I did 8.04 in yesterdays 3000 meter race in Stockholm. As expected the field was very strong with the majority of runners aiming for World Indoors at the distance. My goal before the race was to get under 8 minutes. I have 7.53 from three years ago…
but that was on a 300 meter track with more spacing from the altitude stay before. I would rank this race as very close to that.
It was a great experience to once again be on a running track and in the racing position. It has been over 6 months since I last raced and about a year and a half since I was running with an ok body. So I am glad I did this, even off minimal track workouts.
Rest day today and some easy endurance work tomorrow 🙂
Marius
I am leaving soon for Stockholm after a weekend with the National team here in Oslo. We are gathering all the top Norwegian Track athletes this weekend and are presented to the new future road for the sport. It looks very promising !! The new model…
and team brings all the enthusiasm and energy needed to get Norwegian Track where it was in the mid 90s (several in finals of int champs and several medals).
Will update more after Stockholm. Wish me luck :))
Marius
I am running my first race of the season next Tuesday in Stockholm. The meeting is a part of the Energizer Euroseries ; http://www.energizer-euroseries.com/2003/
The field is extremely…
good, with three sub 13:00 5000 meter athletes with the addition of Rui Silva an indoor specialist with 3.30 in the 1500 meters. So it will be just like a strong outdoor Grand Prix race.
It is three years since I last raced indoors and my personal best is 7.53. After a miserable last year I hope to get in the 7.50s again. I have done three sessions on the track so far this year – not much, but at least enough to get a feel for the surface.
I am looking forward to racing again 🙂
Marius
Tue 18 Feb 00:00
Startlist M 3000 m View this event only
Lane/Order Start no Competitor Nation Born
1 50 Ferdinando Vicari ITA 1973
2 51 Gunther Weidlinger AUT 1978
3 52 Martin Pröll AUT 1981
4 53 Michael East GBR 1978 (Commonwealth 1500 Gold 02)
5 54 Rui Silva POR 1977 (3.30/1500 meter)
7 56 Luke Kipkosgei KEN 1975 (7.27 3000/12.55 5000)
8 57 Marius Bakken NOR 1978
9 58 Salah Hissou MAR 1972 (7.28/12.50 5000)
10 59 Tom Mayo GBR 1977
13 62 Mark Bett KEN 1976 (12.55 5000 meter)
14 63 Martin Keino KEN 1972 Pace
I did a mix of 200 and 400s on yesterdays track session indoors. It was the first time on an indoor track for a while but it was quite easy to run with the tight bends again. I guess two winters of hard (too hard) indoor running in the US when I was…
younger did some good for the future indoor feeling.
I am feeling better for each day now. In about a day or two I will be starting a very nice period after altitude. I will use that time to test my body as much as I can. I have been longer at altitude than before on the last two Kenya stays and the training has been harder. Therefore it is important to see how actual times and sessions correlate with previous years (mostly 2000 and 2001)
I have put out some new pictures on the web (under Pictures and Kenya 2003) I hope more will come after the next stay down here. Also take a look at the webpage of my friend, Henrik, at http://www.aktorg.com/sandstad There you will find more photoes :))
All going well !
Marius
I am now back in Norway again after the altitude stay in Kenya.
Today was the first quality session after arrival back home. Veeeery heavy, so all like normal :)) I expected it. I had a nice track session just before I went down to sea level…
but the downregulation post-altitude simply knocks you out. So only that one session today.
Back again on ice, snow and negative degrees C… It is great to be back but I wish it was more like last year when you could even run in the forest this time a year..
Easy tomorrow and a track session indoors on Tuesday.
Back home,
Marius
We went to Nairobi yesterday to run a track workout there. It is a long time since I felt real tartan under my feet the last time. I have not stepped on an outdoor track since the European Championships this summer. It felt great – a very hot day…
with the “smell” of tartan as you were running the workout. After many sessions on cinder and treadmill this winter it was nice to finally feel the surface you like the best.
All well 🙂
Marius
We have now stayed 5 1/2 weeks in Eldoret – and especially when considering the very bad winter in Norway the stay has been great. Only two small down periods in training, the rest feeling strong and fresh. It seems like last years training at very…
high altitude and a body a year or two stronger (compared to 2001 and 13.09) has made me capable of training harder for much longer periods at altitude. But I know I have to be careful – I have several indicators of training stress and have to keep myself within the limits.
Toast, eggs (total about 200), chicken and ugali. It is time to get home now for some pizza now (we tried to order it down here but got some tomatoe mess stuffed onto a local chapati mix instead..)
I got an email last year from a visitor to this site when I had been in Bolivia (for about four weeks) last year and he complained that I spent an awful lot of space talking about the local lamas and that it was probably time for me to get back to Norway again. Guess it feels like that now 🙂 You are getting so (too) used to things down here – the cows walking all over the place during the runs, the Kenyans coming not one hour late to appointments but one day, ugali starting to taste well etc.etc.
A few more days of training left :))
Marius
Most in the group of Norwegian athletes have left Kenya now. We have been a really strange mix of people at the hotel in Eldoret during this stay ; four main groups really. Our group with about 15 Norwegian athletes, another with 20 Ukrainian pilots…
and airplane personell (they claim to be non-military cargo transporters but we do not believe them 🙂 ), about twenty clanmembers/family close to one of the 32 Somalian warlords who are at the Somali peace conference plus a group of American missionaries that come and go and hold big ceremonies in the churches nearby (some which has 10 000 members..) Lots of noise and different sounds during around the breakfast tables…
Training is going well. I feel well in control of things despite the extremely hard work I have been through. It is satisfying to look back at the training done and know that it will benefit you during the summer 🙂
Only a short period to go,
Marius
I have had some very nice training sessions recently. This period of the altitude stay is very stable and your body does not go up and down constantly from workout to workout. A relief 🙂
We went out very early this morning again for quality…
work. We put all our stuff into a rented taxi and it drives behind us to light up the road during the warmup. It is very dark – no lights around at all. Quite different to warmup under the stars. You get a nice, cold breeze while warming up. And right after the 5 km warmup down to the startingpoint it is just so that you can see the road in front of you with no problem. 8 hard repeats of running and in the middle of the workout you have the sunrise. This is perfect since the mornings get really hot very fast at the moment. Because recovery is crucial to altitude success you have no choice but to do all you can do avoid extra stress. This includes running at the coolest time of the day.
About two more weeks down here and I think I have had my fair deal of training stress at altitude. It will be nice to come down again to sea level with lots of good, hard mileage done 🙂
Marius
12 km of treshold running this morning. I have an easy period of training up to Friday. I feels great to do short sessions like this and let your very tired running legs get some recovery 🙂
Tomorrow we might go out to Kapsabet to the tea…
plantations to meet some people. We will pass places where a lot of great runners have been born. For example Wilson Kipketers birthplace – a very, very simple house in the middle of the rural farmlands. Strange to see when you know where he has reached in his life.
Quiet days up here,
Marius
