Category: News

I am now well situated in St Moritz for the training camp here. So far with great weather, around 20-25 degrees C and sun.

Published: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 by Marius

The athletes are coming in here now. From before we came we had Sergey Lebed here, Craig Mottram, Sonia O Sullivan, some polish athletes plus a group of Kenyans. Just arrived today was also a group from Quatar and the Italian marathoners are said to arrive soon. A nice atmosphere as the summer racing season is building up.

Bjørnar arrived yesterday and joined the rest of the group. This morning some 2000 meter intervalls around the lake – at a good pace. We started together like we normally which is nice. I have a route where I have a test “km” going a bit downhill on the side of the lake. It is about 930 meters long and a nice reference if you wish to know where you are at outside the track also. This afternoon, either very easy or a bit gradual. It depends what the fysio says about the legs + the restitution after this morning.

We are living only 250 meters from the track here, in the St Moritz Bad, about 50 meters from the cross country trails here. Very convinient when you need all the rest you could get from the hard training sessions J

All well from here,

Marius

About one week – half way into the altitude stay here in St Moritz. So getting a more and more steady + nice feeling up here. The other day was a 1000 meter session on the track (picture below), just to get the legs going abit.

Published: Sat, 24 Jun 2006 by Marius

We have been very lucky with conditions up here so far. Around 25 degrees C and no rain. It can vary quite a bit up here, and the last time I was up here I had to wear a hat for some of the runs (and that was in July..) It makes training so much easier with weather like this – and the recovery between sessions also.

Still athletes coming in here – Maria Mutola around the lake the morning. Most probably preparing for the Grand Prix races in Paris etc. For the non-European athletes this will be the main goal of the season as there is no other summer championship.

The easy runs up here are adjusted on a day to day basis  – as the pressure in training it alot higher now and you just have to adjust some of the longer runs down. A bit faster this morning, then very easy this afternoon probably together with the Mottram group. They are running the easy runs to recover (like easy runs should be..) so that fits good with the philosophy I believe in also.

Short trip to Italy the other day – over the border after a 1 hour drive. Just to get a break from training etc – to the border city  Livigno. But won’t be many of those – with training as hard as you can, you need all the rest you can. Both mentally and physically. Long rests between runs, sleeping in the afternoon and nothing strenous on the system. A good life 🙂

Well, back to the apartment  now – some rest before the evening running.

From Switzerland!

Marius

– 1000 meter repeats on the track. St Moritz in the background –

Below, training run with Bjørnar,Martin & Craig Mottram

We are tuning in to the last few days up here in St Moritz. This morning was another long track session on the St Moritz track. We were suppose to have had it yesterday, but the extremely nice weather recently was interrupted by thunderstorm + 8 degrees C yesterday morning. So one day delay.

Published: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 by Marius

In Norway I try to do those harder sessions as late as possible in the evening as the bio rhythm is more set for physical activity then. But up here it is a bit different and hard sessions are easier run in the morning (while you usually feel tired in the afternoon) Says a lot about the changes at altitude.

More and more world class athletes are coming up here. The group from Quatar is growing with plenty of very fast athletes. Plus saw the runner from Saudi Arabia who did 12.58 last year on the track this morning. Which means that the top three non-african born runners last year have been up here during the last week. It says a lot about the importance of altitude training and about St Moritz as a training place. I do not believe that an athlete can reach its full potential without altitude training – the effect of it is too big to ignore if done properly.

Long + easy run this afternoon to adjust the legs abit. Probably abit earlier than usual as Bjørnar is a soccer enthusiast and wants to watch the world cup games. He has been training well – we are running most of the same(or similar) sessions just at different speeds but with the same kind of lactate values. He is gaining experience at altitude which will be very helpful in the future career.

All well from here 🙂

Marius

After two weeks at altitude I have arrived Norway again where I am doing my best to recover from the altitude stay. Physio up to 2-3 time daily to freshen up the legs again – lots of sleep and mental + physical rest.

Published: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 by Marius

The time after altitude says it all about the stress up there. You feel very, very tired – in a different way than just training at sea level. You sort of feel that your body has been stretched to the fullest. That is a feeling that is actually difficult to get when you are so well trained as an elite athlete. So a great way of getting to a new level when already top trained. Yesterday was a threshold session around the Sognsvann lake. I am feeling fine during it and the pace was ok. But I was careful with the total time run and watched the lactate values closely. Plus not doing all of the regular test routes to ensure that I was not “hunting” for time. Today only one training run of about 10 km before starting up with some track work later in the week. Then it will be preparations for the Rome Golden League, the 14th of July. 5000 meters. The field there will consist of all the best athletes in the world so probably extremely high pace in the race. It will be the 6th time for me in the Rome meeting so looking forward to coming back once again 🙂 All well from Oslo again, Marius

After running the last track session before the race, I am off to Rome tomorrow. I like to travel there two days before so that I can run one ok endurance session in the parks to get the travel out of the legs.

Published: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 by Marius

The startlists looks stronger than in many years. Last year, we had about 8 non-africans in the field, this year it looks to be only me + Sergey Lebed. About 15 of them with sub 13 times so plenty of action out there.

I am feeling fine after the a bit faster session yesterday. I had a long continous session on the track last week and felt some soreness in a calf but this was feeling nice yesterday thanks to lots of physio on it.

