
Just briefly from Oslo :))
Marius
For the first time I tested the track on the new Bislett stadium. A series of intervalls gradually going faster. Not a long session, about 6 km total. Ståle Jan came by on his way to holiday and Frank was in town so they watched the session….
The report from the new stadium ? I looks great, but the track there is also fast. Not Mondo, but still very nice and hard (while at the same time very elastic). They have kept the old stadium walls,which means that if the wind conditions are right you can get tail wind for 250 meters and no wind for 150 meters. Under the stands by the start (where the callroom is) they have already put down a 2 lane track under the stadium. Only about 150 meters at the moment but long enough for the sprinters to warm up before big meeting – and gives you a good view on how things will be when they eventually get the full 550 meters indoor track under the whole stadium. So for the runners waiting to run there, look forward to it 🙂
I am still building my shape after Rome. Plus spending lots of time recovering the muscluar system. Important to have those things right in this tapering period…
From Oslo,
Marius
With 30.5 degrees celsius yesterday, I waited until late evening to run my first hard workout after Rome. A longer endurance workout to get in the right mode again after the race down there. I was feeling fine during the workout and it was nice to…
get the race out of my legs. I need those endurance sessions now to ensure that the tapering process will continue without losing the essential endurance element.
This week will be a mix of track workouts on off track work. All of it at float speed, controlled and lactate tested but with more variation than normal to “break the pattern” I have good experience with this from earlier years ; to do the same things but just with small variations all the time.
Recovery is also a key element right now. Small things like not moving around too much, plenty of physio, good food very frequently, lots of sleep and relaxed days. The last one no problem in the extremely hot summer here 🙂
I took a short trip down to the Bislett stadium the other day and it looked absolutely great. Steep stands, facing down to the track. It looked just like the old stadium just with a brand new look to it. Much, much better than expected – including a very hard track for fast times. So looking forward to the 29th!
From sunny Oslo,
Marius
Yesterdays race here in Rome gave a very good feeling, ending with a 13.11.70 time.
I am especially pleased since the last sessions show that I am right in the break into the tapering period. This race shows that I am on the right track in…
this very important phase in between spring buildup and the seasons peak for the Bislett Games and World Champs in Helsinki.
I had originally planned to pass the 2k in around 5.18 to get the qualifier. But the front pace was very, very fast. The plan was for them to do 2.34 but instead it was 2.31. So at the tail of the field I got through in 2.35 for the 1k and 5.11 for the 2k. I then stayed with a group of runners up to the 3k at 7.52. One of them being Garcia that Spaniard that is back from a two year ban. He got past me on the last lap after running head to head for a while and finished with a 13.10. Quite nice for him, considering that he only ran a 5.20 2000 meter the 14 of June (for 8th), a 7.59 3000 in Zaragoza (9th) the 24th before hitting the 13.10 here.
Easy run this morning before travelling home.
Fantastic night for Norwegian athletics last night. Tømmernes was quite happy 🙂 84 in the javelin for Thorhildsen, 14.53 in the 5000 for Susanne Wigene (after passing the 3000 in 8.53 with a pr of 9.01) plus Pilskog in 4.07/1500 and World Champ qualifier for her also. Looks quite promising..
Time for a run now,
From Italy,
Marius
I arrived yesterday to Rome from Oslo, to great weather here, just like at home 🙂
Ketil Tømmernes, the Federation head coach is here with me and after arrival we went to the beautiful park Villa Pamphili nearby where I preformed some easy AT…
intervalls on the cinder there. Just easy float as he looked after and read me the lactate readings to me in between runs. I like to have familiar people around me before meetings and he has done an excellent job as both Federation coach and before when he was closely linked to the athletics part of the Olympic team.
The rest of the Norwegian athletes arrived today and they all seem fit and ready to race. Great to finally have some other Norwegians at these meetings 🙂 Last year it was only me plus Trine Pilskog the 1500 meter runner.
Easy run tomorrow again in the park before breakfast. Then relax, relax, relax during the day before my race starts at 20.37 Norwegian time..
From the Golden Gala,
Marius
The first 5000 of the season will be in one of my favourite stadiums, in Rome. I have many good memories there form before, always a great atmosphere surrounding the meeting.
Last year I did the Norwegian record here, after extending a peak…
in the period around Bislett Games in early June 🙂
The field this year is probably the fastest I have ever run in (see below). 14 (!) sub 13 runners in the field, including the world champ from 2003 Kipchoege. The only runner missing here is Bekele who ran a fantastic race in Paris.
I am hoping to meet the qualifying limit for the World Champs in this race. I need the B-standard for the Norwegian federation to select me as I did the A-standard last year (national rules). It is around 13.25 which should be possible and what I am aming for in this early peak period. So I will try and run as much of an even paced race for that time. It is quite different than last year when I was in top peak shape for the Rome meeting but this still provides a great chance to meet a goal and get that qualifier.