Looking forward to the seasons debute – always fun to see how the body reacts to it 🙂

Marius

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           BEKELE                                 Kenenisa                 ETH

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           CHOGE KIPRONO                 Augustine               KEN

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           ABDOSH                               Alì                            ETH

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           BEKELE                                 Tariku                      ETH

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           AL OUTLIABI                        Mukhelid                  KSA

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           KIPCHOGE                            Eliud                        KEN

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5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           MATHATI                              Martin Irungu          KEN

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5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           SONGOK                               Isaac Kiprono          KEN

5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           KIGEN                                   Mike                        KEN

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5.000      M         G.L.        Premium           LEBID                                   Sergiy                     UKR

Finally, the start of the season with a 5000 meters in Rome. The time 13.33 was a about 10 seconds slowere than expected but I am not too worried in terms of that. The important thing is how the system felt. I was feeling very comfortable up to the 3000 meters in 7.57 together with American Dathan Ritzenhein. After that, the nagging calf started bothering me, losing momentum in the takeoff in each stride making it impossible to push for the last 2km.

Published: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 by Marius

It was frustrating as I was feeling strong + fine in the rest of the body. But the problem is about to get solved so I should hopefully be fine in not long of a time 🙂 A few easy days now followed by some threshold work on softer surfaces around here. Just striding through and adding in some accelerations in there to keep the system fresh. From Oslo again! Marius

After a period of very intense physiotherapy I have arrived Heusden Belgium getting ready for this weekends 5000 metes there. The field is quite nice with a good variation of runners, ranging from a couple of sub 13 guys, plenty 13.00-13.15 and then up to the 13.20s.

Published: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 by Marius

That should fit nicely now. I am just hoping for a good race – with the same feeling as Rome but with no lower leg problems.

Conditions here are usually excellent. But hopefully a little bit cooler than yesterday, it was 36 degrees when we arrived Brussels! And still 32 at 9.30 in the evening. It felt much,much warmer than Rome a week ago. This weekend it is suppose to drop abit so should be fine. Either way, I handle warm weather quite well so usually never a problem 🙂

I travelled down here with Bjørnar who will run the steeple plus Ketil Tømmernes – the federation chief. It will  be me + Bjørnar from Norway in the meeting here plus  a 1500 meter runner. All hoping for some good times on the fast Heusden track.

We stay in the city of Hasselt, about 1 hour drive from Brussels. It is one of those Belgian cities with a suburban kind of atmosphere. Quiet, yet very urban. A good place to relax a few days before a meeting. This afternoon a threshold session before one easy run tomorrow morning + rest in the afternoon.

All well from Heusden!

Marius

Meeting homepage KBC nacht

It is going in the right direction both in terms of my leg + the runnngtimes. I could jog without pain in the morning of the race plus the race itself has not set me much back. But I have lost some of the momentum in the stride while recovering from it so I have a job to do there to get back into it again.

Published: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 by Marius

The body other than that feels fine so it feels a bit frustrating. Just like in Rome, passing the 3k in a bit under 8 minutes feels very very comfortable. Hopefully I will make some good choices in the weeks to come. I have been in the game a few years now so I know how important it is to focus on the right things and not jump to conclusions. The winter training + spring workouts have been done, it is now just a matter of getting back the momentum again.

From Heusden,

Marius

The start of the European Championships is now only two weeks away. After the race in Heusden I took some discussions concerning the road ahead with Ståle, Leif Olav and the national team chief Tømmernes.

Published: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 by Marius

The main thing now is to prepare for the Champs there, be fit and recovered in the leg. I had originally thought about going up to Juvass, to altitude there in Norway – but the training conditions there are somewhat limited (and can be hard on the legs) plus the temperature a bit too low to keep the system nice and going.

So we decided it was best to go somewhere warmer – where it was nice + quiet plus good training conditions. Thanks to the coach of Craigh Mottram, Nic Bideau, I am now in London together with the fysio from the federation. Bideau has been very helpful organizing everything here, we are staying in Twickenham (near Teddington) in South West London. It is in the same area as many of the Kenyans located in London are, plus the group of Bideau. I stay only about 500 meters from a big park where I can run and with track + other good training routes nearby.

Here we have nice, high and stable temperatures and I can run all my runs on nice + soft grass. It makes wonders to the legs – and gaining the running momentum back again. The shape is good so it is basically a matter of bringing it all together again and make the right kind of priorities before the important Europeans.

From London!

Marius

– Marble Hill Park where I do the easy runs –

I have arrived St Moritz now for the last altitude training before the Europeans. It has worked for the previous champs and personal records I have set, so trying to use the conditions here to hit it right in Gothenburg.

Actually, all my runs below 13.15 have come post altitude – plus my 9th and 12th place at the World Champs 01 + 05. Like I have said before – if you know how to deal with altitude training it is really no way out of it if you want to be your absolute best.

Training conditions here are perfect as always. Some small rains today but not during the training. A progressive good length sub-threshold session to slighty above threshold this afternoon – increasing in speed and heart rate before varying down again. Good to get your heart going when just arriving up here. Nice to have someone to run with on those also – Craig Mottram came same day from London. Usually I am used to running away from people on those sessions, but with such a strong runner alongside you can just join in on a common float all the way.

I am still working on the leg injury, doing my best to control it. It has been a long and slow process but I am doing my best. No one has ever performed well with just sitting down doing nothing so using all my knowledge and thinking to turn it around 🙂 In situations like this, it is helpful to have some background on how the muscular system works and where+ in what way you should aim your treatment.

Two x easy tomorrow. Just getting the system used to the altitude & recover.

From Switzerland,

Marius