We will be four Norwegians in the meeting, Thorkildsen in the javelin, Pilskog in the 1500 and Wigene in the 5000. Quite exciting, in the 6 seasons I have run in the Golden League meetings, this is the highest number of Norwegian participants we have ever had so looks like Norwegian top athletics is on the way up again 🙂
Well, off I go to Rome 🙂
From Oslo,
Marius
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 2 RIZKI Monder BEL
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 3 KIPCHOGE Eliud KEN
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5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 7 GARCIA Carlos ESP
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5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 10 TADESSE Zersenay ERI
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5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 12 SONGOK Isaac KEN
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5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 14 GENETI Markos ETH
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 15 ESPANA Jesus ESP
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 16 WENDIMU Mulugeta ETH
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 17 IWAMIZU Yoshitaka JPN
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 18 KAMATHI Charles KEN
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 19 DE LA OSSA Juan Carlos ESP
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 20 KIPROP Boniface UGA
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 21 LIMO Richard KEN
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 22 MOUSTAOUI Mohamed MAR
5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 23 BAKKEN Marius NOR
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5 5.000 M G.L. Premium 25 FITSCHEN Jan GER
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I did a series of 300s on the track yesterday to get a nice feel for 5000 meter pace without having to push too much. In the great weather here in Oslo (over 25 degrees C yesterday 🙂 ) it felt comfortable, with an easy jog in between reps….
This is the time of the year to finetune the body, including the muscular system – in reality if the muscles cannot perform the contractions at the rate needed it does not help how much you have trained during the winter. It really does not help to have a great engine if you have no wheels..
They need to be very soft in resting position while at the same time able to rapidly contract. Alot of athletes have their muscules in constant tension, and therefore cannot go from this soft resting position to hard contractions within the short period of time needed. Therefore they end up feeling “dead” all the time with no forward moving force.
Spoke to one of the other Norwegian long distance runners about this yesterday. And after checking his quad muscles and they were very, very tight – I asked him if he did not notice this as he was now struggling in his running. He replied “not really”. So I asked him to first lift his own quad muscle sideways and feel the tension there, and afterwards take the same grip on mine. His comment : “wow, your muscles are untrained” :))) great comment, I never knew an untrained could run 13.06 🙂 But it does illustrate a common misconception You do not have to be tight to have “worked hard” You should instead have maximum capacity to fire on those soft muscles from when there is a need to…
Gotta run now, out in the nice weather..
All well from here,
Marius
I have had a few easy day recently to recover from the European Cup. Just to make sure things are ok before the preparation for the next competition. I arrived the European Cup straight from exams the day before so the race though easy took a few…
days to get out of the system 🙂
We have (finally!) had some nice warm days here in Oslo recently. Which feels great for the legs. The warm weather in itself is nice, but also the hormonal effect you get from the sun.
Went through the old statistics on the Norwegian federation page the other day. Quite interesting, they have published all the Top performance lists all time – from the age of 13 and upwards. To illustrate how specific training works, look at this – which is the far end (last column) of the 60 meter top performance list for 16 year olds
( http://www.friidrett.no/friidrett/statistikk/at/gj/g60.htm )
Funny, the 2nd place finisher in the Norwegian 100 meter final last year right next to the top Norwegian 5000 meter runner on the list 🙂 Alot of things can happen through those training years..
7,2 Jarle Øvstegård Langevåg IL Ålesund 12.06.1991
7,2i Ørjan Tveit Ås IL(1)Skedsmo 22.02.1992
7,2 Kristian Fagerland IL Skjalg (1)Stavanger 25.06.1992
7,2 Robert Asad IL i BUL (2)AOslo/La 24.09.1992
7,2i Mats Tonning IF Herkules (1)Sandefjord 27.12.1992
7,2 Tri M. Dang IK Tjalve (1) Oslo/Bi 30.09.1993
7,2i Marius Bakken IL Runar (2) Sandefjord 27.12.1994
7,2i Martin Rypdal IL i BUL, Tromsø(2)h Mo i Rana 20.01.1996
7,2 Steinar Lundemo Stjørdal FIK (1)Flornes 25.05.2000
Hard intervalls tomorrow evening outside the track. Hopefully getting a good feel and plenty of distance in there..
All well form Oslo 🙂
Marius
Sundays 3000 meter at the European cup was quite comfortable. The opening pace was very slow, about 3.05 in the first 1000 and just really a matter of staying behind and relax. The only runner of some credible times was the athlete from Autria who…
just a couple of weeks ago did in the 7.50s in the 3000 meters. The pace picked up eventually and it felt comfortable to float away towards the end for the win in 8.24 vs. 8.28 for the second place 🙂
Now I will try and rebuild things before the first 5000 meter of the year. Hopefully in some better summer weather than what we have experienced recently here in Norway… the coldest spring I can remember as a runner – but as a long distance runner you are used to those kind of temps so it is still ok 🙂
All well from here,
Marius
This weekend is the European Cup in Tallin, Estonia where the men will compete in the second division, marking the start of the summer track season on my part.
Of the nations there, probably Austria and Denmark have the strongest middle/long…
distance runners but I have not had time yet to look at the exact fields 🙂
It is one of few events during the year when the whole national team is gathered – even those who are not officially on the team the rest of the year for team gatherings. So looking forward to that part as well 🙂
Off to Estonia,
Marius
